Blessed are the persecuted

Matthew 5:10-16

The persecuted are blessed because they have chosen to put God above everything else.

Our understanding of being blessed can be problematic. Being blessed has to be deeper than our circumstances. Blessing is a state of being in the presence of God despite our circumstances.

We will be persecuted and that’s where we need to know we are blessed. Blessing comes in relation to righteousness.

If we are going to experience persecution it is better to receive it for being righteous. The normative in Scripture is that we will be persecuted for our faith.

No matter what happens in life Jesus calls us to rejoice and be glad because we have an eternal relationship with God in heaven. This life is not everything, we will all die, but resurrection will come. The life we live now is temporary, but our future is eternal.

No matter what the context of our lives we are called to be salt and light to the world. We are called to push back the darkness.