Blessings

For those of you who heard my sermon on the beatitudes in Matt. 5, I wanted to clear up some of my thoughts on blessings.

Do I think it's a blessing when God provides for our needs? Yes. Do I think it's a blessing when God gives me more than I need? Yes. When God gives my family a home to live in, a vehicle to drive, and money to pay the bills, I see all of those as blessings and gifts from God. But the point I wanted to make with the sermon I preached, is that it can also be a blessing when God does none of those things. I believe Jesus is challenging us to think outside of ourselves and outside of the box when He is talking about being "blessed" at the beginning of Matthew 5. I think this in turn helps us to not take for granted all of the other things I mentioned above.

Everything is from God, and all that He does for us is a blessing. But that also includes the times we are poor in spirit, the times we mourn, the times we are meek, and the times we hunger...