Many things naturally go together like, peanut butter and jelly, ice cream and apple pie, steak and lobster…I’m getting hungry just thinking about these combinations. Yet the attitudes Jesus tells us that bring happiness seem incompatible or at best inharmonious.  

How can those who are poor or are actively mourning be considered blessed?  

These were the very thoughts going through the minds of the crowd gathered to listen to a new Rabbi named Jesus. Sitting on a mountainside, Jesus began to share with His disciples how to live a blessed life. The words He spoke were in stark contrast with what other religious leaders were teaching. So much so, these leaders were offended and would ultimately seek to kill Him. To them, His words were dangerous because He suggested a different approach to living an abundant life — one that threatened their status and opulent lifestyles. 

Jesus did not teach that wealth or riches would bring happiness. Nor did He teach that the end goal is a life free of regret. Instead, He said soul-satisfying happiness only comes when we first recognize we are desperately poor regarding spiritual things. We are blessed when we come to this understanding because then we will look to God for spiritual wholeness, and He will, in turn, point us to His son Jesus. Jesus will make you wealthy with His spirit as He satisfies your spiritual longings.

Now that we’ve grasped being poor in spirit, how does mourning bring blessing to our lives? Jesus presents the attitude of mourning as our sadness over our propensity to do the wrong thing. The Apostle Paul mourns his destructive pattern of behavior this way: “The things I want to do, I don’t do, and the things I don’t want to do, I find myself doing.”  (Romans 7: 15) Paul was upset because his natural inclination seemed to be bent on doing the very thing that would not provide soul-satisfying happiness or blessing by God. Ultimately, he becomes aware that he could never by himself do what is necessary to live a blessed life. 

This is the mourning Jesus is talking about when He says, “Blessed are those who mourn.” (Matthew 5:4) It is a good thing to understand that happiness is beyond our grasp. We need someone who is morally righteous to provide what we cannot give ourselves. We need “supernatural” help.

When the Apostle Paul came to this conclusion, He mourned over his state of being, and he posed a desperate and necessary question: “Who will rescue me?” (Romans 7:24) He wanted to change but knew he needed supernatural help to do so. 

If you are like the Apostle Paul and have come to this understanding and are desperate for help, I have good news for you. God has the solution to this mournful condition. God has made a way to receive His nature imparted to you through Jesus Christ. He comforts us in our despair by giving us a new nature and fills us with His Spirit, who guides us toward the life that blesses and enjoys the favor of God. It is “Christ in us” that fills us with hope and gives our lives significance as we experience victory over our old nature and joy in becoming the person God created us to be!

If you are ready to experience the new life God has for you, send me an email (jim@tlcassembly.org);  I’d love to share more and walk these next steps with you on your journey to God’s blessed life.

Helpful Resources

1. A.W. Tozer, Pursuit of God (The), CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, March 16, 2010.
2. R.C. Sproul, What is Repentance?  Reformation Trust Publishing, 2019.