BC Karen

Seeking righteousness in this world is a discouraging process. I always have to think of the hymn "This is my Father's World" part of which says: "This is my Father's world. I rest me in the thought that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet." (Done from memory so may not be exact). As a Christian I often feel like I'm in the wilderness and wonder when God will lead me to the promised land. Then I start to question why I always seem to be in the wilderness and realize that I can never enter the promised land on my own. As the people of Moses' day followed the cloud and the fire I have to follow Jesus and seek the truth and righteousness he teaches, trusting him to present me perfect before God because of his blood. Otherwise I will never make it to the promised land. When making decisions the final question has to be "Will this glorify God."

The be attitudes are exactly that. They describe what a Christian should be. The presence of the Spirit becomes evident when one discovers the Fruits of the Spirit present in their lives. When the world says these attitudes are not attainable they lack faith. In Christ, all things are possible. The Christian will never be perfect in this world but because the Spirit dwells within the Christian he may experience the Fruits of the Spirit and draw closer to the attitudes they should have. e.g. When one is in crisis (needing to develop one of the be attitudes) and they experience one or more of the Fruits of the Spirit they are truly blessed as God is working in their lives and drawing that person closer to him. The important thing for us to realize is we can do nothing without God. The world can never attain the perfection the beatitudes describe but through the Holy Spirit the Christian will experience the hope joy peace etc. of the Fruits of the Spirit while being drawn closer to God as he teaches them these be attitudes.

Thanks for this insight. It gave new meaning to the verses for me and allowed me to expand my thinking. I can totally relate to persecuation including sickness, disease and world disaster etc. Until you made this comment I was unable to relate to Tabatha's comment about "not feeling persecuted in some way then you need to move from where you are." Now I see what both of you are talking about. I can now relate this to my life. Thanks so much.

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:4-5) What is the answer to this riddle of the mourners being blessed by comfort? We mourn in our emptiness and purposelessness and pain, and are comforted by Jesus' salvation and the presence of his Spirit. We mourn with Jesus, too, and are comforted by his Return and the consummation of his Reign. These are words of comfort and to me they are a promise of better things to come but how do you answer a person who has given up (poor in spirit) yet believes these words. My niece committed suicide and from conversations with her I think she wanted no more death or crying or pain and chose to go to Jesus. I know it's not what Christ was teaching but that's as far as she got in her walk.

Hi: I am Karen and I live in British Columbia, Canada. I am presently torn between the organized church traditions I was raised in and my rejecting those traditions for a more personal relationship with God outside of the organized church. This is why this study caught my eye and peaked my interest.