Thank you so much for tuning in and Welcome everyone – Hope you’re well!  I’m your host, Ben Lively, and you’re listening to “Shaken Awake” – Episode #49! 
 
I just want to thank you for tuning in with us today, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing right this very moment.  It means everything to me to share the messages that God’s lays on my heart to share. 
 
And, as always, I promise you another great show – But, more than anything, my HOPE for you today, and always, is that you have an actual encounter with the Lord, not just another podcast episode.   
 
Quick ask – if you’ve found value in these episodes, would you take 30 seconds after the show to go to submit a quick review and star-rating in your app.  This is what potential listeners look for when deciding whether to give a show a listen – which is confirmation from other listeners that it can bring value.  Would you do that for me, IF and only IF you find value in these episodes?  I can’t thank you enough.
 
So, without further delay, let’s get ready to invite God in with us, right here, right now and allow Him to speak directly to your heart and minds.   
 
So, today’s topic is on “What Are The ‘Beatitudes’ and How and Why Do They Matter To Me?”

First, one reason this topic is so vitally important is:  It’s not taught in the churches!!!!  I’ve never once heard the term beatitudes my entire life.  Yet, there they are, plain as day but as powerful as Jesus made them to be, staring right at us in the Book most will never read.  I’m just being honest here.  If this isn’t you, than GREAT, and God bless you!!!  It was me for the first 41 years of my life.    As I study the Word of God and listen to and observe sermons and church services, I’m STILL yet to hear a preacher preach on these.  That doesn’t mean they don’t – it means I have never heard it, so I assume, and God has given me a confirmation that many are in the same boat, and the conviction to speak on them to you today.  They’re HIGHLY important to how we should live our lives and who God blesses.

The beatitudes, statements of characteristics and blessing, are part of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus spoke and is recorded in the book of Matthew. Each beatitude looks at different circumstances of life and how all Christians are blessed through their faith. Through these 8 Beatitudes, Jesus teaches of virtues and values in life that will result in blessings and rewards. These beatitudes are not singled out for specific people - they are blessings applicable to all Christians.

These Scriptures will encourage you and give you hope as you face each day knowing that you are called blessed! No matter your age, job, or family role, if you apply the beatitudes to your life you will experience a joyful, fulfilled life! 


I know I wanted to look at the most famous sermon that Jesus ever gave. Actually, I just want to look at the introduction to the sermon. It's called the beatitudes. And I think this, this passage of scripture holds some important truths for us. I think there's so much in this passage that we can learn from that we can be challenged by. We can be encouraged by, and whether you're a new Christian or whether you've been following Jesus for a long, long time. I think there's just some incredible stuff in this passage. So I really want to dive into this and see what it holds for us today and while we’re still alive, and as we continue our lives. But before we get to that, let me just ask a question and you don't need to share this with anybody. So don't, don't freak out.

You can keep this internal, but I want to start with a question. What do you need for you to say “I have a good life?”  What would it take for you to say “I'm blessed?” What do you need to have? What do you need to happen? What do you need to change? What would it take for you to say, “I have a good life?” What do you need? Do you need a house, a bigger house, a better house? Your house paid off, a good job? A certain amount of money as you need Him? Do you need her? Do you need health? Do you need peace? Good vacations? A promotion, fame, power people to like you do you want your, your team to win the super bowl? What do you need to have a good life? Now? I want you to think about that, honestly. Cause I know sometimes we can think a little unselfishly where we're like, I know what the answer to this question is, but actually consider where's your life Going? Look at the decisions you've made over the past few years, the direction your life is heading, what would that say? That you actually need to have a good life? Be honest with yourself. What does your life tell you about the direction that you're going to have a good life? Just think about that. I don't want to step on your toes a little bit, I want to throw a pebble or two in them.

Have you ever got one of those things that you thought you needed, and you thought, “Once I get this, then I'll be happy? Then I'll have the good life. Then I'll be blessed once I get this and then you get it”. And it's great for a few weeks, for a month, but eventually, it does, it let you down. It doesn't deliver what you promised, what you hoped. Maybe you thought you needed to get married to be happy. And then you got married and you realized that doesn't really fulfill that deep longing that you have in your life. Maybe you thought once I get X amount of money or this job or this fame or whatever, then I'll be happy. Then I can take the good vacations. Then I can have the good life. But then you got that, and it didn't deliver what you hoped. So, here's what I've found in my life.

Maybe you can relate. Oftentimes, the things I think I need, the things I think I need to have a good life…. Once I get them, they don't provide for me what I hoped that they would provide for me, it just leaves me wanting more. And so I go to the next thing and then the next thing, and the next thing, hoping that the next thing will finally deliver what I'm chasing after, you see, I used to think when I would get married, but then I'll have the good life. When I was, I was like, once I'm married, once I have a happy marriage, then I'll be happy. Then I'll have the good life. Then I'll be blessed. But what I found, even though my wife's great, and even though we have a great marriage is, I can't put that much pressure on somebody else to provide that for me.  Do you understand where I’m coming from and going?

So, I realized that marriage isn't going to be what makes me happy. It's not going to what helps me step into this life that I'm longing for. So, I thought, well, maybe I need to be married and have money. Cause you know, when you get married, we were young. We didn't have much money. So, I thought maybe once we have a house and some money in the bank and we start hitting these financial goals and then there'll be happy, then I'll have the good life. So, I chased after that and I found every time I checked a box, every time you know, when we bought a house, when we saved more money, I just found I needed something more. So I thought maybe, maybe I need to be married, have some money andhave kids, which those last two don't really go together. But you know, it was worth a try.

So, we had two kids and, and, and I found the same thing. I can't put any pressure on a person, whether it be my wife or my kids to provide for me a good life. That's not fair to put that money, amount of pressure on any person. And so, my life went on. I just keep searching the world for the good life, the full life. And I've always come too empty, looking for more, wanting more. Does that describe anybody else listening – does this describe you? Just be honest with yourself, look at your life. Are you searching for that next thing, hoping that that will provide for you the blessed life, the good life? What do you need? See, what we're going to see today’s episode and in this passage is Jesus is going to give us a different way to live a better way to live.

 
 
And we're going to hear these words. We're going to think. I don't know. Jesus. I don't know if that sounds like the good life to me. In fact, that sounds like the opposite of the good life, because what Jesus does is he kind of reverses the way that we think about what a good life is. He redefines the term of what it means to live a good life. And listen, it's not easy to follow. It's a really difficult pill to swallow because Jesus says some pretty controversial and counter-cultural things. But I think it's important when we start thinking, that when we start reading these words and think, I don't want that to define my life, because that doesn't sound good. That doesn't sound blessed. Let's, let's be honest. Remember, back to this pursuit, we're on trying all these things the world has to offer, and none of them add up.

And if this way of life isn't working, maybe we try what Jesus says is best. Even if it's difficult, if you're tired of trying to find the good life and what the world has to offer, Jesus has a better way to live. So, let's dive into what Jesus says. So, it starts in Matthew chapter 5, verse 1.  And we're going to really see what Jesus has to say about how we can find the good life says, it's Matthew 5:1- “ seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down and his disciples came to him.” So let's pause here for just a minute. This section, as I said, is called the beatitudes, which means full of blessing are full of God. Simply put, Jesus saying, this is how you can have a blessed life.

This is how you can have the good life. This is the way my kingdom works. This is how life really works. And his audience this morning, as he climbed up on this mountain side, were primarily Jewish. And this would have reminded them in the audience of Moses coming down the mountain, carrying the 10 commandments, except when Jesus starts his teaching, He's not giving a list of do's and don'ts – He's saying, this is how life really works. If you want to have the good life, this is what you must do. And He establishes something that's world-shattering. That's never been seen before. And it kind of takes the crowd back a little bit. And what Jesus is expecting his followers to do is not to just look at this list of things and say, those are really good in practice, or those are really good… in theory.

 
 
No, He expects us to actually live this out. These should actually be the indicators for our life. And I want to start by just reading the whole passage. And as I read it, I just want you to consider and ask, do these things mark your life, are these the markers for your life?  And then we'll go back through, and we'll break down each one of them. But first, I just want us to look at kind of the 30,000-foot view. I just want you to hear the words and to consider are these the markers for your life?
 
So, He says this at the beginning of Chapter 5 and lists all of the beatitudes which reads, “He opened his mouth and taught them saying blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those of you who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
 
Now I'll be honest. That doesn't sound like a good life to me, that doesn't sound like a blessed life. I mean, when we sit down and we think, what are the indicators of a good life, we're probably not going to think of poor. We're probably not going to think of mourning. We're probably not going to think of meek. We're probably not going to think of somebody who's hungry or thirsty. We're definitely not going to think of somebody who's persecuted. That's not the indicators of a good life. At least, not what the world says to the good life.  In fact, it’s often found in the absence of those things, right? When I'm not hungry, when I'm not thirsty, when I'm not poor, when I'm not mourning, that's the good life, right?  But, Jesus has given us a different way to live. And again, did all those other things really provide for you what you hoped because Jesus has given us a different way? He's confronting culture. He's confronting how we approach life, how we think about life, how we see through the lens in which we view life through.


You see, Jesus is saying, this is how life really works. So, I want to go back through and I want to break each of these down a little bit because I believe there's so much in this that we can learn from. So, let's look at the first. Beatitude - the first thing that Jesus says…”blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Now this doesn't mean that there's these people are poor as in no money. Hey, I was poor growing up, but that's not what Jesus is talking about here. He's not talking about the zeros in our bank account. What He's talking about is our spiritual condition.

He's saying blessed are those of you who recognize your spiritual condition is pretty bad. And there's nothing you can do to earn your way into heaven. To get into heaven. Blessed are those who are powerless, who are helpless, who are undeserving, who realize there's no amount of good they can do to outweigh the bad- they're spiritually bankrupt. And they don't sound very blessed to us. But Jesus says, they're blessed because God's not forgotten them. See the poor in spirit - those who recognize there's nothing they can do on their own are blessed because God is going to do for them, what they cannot do for themselves. And this flies in the face of the way the world operates, right? Cause in the world is the powerful to put together those who, who go after it, who pushed through adversity, who, who rise to the top on their own power. They're the ones. They're the ones that are blessed, right?

But in God's kingdom, it's the ones who admit they're weak. They're broken. They're messy. They're the ones that inherit the kingdom of God. So blessed are the poor in spirit. Jesus builds on it with the second one. When He says, “blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” and Jesus, again, isn't talking about grief or the loss of a loved one. All the Bible talks about that plenty - that God is close to the broken hearted.  Here, Jesus is saying blessed are those who mourn their sin. He's building off the previous beattitude. The first one, He said, “blessed are the poor in spirit.” Blessed are those who recognize their spiritual condition. Then He kind of follows it up with step two. “Blessed are those who mourn for their sin.” And I love that Jesus follows it up with, “they will be comforted.”  God is close to us in our brokenness. He's not repulsed. He's not running away. He draws near to us when we bring him our sin. You see, when we hide our sin, the world tells us we need to, we need to have our lives together. Even if we don't, we need to pretend - we need to put on the right face, right? But it's just the facade. And the problem is, when you hide your brokenness, when you hide your sin, it festers, it's like a wound. It needs to be cleaned. Otherwise, it's going to get infected the same way with sin. We need to bring it to God so he can not only comfort us, but heal us and restore us.

And I know some of us, we grew up in a church or we grew up in a home where we were ridiculed and beat up for our sin. But listen, that's not what God wants to do. When we bring him our sin and our mistakes, He's not there waiting to say, I knew it!  I knew you were screw up!  I knew you couldn't get it right!  And He doesn't want to beat us up. No, He wants to comfort us. He wants to heal us. He wants to restore us. That's why we are blessed when we mourn our sin, because God draws near to us and comforts us. The next beatitude says, blessed are the meek for, they shall inherit the earth. And the previous two statements, Jesus was talking about our own personal recognition of our sin, of our condition. And now Jesus switches gears here and He starts talking about our outward posture. How we approach the world. A good definition of meek would be strength under control.  My son now is about to be 14 years old. And one of the things he loves to do is he loves to is wrestle and play fight. He loves He loves to try to tackle me and do moves on me.  But listen, when we're wrestling, when we're play fighting, I'm being meek, right? I mean, I could end it in one shot. He'd be down.  I'm bigger than him. I'm older than him. I'm smarter than him. I can end it, but I don't. I keep my strength under control for his benefit and for his enjoyment. And that's what God is calling us to do. As we interact with others, as we interact with the world, He's saying, I want you to have your strength under control. You don't need to throw your weight around to get what you feel like you want, or you feel like you deserve. And that's how the world operates, isn't it? I mean, you've probably taken some shots from some people that were using their strength to get ahead and it kicked you down. But for followers of Jesus, that shouldn't be us. We should have our strength under control. We should leverage our power for the benefit of those around us and not for the benefit of ourselves, correct?


Jesus continues. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.” And the kind of thirst that Jesus is describing here is like somebody who needs water, or they will die. Followers of Jesus should be hungry and thirsty to that level. For what righteousness for God’s, we will do.  The world tells us that we need to be hungry and thirsty for what makes us happy for what brings us satisfaction.

But again, have you tried that before? It's like drinking saltwater - tastes good for a second, but it never satisfies. You always need more and more and more in the more you drink, the thirstier you're getting, and you keep trying to pour into yourself and it never brings you what you hoped.  But, what does Jesus say? He says, when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, it's like refreshing water that satisfies us. Listen, when we do God's will, it ends up benefiting ourself.  When we pursue righteousness instead of our own desires, we actually find satisfaction. Jesus continues with the next beatitude.  “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” We have a double standard with mercy, don’t we?  On one hand, when we make a mistake, we love to receive grace. We love to receive mercy, but when somebody makes a mistake, particularly one that affects us, we want them to get what they deserve, right?

We've got a double standard. We want grace, but we are often stingy with grace. And what Jesus is saying is, people who hold onto the wrongs that have been done against them can't also hold onto the grace that God has for them. You can't hold on to unforgiveness and accept forgiveness. And yeah, it's not fair, but it wasn't fair for Jesus to go to the cross for our mistakes either, was it?   See, when you're forgiven of much, you can forgive those around you and that doesn't make the wrongs that were done against you, okay? No, it's really, really hard. But Jesus, the saying is when we extend mercy, when we extend grace to people who don't deserve it, we shall be receive mercy for what we have done. You see the good life belongs to those who don't give what is deserved to the people around them. The good life belongs to those who give people what they need.  What we do for the least of them, we do it to Him.

Next beatitude is this – “blessed are the pure in heart for, they shall see God.” The religious people in Jesus's day were obsessed with ceremonial cleanliness. Then all these rituals for washing hands and keeping up appearances and making it seem like they were holy and righteous. But behind the scenes, Jesus continually points out that their hearts were a mess. I think we've got the same problem today. We're really good at putting on a face and coming in a building.  We’re really good at posting the right pictures on social. We're really good at pretending like we are doing all the right things. But I know for me, my heart is a mess. I've interacted with enough people to know that their heart is often a mess too. And what Jesus is saying, is listen, we often try to fix our actions. We haven't tried to fix our actions and make it appear like we're doing right.  But the problem is not our actions. The problem is our hearts. Out of our heart, flow our actions. And I found in my life when I want to deal with sin or something, that's going wrong in my life, I don't treat the symptoms - I treat my heart because out of the heart flow my actions. And I'm not saying our actions don't matter. They do. I'm just saying, when we want to fix the actions that are wrong in our life, we should fix the root cause and not the symptom. That's what Jesus is saying - blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are those who deal with what's on the inside because that's what matters. He says, blessed are the peacemakers for, they shall be called sons of God. And what I love about this, Jesus used the word peace.  He's saying the one who has received the peace of God and extends that peace to those around them. And Jesus says, when we are peacemakers, we should be called sons of God. It's an interesting term that we don't really use too much anymore outside the Bible. But in Jesus's day, this was not a statement of relationship. As in like an actual son, this was a statement of character. When you called somebody, a son of a (fill in the blank), not what the word you're thinking. A son of a king or son of something else you were saying that that person was acting like that person could be good or bad. So when Jesus says that you'll be a son of God, he's saying you're acting like God, when you bring peace somewhere, you're taking on the character of God, because he brought peace to us because of our sin, because of our mistakes.

We were enemies of God. And because of what He did, He brought peace to us. Now we can enter into a peaceful relationship and now we're called to do the same.  And listen, doesn't the world need that right now?  I don't know about you, but I don't see a lot of peace in our culture and society. And for followers of Jesus, we should be taking peace everywhere we go. Not dumping gas on the fire, but bringing peace. The last thing, the last thing that Jesus says is, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is one we wished wasn't included, right? Blessed are those who are persecuted. I think it's important that we pay attention to that second piece. For what? For righteousness’ sake.  You see, a lot of Christians that, that claim they're being persecuted. But, in reality, they're being persecuted because they said some really dumb and hurtful things.

Jesus’ saying, when you get persecuted for righteousness, when you get persecuted for doing my will, not your own will, then you are blessed, but Jesus isn't even done yet. If you go to the next verses, look at Matthew 5:12. He says, when you're persecuted, you should rejoice and be glad. I mean, come on, Jesus!!?!  All right, You want me to be persecuted? Okay. But you want me to rejoice and be glad?!?!  I mean, how is that even possible? This word rejoice is an interesting word. It actually could be translated a couple of different ways in English. We have a bunch of ways to translate it, but in Greek, the word it was originally written in is one of two things. It's either. It's either a greeting. Like when I see you, I could say this word, “rejoice” - Hi, how are you doing? Or it could also mean to display excessive, joy beyond what the circumstances allow. So the question is, how could Jesus tell us to rejoice when we're being persecuted? How could he tell us to rejoice when we're being lied about when we're being criticized, when we're being falsely accused, how can He say rejoice?

It's a really difficult thing to understand, but I believe what Jesus is doing here is that He's summing all this up and really He's summing the gospel up. What He's saying, saying the good life isn't found in all these things. The good life is found in a person found in Jesus. And when you have Jesus, all this other junk doesn't matter because, Jesus plus nothing, equals everything to the good life. We often pursue in all these things in this fame, this power, this money, these relationships, and what Jesus is saying is, listen, you can havenothing. You can be persecuted. You can be beaten. You can be lied about, and you can still have the good life. If you have me.

And that's how you can be persecuted and lied about and rejoice, because the world can take everything, but they can't take Jesus. And what I love about Jesus is He doesn't just say that He lives, He went to the cross for you and for me.  he experienced pain and death and separation from His Father, which I don't think we will ever, fully understand the weight of what He went through for us so that now we can rejoice and be glad, no matter our circumstances. See if I could sum up the beatitudes in just a few short words, I call it the great turnaround. The great turnaround Jesus is showing us, is how life really works. And in the spiritual realm, things are opposite. You see, the world tells us that the poor, the persecuted, the one’s in mourning – they’ve got nothing.  They don't have the blessed life. The very same people, the least, the lost, the forgotten.

But in Jesus, it is THEY who are the ones that become rich, who become significant, who become favored because they have Jesus. And listen, if you're a follower of Jesus today, these should be the indicators for your life. These aren't just good sayings. This should be who we are becoming. This should be who we are transforming into. So, let me ask you, does this describe your life? Is this who you are becoming? Are you poor in spirit? Do you recognize your own sinfulness and that you can't do anything to get to heaven except to look to Jesus. Do you mourn in your sin, or do you keep it hidden? Do you bring it to God or do you pretend it doesn't exist or are you meek?

Good stories are told in conflict. Good stories have tragedy, good stories have characters who face overwhelming challenges and go through struggles. So what a good story is made of, and if that's true, if that's what a good story is, and God has a good story for you, then we're not going to have an easy life, but you know, we will have a meaningful life. And I think that's what we want. Isn't it? I mean, do you want your life to matter? Do you want your life to make an impact long after you're gone?  Your life to still be living on by the impact that you made on those around you, because that's what Jesus is inviting you into. He never promised you an easy life. He didn't promise you a life full of comfort. He promised you that He would be with you.

He said, the good life is found when you follow me, even in the middle of really difficult circumstances, if you have Jesus and nothing else, you have it all. And I'm not going to sugar coat. It. It's a really hard life.  I have to remind myself that if I have Jesus, I have enough.

And I would encourage you to do the same thing. Cause my guess is you're like me. If you're not careful, you're going to start thinking, man, I don't have a good life because I don't have X, Y, and Z. But listen, if you have Jesus, you can have the good life. You can have peace and joy and hope that are not dependent on your circumstances. What you need to do is you need to get alone with God regularly and remind yourself that.

So, in closing, my final statement is this: You need to get alone with God. I don't know what that looks like for you. Maybe it's a reminder on your phone. Maybe it's creating a new habit, a new cadence this year, where perhaps every time you drive into work, you spend five, 10 minutes just reminding yourself to view life through a kingdom lens. But listen, you need those reminders. You won't naturally glide into this life that Jesus has invited you into. You have to intentionally keep your eyes focused on Jesus. When you take your eyes off Him, you'll sink like Peter when he was walking on water. But when you keep your eyes on him, you will rise above the waves.
 
I don't know what this year holds for you. But what I do know is, this year can be an incredible year for you regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what happens, regardless of the news you get.
 
If you keep your eyes on Jesus, I believe that this can be an incredible year for you. So don't lose sight. Don't give up, embrace the story and the path that He has laid out for you. It will not be easy, but I promise you it'll be worth it.
 
 
So, my final questions to you is this:    See, the challenge out of this passage for us to view life through a kingdom lens, to reject all the things the world tells us that we need. And it said to view it through what Jesus says is best.
 
Are you using your strengths for the benefit of those around you? Do you hunger and thirst for your own desires or do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Are you merciful? Are you extending grace to those in your life who don't deserve it? Are you peacemaker or you dumping gasoline on the fire? Do you rejoice in the trials and tribulations of life because you understand that you have Jesus and that's all that matters?
 
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So, before we end today’s show, I just want to thank you all again for tuning in and I HOPE you were touched by today’s message and scripture.  If you’d like to reach out to me, please call me directly at 4074933208, email me at ben@shaken-awake.com, or check out the show at shaken-awake.com.

Next week!!!!  Tune in Next Sunday – or WHENEVER YOU’RE ABLE, as we discuss “America is the Modern Day Sodom & Gomorrah – How to Prevent Being Judged Along With It”

Next week’s episode is another powerful and DO-NOT-MISS episode – thanks for joining!  

Until next week, take great care of yourself and each other, and God Bless You all.