We’re in beatitudes this week on Perry and Shawna mornings.  The “Blesseds” at the beginning of Matthew 5.  The beatitudes show us how to become a follower of Jesus and then they show us what a follower of Jesus looks like.  They really show us the kind of person that changes the world.  So first Perry shares about being in a little Pentecostal church in Cheboygan and during that service reflecting on all the ways he had tried to fill the emptiness in his life during his teenage years:  Sex, fame, applause, achievement, approval from his parents, the “It’s all about me life.”  And that morning Jesus filled his emptiness with Himself! 

Then Grand Rapids bible teacher and pastor, Rod VanSolkema breaks down each one of the beatitudes, what each mean, and how being poor in Spirit is the hinge on which all the other beatitudes rest.  Then we have a conversation about, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  Shawna shares honestly that as much she longs to wholeheartedly live for Jesus, she sometimes gives in to the tasty treats of the world.   She can fall into thinking that we can enjoy them while loving God, not realizing that they pull our affection away from the One who died for us.  It’s a call to take a hard look inside and to ask Jesus to cleanse us again. 

Next we laser focus on what it means to be poor in heart.  It has to do with seeing ourselves as beggars who need only bring our desperation to God.  The beggars are the ones who get God!  Then when we become the beatitudes, then and only then do we have something to offer the world, something that will change the world—We're not called to be relevant, we’re called to be like Jesus.  And finally, the beatitudes show us how to live an ecstatically happy life.  It comes from putting King Jesus and his Kingdom first!

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