EASTER FIVE

Jesus Christ is RisenHe is risen indeed
Halleluiah

a verse or two

^“24 The LORD bless you and keep you;

²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
Numbers 6: 24 – 26

Spiritual Walk and Musings: “The Lord Bless You”

What does it mean to be blessed? I have thought about this a lot over the years. And must confess my conclusions have tended to be a tad egocentric. It took reading the Beatitudes again to help me rethink things. In the past my thinking went along the lines, blessed is the person who is with God, one who knows God, who is aware of God’s presence. This is not untrue but maybe there is much more to what it means to be ‘blessed’. Perhaps true blessing is had in the process of blessing the other, blessing someone else? Perhaps it blesses God when we bless another. Perhaps God is most present when we bless another. Perhaps we are more aware of God’s presence when we need it because we need God’s help while blessing another?

Another thought. Reading the Beatitudes this week, they say, “Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers.” Could it be they are the blessed ones? Or are the blessed those in the second part of each Beatitude, i.e. those shown mercy, those who see God, those called the children of God, those who have the kingdom of heaven, who inherit the earth, who are comforted – perhaps they are the blessed ones. That asks the question – what does it mean to inherit the earth? What does it mean to see God?

To Pray and Ponder: Learning More about Jesus

After last week’s service, the guest speaker from ReachAcross told me they forgot so say that one of the major differences between Islam and Christianity is the Koran teaches Jesus did not rise from the dead. Christianity believes Christ did rise from the dead. Our understanding of Jesus is a major difference. That is one reason we are spending time this year looking at ‘who is Jesus’. A good prayer for our church at the moment could be along the lines of asking God to help us to continue to learn more and more about who Jesus Christ is.