saskheather

When we are persecued it means that we are not living the way of the world. This is a sign that we are on the right track. It is hard but it does us spiritual good in the long run. We are not hurting just because God wants us to suffer, we are hurting for our own good. Maybe like the swat on the behing that you got when you were a little child..it hurt but it also molded you into a better person. We must hurt a bit before we can truly understand the hurting of others. We don't always see how the pain will help us, but God knows. The promise of heaven is to help us remember that our lives are very brief and if we turn to God, we will live in heaven forever.

We must put God first and make him the centre of our lives. We can onlly have a pure heart by asking forgiveness for our sins and really meaning that we are sorry and going to try to do better. We must ask the Holy Spirit to be with us and we must listen to him when we have to make decisions. If we are a "chronic sinner" we just keep on sinning and we get so used to it that we don't even realize that we are doing wrong. That is a bad situaltion and sometimes it takes a great sorrow to bring us back...that is getting into the next question.We must pray and immerse ourselves in the Word of God to obtain a pure heart. It is a lifelong process..we must keep at it.We must be single-hearted, giving our all to God.

Definition of righteousness=meeting the standards of what is right and just.So we are to try to meed these standards as illustrated by Jesus's life and teachings. The world does not always follow this same standard. Too often greed for money and power overide what is right. People ,esp. those in power, do not like to be told that what they are doing is morally wrong. This could lead to losing a job or a friend. Jesus wants us to learn what is right and then strive to do it. Sometimes we have to go against the popular movements of the day. Jesus stood up to the powerful in his time. If we really try to find out what God wants us to do and then do it, we will be rewarded with life eternal.

The world looks at gentleness as weak but Jesus tells us it is desirable. Jesus showed his humility in many ways and we must strie to follow his example as best we can. As soon as we think we are pretty good..we are not thinking right...we must always remember that we are sinners and in need of God's guidance.

I think that we have to be aware of our spritual poverty because we have to realize that we still have a lot to learn and that we can't do everything for ourselves. We must recognize our need for God in our lives. The mourning which we do is about our lack of faith and our troubles in this worls. I think Christians mourn the way Jesus had to die for us because of our weakness and wikedness.

I am new at this but I have done quite a few Bible studies in groups and wanted to continue over the summer. I see the Beatitudes as a way of making us think about what is the true meaning of a Christian life. It is often the opposite of wordly goals and ways. Jesus used the paradoxes to make us think about this. The fruits of the Spirit are very similar and are what we will receive with the help of the Spirit when we do our best to follow the Beatitudes.

Hi. This is my first Hi, I am from Saskatchewan, Canada. my name is Heather and I am excited about this chance to exchange thoughts with others.