Blessed

January 11, 2013

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."  - St. Matthew 5:11-12


I will often hear people say, "I don't care what people say about me."  I find that this response is usually a defensive one when a person has been the object of hurtful or mean comments or gossip.  While I do believe that we should not dwell on negative talk because we cannot control what other people say,  when we find ourselves the target of another person's untruthful remarks it is can be especially hurtful.

When we meditate however, on today's scripture we are instructed by the Lord Himself that we are blessed when we are reviled that is to be criticized with abusive language. Jesus says we are blessed when we are persecuted, when we just can't get away from the pressure. We try to avoid it but we might even be confronted through email, Facebook and Twitter.  He lets us know that there are no white lies but all manner of evil, falsely, for His sake.  Sometimes the darts come just because you are a Christian.

Jesus does not just describe the kind of attacks we will face. He tells us in verse twelve what to do in the midst of them. He also lets us know that this isn't new.  It has happened to people of faith in the past.  His words are: "Rejoice and be exceeding glad!." 

Now let's take a minute and soak it in.  Rejoice!  Get your praise on!  Shout about it!    You might even want to run around and cry out Hallelujah the highest praise!

Until next time!  I have some rejoicing and exceeding praise to do!  I am blessed!  Blessed!

God bless!

Sis. Stephanie D. K. Tyus