Matthew – Page 2 – watercress words by Dr Aletha

This section of the Bible book Matthew is known as The Beatitudes.

Matthew recorded these lessons that Jesus taught in his “Sermon on the Mount” , some of the most well known and often quoted verses of the Bible.

a ceramic cross with the Beatitudes Matthew 5:3-10 — The Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-10

The dictionary defines beatitude as “a state of utmost bliss or supreme blessedness.”

Beatitude inherited its blessedness from the Latin word beatus, meaning both “happy” and “blessed.” In the Bible, the Beatitudes are a series of eight blessings, such as “Blessed are those poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And in 1958 writer Jack Kerouac coined the term “The Beat Generation” because he felt its members were seeking beatitude. (vocabulary.com)

Most modern English translations of the Bible use the words blessed or happy in these verses. The Easy-to-Read version calls it “great blessings.”

The Amplified Bible lives up to its name using several different words to express these sentiments. These include

spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired
forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace
inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect
joyful, nourished by God’s goodness
anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature
spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor
comforted by inner peace and God’s love
morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness

Just as there may be many ways to define or describe being blessed, there are many ways to define health or describe being healthy. I addressed this in a previous post that I hope you will read.

Improving health with 7 life elements

(Here is a brief excerpt)

Spiritual Wellness – what brings, peace, harmony, and purpose to our lives.

Our sense of ethics, morals, right, and wrong is usually based on what we believe to be true and meaningful, and likely involves faith and support for an organized belief system or religion. Without belief in something, our lives can drift aimlessly and we can fall into restlessness, doubt our purpose, and lose hope for the future.

Both states-blessed and healthy– may be determined

not by what we have, but by who we are,

not by what we get, but what we give,

not by chasing them, but by living them.

Maybe they are both a journey, not a destination.

The Beatitudes- How to be blessed, happy and healthy- watercresswords.com

I’ve written more about the Beatitudes and other lessons from the Sermon on the Mount. Here is one.

How to satisfy hunger and thirst

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
“I would run my finger along those phases, wondering if those words could really be true. If I pursue your ways, God, will you really satisfy that which is hungry in me?”
excerpt from FIRE ROAD

Read a review of FIRE ROAD

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faith, hope, and love

(1 Corinthians 13:13)

Thank you so much. Dr. Aletha

²⁵“This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn’t life worth more than food? And isn’t the body worth more than clothes?

²⁶Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth much more than birds?

²⁷Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?

²⁸“And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers (or lilies of the field) grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves.

colorful flowers — photo credit-Lightstock.com (affiliate link)

²⁹But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers.

³⁰It is God who clothes the wild grass—grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won’t he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have!

³¹“So do not start worrying: ‘Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?’

³²(These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things.

³³Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things.

³⁴So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

Matthew 6 – Good News Translation (GNT)

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How Lilies of the Field challenged the fallacy of racism

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