Beatitudes and Armor of God Have More in Common Than You Think

What does The Beatitudes and The Armor of God Have In Common?

10603416_478041798999423_8076936777044437306_n Photo Credit – GROW in His Word Ministries

 

Back in the spring, I joined a group of God-loving sister’s in Christ called GROW in His Word. In each session, we are given a Bible verse and then we do the following:

  • G – Greet – Invite God into your quiet time by opening in prayer.
  • R – Read – Read the verse silently or out loud a few times.
  •  O – Observe – What stood out to you as you read the verse?
  •  W – Write – Write out the verse, observation and prayers.

I have found myself memorizing the verses by reading them over so often, as an added bonus to GROW.

With all that said, the Fall Session will be starting next week and the two topics we will be “Growing” are The Beatitudes the first four weeks. Then, we will cover The Armor of God” in the last four weeks. I will be sharing my reflection of our weekly verse here for my readers to GROW as well with the group I am growing with. Please feel free to join the discussion or share on social media.

For a little introduction, Matthew 5 :3-12 is where we find The Beatitudes. We will be going over the first eight of the nine over the next four weeks, then we will be heading over to  Ephesians 6: 14-17 for The Armor of God.  So let’s get unofficially started.

 

According to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, the word beatitude means condition or statement of blessedness. From the Webster Dictionary, we see the definition – blessedness/bliss; a passage from the Sermon on the Mount declaring what makes a man blessed. When we look at The Beatitudes, we are going to see three principles.

  1. Each Beatitude starts out with the words “Blessed are”. Which is being used as an adjective.
  2. A present truth, either by a characteristic or by circumstances.
  3. A future promise, giving us a why they are blessed.

Let’s look at the final Beatitude in verses 11 and 12.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5: 11-12 NIV

Principle 1 is seen in “Blessed are”. Principle 2 tells us who is blessed. “You when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Principle 3 is seen with a how to respond, “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,”. But we are also given a glimpse that shows we are united with the body of Christ. “for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

It is no coincidence that Jesus taught this Beatitude last, just as it is no coincidence that He gave us the Beatitudes in a certain order. As we study the Beatitudes, we are going to see the believers faith, our walk with Christ and how they are covered by the graces and mercies of God. The Beatitudes are given to us in a certain order that is intertwined with our relationship with God.

Great is our reward, not just here on earth but also when we stand together for eternity with Christ. May God bless our time together over the next few weeks as we GROW in His Word.

In His Love, Crisi

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