Me: Are you having a good day with your friend?
Prodigal: She is great to be around and also as bright as a new penny!
Me: Well enjoy your time and I will share something to encourage!
This is from J. B. Phillips
“Blessed” in the authorized version is very nearly the equivalent of our modern word “happy.” So that Jesus, in effect, gives us a recipe for happiness in the Beatitudes. So as to make the revolutionary character of His recipe more apparent, I will quote first a little version of my own, of what most non-Christian people think.
They think: “Happy are the pushers, for they get on in the world. Happy are the hard-boiled, for they never let life hurt them. Happy are they who complain, for they get their own way in the end. Happy are the blase, for they never worry over their sins. Happy are the slave drivers, for they get results. Happy are the knowledgeable men of the world, for they know their way around. Happy are the troublemakers, for they make people take notice of them.”
But Jesus said, “How happy are the humble-minded, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. How happy are those who know what sorrow means, for they will be given courage and comfort. Happy are those who claim nothing, for the whole earth will belong to them. Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for goodness, for they will be satisfied. Happy are the merciful, for they will have mercy shown to them. Happy are the utterly sincere, for they will see God. Happy are those who make peace, for they will be known as sons of God.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
