"A real Christian is an odd number, anyway. He feels supreme love for the One whom he has never seen; talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see; expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another; empties himself in order to be full; admits he is wrong so he can be declared right; goes down in order to get up; is strongest when he is weakest; richest when he is poorest and happiest when he feels the worst." - A.W. Tozer

The truly upside down life.

I don't know if you have caught it yet...but these BEattitudes wreck everything that seems comfortable (well...if we truly understand them and engross them into our lives). These attitudes completely change the story...demand us to u-turn from our personal kingdom of self-preservation (because isn't that the only thing our kingdoms embrace anyway?) and invite us to merge with the flipped Kingdom of God.

So what's in store for today?

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

The what?

The meek? Isn't that what is wrong with Christians today Jesus? They're cowards? The last word to describe most of your followers is powerful...aren't you just feeding into that?

My thoughts on this verse for 15 years...

Until I got a little context.

Meek here has nothing to do with fear. Nothing to do with gentleness they way we tend to define it.

Jesus is saying...never lose sight of who you are. You have been brought from the depths of darkness and are now able to commune with the Blessed and only Ruler, the One who lives in inapproachable light. With this realization brimming from your every thought and action- there is no reason to count yourself higher than you should. There is no way for you to be proud of yourself and your accomplishments, your gifts, your talents.

Look at what another version says:

"God blesses those people who are humble. The earth will belong to them!"

or:

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."

A real Christian is an odd number, aren't they?