It is my desire this year to read and study the New Testament of the Bible. Just a few pages in to the NT, the Bible reader encounters an early introduction to the teachings of Jesus and a brief idea of what the rest on the New Testament teachings are about. It starts with His intimate, private instruction to his first disciples, what we know as the “The Beatitudes”. But the crowds gather as Jesus continues to reveal God’s heart regarding our attitudes, sin, and our daily life decisions and actions. These teachings are referred to as the Sermon on the Mount.

Over the next few posts on PUYB I plan to share what I learn in my study of the Beatitudes as listed in Matthew 5. The Beatitudes

• are a list of 8 blessings, as proclaimed by Jesus that have an “already-here-but-not-yet” fulfilment in the life of a believer and an invitation to those who do not believe to live such a life.
• are a series of sentences that follow a similar literary pattern of “blessed are….,for theirs/they…”.
• can be easily misunderstood – They are not instructions to forgo what you have and and become something less, rather a call to realize who we truly are and to live in the truth as God says it.

I’m excited to share what I learn with you and hope you will read and study Matthew 5 along with me.