Blessed And Happy

WED., FEB. 17, 1993, 8:56 AM
OFFICE, PULLIAM HALL

The author of the book you are reading for this “Bible” study makes a “big thing” out of differences between blessed and happy as translations of My Beatitudes. I come to you on this sun-filled, snow-covered morning to tell you there is merit in both words. Each has part of the meaning that I intended.

There certainly has been a lot of “scholarship,” some of it legitimate and spirit-filled and some pedantic and spiritless, regarding this introduction to My Sermon on the Mount. The early translations to English said blessed, meaning that there was something spiritually special about being poor in spirit, in mourning, pure in heart… You discerned a balance in these blessed folk, some seemingly undesirable, such as poor in spirit and others quite desirable… pure in heart. Now these could be different persons with such “regular” blessings, or it could refer to a single person, at different times and under different circumstances. You are not often persecuted for My sake, but if such a situation would occur you should remember that you are blessed for such discomfort. Actually and interestingly, you have come the closest to being persecuted for My sake by My servant Mable, who cannot accept some of what I have told you. Firm in the faith I have nurtured in her she must, occasionally, speak out against you, a mild reviling because you are being true to My Teachings to you.

Now it is true that you can be blessed and not realize it. One reason would be ignorance of or failure to retain, in your memory, these Beatitudes. Another would be non-recognition of some personal situation as relevant. You could be a situational peacemaker and not really realize that you are blessed for being such. This morning you had a few moments of being poor in spirit, when the car wouldn’t start and none of the means to overcome this worked. You didn’t realize, immediately, as you do now, that I have reminded you, that in this dilemma your spirit was poorly, and thus you were blessed. You were blessed because you needed to be, and that helped bring Lenore out, and together you accomplished what was needed to get you here.

See, you could remember that being humble or meek brings forth blessedness, as does showing mercy. These are ways of being that are not difficult for you. You are not always meek, but you have good qualities of humbleness, usually. It is much easier for you to show mercy than to be the “sword of justice.” So, you can be blessed while being what it is rather easy for you to be.

What about happy? The author puts this down as being subjective and just a personal, emotional feeling. This is comparable to thinking of love only as a feeling about ice cream or licorice. Happy also describes a spiritual condition, which is, at best, a response to being blessed in some way. In some instance you are humbly meek. Realizing that you are blessed for this way of being you are happy in feeling that blessedness.

However, in the situation your meekness prevents you from being reviled for My sake, leaving you emotionally happy, but aware that you are not blessed for this.

You have to agree with the author, for I do tell you what he says, fundamentally. You are blessed because you were chosen to be and have accepted that relationship. This is the basic blessing, which I withdraw only under extreme conditions of rejection. This blessing urges you to know this pertinent Scripture and be aware and appreciate when you are blessed farther in these special ways. You are spiritually happy in your basic blessedness, but feel an additional, and different, happiness as you accept even more blessedness.