End of the Rope

I have been spending some time with the Sermon on the Mount.  These are words that Jesus preached 2,000 years ago and they still have the power to jump off the page for us today!  Check out Matthew chapters 5-7 for the entire account.  I have been especially looking at Matthew 5 these past few days.  Tonight I wanted to include verses 1-8.  Sometimes I read from "The Message" for a different way of looking at scripture...

"When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

“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.

“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

 

“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world."

My children are currently ages 5 and 7.  It has been "that week" around here!  Nothing that is the end of the world.  But there has been more than one day where I have been quite aware of the very tip of my rope!  It is not the worst place to be.  This is a spot where I am most tuned in to reaching beyond myself and asking God to help me.  

And how about the rest of the passage included above!?!  I am not going to add anything to it.  I have been reading these words each day this week.  WOW.  

There is a song that I have been singing often these days... check out this song that is a prayer of mine.