Matthew 5:6-7-   We begin to know Jesus more and more as we take in His words... as the Spirit opens our eyes and hearts to these truths.  Our "blessedness" begins when we confess our poverty of spirit and receive the gift of God's kingdom through Jesus Christ.  We have mourned and we have been humbled as we come into His holy presence and fall on our faces before Him. He begins to transform us as He abides in us and we in Him.. .

In verse 6 Jesus tells us that there is blessedness found in our "hunger and thirst for righteousness".  He has met us in our poverty and sorrow.. He has come into our lives to produce His desires in us..  He gives us an all consuming desire to be righteous before Him.. to please the Father.. to glorify the name that is above all names. It is Christ, Himself, who produces this hunger and who satisfies us with Himself.  He is our righteousness.  Only Jesus can satisfy that daily need.. and He does so with abundance! Praise His name!

Verse 7.. Jesus tells us that there is a blessedness in being merciful.  It is a quality that He has shown over and over again.. indeed His mercies are new every morning!  As He abides in us and we grow in the grace and the knowledge of our merciful Savior.. we reflect this precious characteristic. We receive mercy and we practice mercy.  James 2:12-13 "So speak and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgement will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement."  Yes, there is a blessedness that can be seen and felt when we have shown mercy as well as when we receive it. 

Father in heaven, let Your name be exalted in all the earth! May Your will be done and Your kingdom come. Father, conform us to the image of Your Beloved Son.. in righteousness and in mercy.  My desire today is to be all that You want me to be.. Have Your own way in me today. Abide in me Jesus as I desire with all my heart to abide in You.  Amen.