Who are the saints of God?
Only the Biblical saints
Really good people

Matthew 5:2-11

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven:
Those who realize they can not of their own abilities get God’s riches
They will know God’s heaven for they know that

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted:
Those who mourn are those who deal with the grieving in this life, death, loss of job, broken relationships.
Those who mourn are those who realize that they are lost without God.
God comforts us through His Word-Psalms, Romans, Revelation

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth;
Those who are not arrogant
Those who are not prideful
Those who are not conceited
The meek will have what they need in this life

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled:
Those who want to live righteousness in their lives as witness to their faith
Our lives are filled when we are living out Christian lives and not worrying about life

Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy:
Those whose concern is for their neighbor spiritually and materially, trying to do good for all people
There is mercy from God and from others as a result of this living

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God:
Our hearts as well our actions know the love of God
Because our heart is of God we know who God is

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons of God:
Simply as Christians we treat to live in peace with everyone-repentance, forgiveness, patience and humility
Those who live this life are God’s children

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven:
Because of our lives as Christians there will be those who will oppress and attack us
As we deal with these persecutions we know that heaven is coming

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me-Same as above

We as God’s people struggle with many of these blessings daily and sometimes in our sin we fail:
We believe our own press
We don’t always want God
We treat others with anger and cruelty
We would rather be in conflict than peace
We deny our God in front of the world

That is why we are called sinners yet saints.
We are saints because we have been made new people through the blood of Christ.
We as sinners have a God who loves us so much that He sent Jesus to live the righteousness for us
We as sinners have a God who loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die in our place on the cross
Jesus arose from the dead to make us saints

As saints we can rejoice because we know have God’s blessing of His strength and comfort in this life
and the reward of heaven.

We also remember the saints who have gone before us.
These saints we can remember their:
Faith
Mercy
Christian life
Strength
Forgiveness

You are saints

In the last two days people have given me words of support for different responsibilities I have. In their support they let me know that it can difficult to deal with certain situations. What has help me to deal with difficult situations in the last few months is one thought-I can't worry or get upset over what I can't control. I have said this to other people and I have even said this to myself many times over the years. It is one thing to intellectually know something and another to truly absorb and own it in my own being. When I actually own the idea of not worrying about what I can't control my stress levels decrease and things that I would be worried about in the past seem get dealt with and worked through. It is amazing that as human being I fear things that are not real at the moment and I start making up scenarios that I believe are real. I'm not saying that negative things don't or won't happen, but I don't need to anticipate them. The verses when Jesus talks about the lillies of the field and the birds of air don't where about where they will make their home means much more when I know that God is the trust and support system that gives me the most peace of mind and heart.