Most everyone, whether or not they are followers of Christ, are familiar with the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5. What most do not know, however, is that in the original Greek, the word for "blessed" here literally translates into a short cry of joy. The best way I could phrase it would be "You lucky person! You're doing what God made you to do!" Keep in mind that we cannot pick and choose when this applies. "Blessed" also appears in v. 11, where Jesus reminds us to be joyful "when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me."
Christ turned the world's accepted standards upside-down. It is the poor, not the rich, who are blessed; the weak, not the strong, who are to be esteemed; the pure in heart, not the sophisticated and the worldly, who understand what life is about. Righteousness, not pleasure or power or money, should be our pursuit.
My friends, happiness is not what we feel, it is what IS. Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product, controlled by our internal values and beliefs. Happiness is what happens to us when we choose to follow Christ and allow His character to become a part of us! That is why Paul explains in an amazing passage out of II Corinthians that we, "who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (3:18 NIV). Not only do we glimpse God's glory now, but His Spirit is in the process of transforming us more and more into the glorious likeness of God.
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