Upside Down You’re Blessed When You Make Peace : You’re Blessed When You’re Persecuted

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Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

Matthew 5:9 
New International Version (NIV)

Peace: eirēnē (Greek) // shalōm (Hebrew)

The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way 
to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, 
as it is written:
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
At first his disciples did not understand all this. 
Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

John 12:12-16 (NIV)

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 14:25-27 (NIV)

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:10 (NIV)

This past weekend, Pastor Jason Cornish arrived at Providence United Methodist Church in Elkton, MD, to find an unfamiliar vehicle parked on the property. The uninhabited vehicle with out-of-state license plates bore a Confederate flag hoisted on the 
truck’s bed. Providence UMC is a historically black church, and the town of Elkton was one of the stops on the Underground Railroad. Racism and acts of aggression by racist groups and individuals has been a part of its distant and recent past. These acts have caused pain and this recent incident
compounds that pain.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

Matthew 5:9 (NIV)

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:10 (NIV)