Matthew 5:12 NKJV

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:12 NKJV

In this passage before this verse, Jesus is teaching and telling them that Blessed, which is a position of one who is blessed. This position cannot be attained by works but a position that only God can give.

Therefore, blessed is a state of grace that God has bestowed upon us. Now functioning out of that position of a blessed person, we are going to produce the characteristics of God in our lives.

Blessings come from the Lord, He is the source of all blessings. It is a place that one chooses to remain and that place is Jesus.

Those who live according to the position of the blessed of the Lord will continue to produce and become more fruitful in their lives.

Then Jesus said here that we are to rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is our reward in heaven. Somehow people are not going to be happy if we speak about the finished work of Christ, preach about His grace, His perfect love and His goodness towards us.

Living in the state of being blessed by God and living in the work He has completed for us will upset our flesh for it is contrary to our fallen nature.

Our body cries out I am not blessed, look I have pain, look I dont have many things and this mountain is over me. This is because that is all our body can see.

But our spirit man sees another dimension that has been perfected by Christ. Where we see ourselves healed, blessed, restored, over the mountains and sitted above with Christ.

When we are persecuted, we don't have to worry about anything. Instead, rejoice and be exceedingly glad for they persecuted Jesus for doing what the Father showed Christ to do.

We are no longer ourselves and one who is bound by the flesh, we are of Christ, purchased by His own blood and now we live as a NEW CREATION in Him.

We must not step out from what Christ has made us to be. We must not let our natural senses dominate us. Instead, we must let our new nature in Christ dominate our whole lives and reign over our body.

Let us keep living in what Christ has done for us, strengthening our hearts and minds to follow Him fully.

Blessings,

Ps Ambrose