The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the second Beatitude: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." We delve into the concept that mourning, often perceived as a negative experience, can lead to a profound sense of comfort and joy through spiritual awareness. In our exploration, we uncover the significance of grieving over personal sin, the brokenness of the world, and the injustices that surround us. I articulate the distinction between godly sorrow, which leads to repentance and restoration, and worldly sorrow, which focuses solely on consequences. Ultimately, we emphasize that through mourning, one can encounter God's active presence, which provides comfort, hope, and the promise of joy amidst grief.

Takeaways:

1. The content of Living the Selah Life serves as spiritual encouragement and personal reflection.
2. Listeners are reminded that the podcast is not a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice.
3. The teachings shared reflect the host's insights based on personal experiences and Biblical principles.
4. Mourning can lead to blessings, as those who grieve deeply over sin can find comfort from God.
5. Jesus teaches that grief can be a pathway to joy, as evidenced by profound Biblical principles.
6. The podcast emphasizes the importance of acknowledging personal sin and the impact of grief on spiritual growth.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. livingtheselahlife.proton.me
2. instagram.com/livingtheselahlife
3. youtube.com/livingtheselahlife
4. facebook.com/groups/livingtheselahlife

The content shared on Living the Selah Life is for spiritual encouragement, personal reflection, and informational purposes only.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat or replace medical, psychological, or professional advice of any kind.

Please consult a licensed healthcare provider or qualified professional for any physical, mental or emotional health concerns.

The views expressed are those of the host, Kimberly Lockanor, and are based on personal experience and Biblical insight.

Welcome back to Living the Selah Life, a podcast that invites you to slow down, to breathe and reconnect with the presence of God.

I'm your host, Kim, and this space is for anyone longing to become more familiar with his presence.

Each episode is an intentional pause, a moment to reflect, realign and remember that God meets us when we create space for Him.

So take a breath.

You're right on time.

Let's live the Selah life together.

Hey hey my friends.

Welcome back.

In our last episode, we explored the first Beatitude Blessed are the Poor in spirit.

We discover that poverty of Spirit is the gateway to the kingdom and the recognition that we have nothing to offer God and must depend entirely on his mercy.

Today we're looking at the second Beatitude.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

And I know this one probably sounds a little depressing, but everything in God ends with goodness because he is good.

The statement blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted contradicts everything that we know about happiness and blessings.

Yet Jesus declares that mourning leads to blessing.

We'll discover what kind of mourning Jesus is talking about and why.

Grief can become a pathway to comfort and joy.

So our main teaching today I'm going to call it those who mourn blessed grief.

The second beatitude comes from Matthew, chapter 5, verses 4.

And again it says, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

This Beatitude follows directly from the last because when you become poor in spirit and recognize your spiritual bankruptcy, mourning is the natural response to that.

You mourn over your sin, over your failures, over the gap between who you are and who God created you to be.

You mourn over the brokenness in this world, over suffering, over injustice, and over everything that contradicts God's good design.

Jesus original audience expected the Messiah to bless the joyful, the successful, and the victorious.

Mourning was associated with loss, defeat, and suffering.

So how in the world could mourners be blessed?

Jesus is teaching us that some grief is blessed, some sorrow leads to life, and some mourning opens the door to comfort that cannot be found any other way.

The Greek word here for grief that Jesus Used is pentheo.

Pentheo.

It's P E N T H E o.

And this word describes the deepest kind of grief, the sorrow that comes from a devastating loss.

In ancient Greek culture, pentheo was used to describe the mourning that follows death, especially the death of someone deeply loved.

The word describes visible grief that cannot be hidden.

It's the kind of sorrow that affects your whole being, like your emotions, your body, your daily life.

When someone experiences pindaeo, everyone around them knows it.

This grief shows on their face, in their posture, in their tears.

Pantheo is an intense mourning that goes deep into the soul.

Jesus uses this strong word on purpose.

He's not talking about people who feel a little sorry when they sin or who have a passing regret about their failures.

He's talking about people who grieve deeply over spiritual realities, over their sin, over the brokenness in the world, over separation from God and his purposes.

What kind of mourning does Jesus bless?

Because he's not saying that all grief is good or that suffering itself brings blessing.

He's describing a specific kind of mourning, the grief that comes from spiritual awareness.

There are several kinds of mourning that Jesus blesses.

First is the mourning over personal sin.

When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and we see how our actions have grieved God or hurt others and maybe damaged our own soul.

This awareness brings about a grief we don't acknowledge sin intellectually.

Second, mourning over the consequences of sin in our life and in the world.

You see it in marriages, destroyed children, suffering, addictions enslaving people, violence tearing communities apart.

We recognize that none of this is how God designed things, and the natural effect of that is grief.

Third is mourning over spiritual deadness.

We recognize seasons when the heart has grown cold toward God, when prayer feels empty or scripture doesn't move us anymore, when we've been going through religious motions without genuine love for Jesus, this recognition brings grief.

Fourth, mourning over injustice and suffering.

We see people are oppressed, exploited and marginalized.

The innocent suffering, children in poverty, families torn apart by war, people dying without hope.

And this stirs grief in the heart because we know God's heart breaks over these things.

All of these forms of mourning flow from spiritual awareness.

They come from seeing reality through God's eyes and feeling his grief over sin and its consequences.

Now, there is a difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow.

Second Corinthians 7:10 makes an important distinction.

It says, for godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world.

Produces death.

Not all sorrow is godly.

Worldly sorrow is regret over consequences.

Godly sorrow grieves over the sin itself.

It mourns because we've offended God, because we violated his design and because we've harmed others.

This sorrow focuses on God and what your sin means to him.

And it leads to repentance, to genuine change in thinking and behavior.

Judas experienced worldly sorrow when he realized Jesus would be crucified.

He felt remorse and tried to return the 30 pieces of silver.

But his sorrow was over the consequences, not over his betrayal of the Son of God.

His sorrow led to despair and ultimately death.

Peter, on the other hand, experienced godly sorrow when he denied Jesus three times and then heard the rooster crow.

Scripture says he went out and wept bitterly.

His grief was over his sin, over denying the Lord he loved.

His sorrow led to repentance and and restoration.

Jesus met him after the resurrection and restored him to ministry.

The difference between these two responses is the focus.

Worldly sorrow is self focused.

Godly sorrow is God focused.

Worldly sorrow leads to shame and despair, while godly sorrow leads to confession and restoration.

There is good news here.

Jesus doesn't leave those who mourn in their grief.

He makes a promise.

They shall be comforted.

And the Greek word for comforted here is parakaleo.

Parakaleo.

And this word means to come alongside someone to help, encourage, console and strengthen them.

It's the root word used to describe the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete, which I'm sure most of us have heard of that one.

The one who comes alongside to help.

God's comfort is not just emotional soothing.

It's his active presence meeting us in our grief.

When you mourn over sin and cry for mercy, God comes alongside you with forgiveness.

He comes alongside you with hope.

And this comfort doesn't always remove the circumstances that cause the mourning.

God doesn't always immediately fix all brokenness.

He doesn't instantly eliminate all consequences of sin.

But he does meet you in the grief.

He provides his presence.

He offers strength to endure and he gives hope that transcends the current circumstance.

Isaiah, chapter 61, verses 1 through 3 describes the comfort God gives to those who mourn.

Says he gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness.

He takes the devastation of sin and loss and creates something beautiful from it.

He brings joy where there was sorrow, and he produces praise where there was grief.

This promise is both present and future.

God comforts us now in our mourning.

But the ultimate comfort comes in eternity when God will wipe away every tear, when death will be no more, when mourning and crying and pain will pass away.

That is a promise.

How can mourning lead to joy?

Jesus teaches a pattern again upside down kingdom that seems backwards to our human intellectual thinking.

Mourning leads to comfort, grief leading to joy.

Sorrow leads to blessing.

But this pattern appears throughout scripture.

Psalms chapter 30, verses 5 says, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

The grief is temporary.

The joy is coming.

Psalms 126, verses 5 through 6 says that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his she's with him.

The tears sown in mourning produced a harvest of joy.

And James, chapter 4, verses 9 through 10 says, Lament and mourn and weep, and let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.

The mourning and humbling lead to God lifting you up.

This pattern worked because mourning over sin leads to confession, confession leads to forgiveness, forgiveness leads to restoration, and restoration produces joy.

The path to joy can run through grief.

Jesus blesses those who mourn because they're willing to face reality, to grieve appropriately over brokenness.

And because they're willing to mourn, they're positioned to receive genuine comfort, lasting joy and deep restoration.

The Christian life involves regular cycles of mourning and comfort.

As you mature spiritually, you become more sensitive to sin.

Things that once didn't bother you now bring conviction.

The Holy Spirit shows you more subtle forms of pride, selfishness and rebellion.

The increase in sensitivity is a sign of growth.

You're becoming more like Jesus, who was completely sensitive to sin, who grieved deeply over it.

And your mourning keeps you humble, dependent and grateful for grace.

At the same time, you experience God's comfort more deeply.

You know his forgiveness is real, and you've experienced his restoration repeatedly.

You trust his promises.

So even as you grieve more deeply, you also rest more completely in his grace.

We will move on to this week's Scripture Spotlight.

And it comes from Isaiah, chapter 61, verses 1 through 3, and it says, love this passage of Scripture.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prisons to those who are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified.

This passage is a prophecy about the Messiah and his ministry.

Jesus read these verses in the synagogue at Nazareth at the beginning of his public ministry and declared, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

And that's in Luke chapter 4, verses 21.

Jesus was saying, I am the One this passage describes I have come to do these things.

This passage lists several groups that the Messiah has come to help.

The poor, the brokenhearted, the captives.

Those who are bound in the middle of this list are all who mourn and those who mourn in Zion.

God's mission through the Messiah includes comforting those who mourn.

He came to bring comfort to those who grieve over sin, over brokenness, over loss, over separation from God.

The phrase those who mourn in Zion refers to those who grieve over spiritual realities.

Zion represents God's people and God's purposes.

So those who mourn in Zion are grieving over sin, over spiritual deadness, over God's name being dishonored, over his people being far from Him.

The passage also describes three gifts that God gives to replace beauty for ashes.

In ancient Israel, people put ashes on their heads as a sign of mourning.

Ashes represented devastation or loss and grief.

God promises to replace the ashes of mourning with beauty, the oil of joy.

For mourning, oil was used in celebrations and for anointing.

It represented gladness and festivity.

God promises to replace mourning with joy, the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness.

A spirit of heaviness is a heavy, oppressive grief that weighs down the soul.

God promises to replace this crushing sorrow with with praise.

When you receive his forgiveness, when you experience his restoration, and when you encounter his presence, praise becomes the natural response.

This passage ends with a statement about those who receive this comfort become trees of righteousness.

The planting of the Lord becomes that he may be glorified.

Trees of righteousness are people who are rooted, bearing fruit, providing shade and shelter for others.

They are stable, mature, and fruitful.

They didn't get there by avoiding mourning.

Believe that they got there by being honest about their brokenness, by grieving over their sin, and by receiving God's comfort and experiencing his restoration.

When you mourn appropriately and receive God's comfort, you don't stay broken.

You Become strong and fruitful.

Your willingness to grieve positions you to bring comfort to others who mourn as well.

The purpose statement at the end is crucial that he may be glorified.

God brings beauty from ashes, joy from mourning, and praise from heaviness so that he will be glorified.

When people see what God has done in your life, how he has taken your brokenness and made you whole, how he's replaced your mourning with joy, they give him glory.

If you're mourning over sin, over brokenness, over spiritual deadness, Jesus came for you.

He came to bring you comfort.

He came to replace your ashes with beauty, your mourning with joy, and your spirit with praise.

Bring your grief to him honestly.

Don't try to minimize it or pretend it's not there.

Let him meet you in the morning and minister his comfort.

Receive the forgiveness that he purchased and accept the restoration that he offers.

The comfort that he brings is not just for you.

Remember that once you've experienced how God brings this beauty from ashes in your life, you are now equipped to comfort others who mourn.

You become a tree of righteousness again that's rooted, stable and fruitful, providing shelter for others who are grieving.

Praise God.

We will move on to this week's Pause prompts, taking inventory of where we are so that we will know where we're going.

Let's go.

Pause Prompt number one.

How do you respond when the Holy Spirit convicts you?

Do you receive his conviction as a gift that leads to confession and restoration?

Or do you resist it or get stuck in guilt?

What brokenness in the world around you stirs grief in your heart, and how does that grief affect your prayers, your actions and your priorities?

Have you experienced the comfort Jesus promises to those who mourn?

Can you remember a time when God met you in your grief and brought restoration?

And last but not least, is there unresolved mourning in your life?

Grief you've been avoiding, sin you haven't confessed, brokenness you don't want to acknowledge.

What would it look like to bring that honesty before God?

Remember, mourning is the Holy Spirit producing godly sorrow in you that leads to confession, forgiveness and the comfort of God's presence.

God is so amazing.

Praise God.

Let's move on to our selah moment and prayer.

This is our opportunity to bring our mourning honestly before God and receive his comfort.

So begin by sitting comfortably and taking several slow, deep breaths.

Acknowledge that you're in God's presence and that he welcomes you to bring your grief to him honestly.

Bring to mind the sin you need to mourn over if there's any or recent failures, ongoing struggles, the gap between who you are and who God calls you to be.

Let genuine sorrow rise in your heart.

Whatever came up for you, speak that specifically to God.

Name it.

Acknowledge how it has grieved him, hurt others and damaged your own soul, and ask for his forgiveness.

Picture Jesus meeting you in your grief right now.

He's not condemning you, he's offering forgiveness, restoration and comfort.

Receive what he offers.

Let his presence minister to your grief.

Let us pray.

Father, we come before you as people who need to mourn.

We've missed Mark repeatedly.

We've grieved your heart through our selfishness, our pride, our disobedience.

And sometimes we need to feel the weight of this Holy Spirit.

Produce godly sorrow in us.

Show us our sin as you see it and help us feel grief over how we've affected, offended a holy God who loves us more than we will ever know.

Forgive us for the times we refuse to mourn appropriately.

Thank you, Jesus who bore our sins.

Thank you that you mourn deeply over sin and consequences.

We confess our sin to you now.

We name the specific ways we failed.

We acknowledge that these sins have grieved you, hurt people we love, and damaged our relationship with you.

Lord, comfort us in our mourning.

Meet us in our grief with your presence.

Minister forgiveness to our our guilty hearts.

Bring restoration to any broken places and replace our ashes with beauty, our mourning with joy, and our heavy spirits with praise.

Help us mourn not just over personal sin, but over the brokenness in the world around us.

Give us your heart for the suffering, the oppressed and the lost.

Let us feel what you feel.

When you see your creation devastated by sin, move us to action motivated by love.

Keep us from worldly sorrow that focuses on consequences rather than sin itself.

Keep us from false guilt that refuses to accept the forgiveness.

And lead us in the pattern of godly sorrow, confession, forgiveness, restoration, and then joy.

When we mourn, remind us that comfort is coming.

And when we grieve, assure us that joy is promised.

When we are broken over brokenness, give us hope that you're making all things new.

Make us trees of righteousness, Lord, firmly rooted, bearing fruit, providing shelter for others.

Use the comfort you've given us to equip us to comfort others who mourn.

Let our lives demonstrate that you do bring beauty from ashes and joy from mourning.

Thank you that mourning does not lead to despair and that grief in your presence leads to comfort.

We thank you that those who sow in tears will reap in joy and we thank you that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Lord, fulfill Isaiah's prophecy in our lives.

Make us living testimonies that Jesus is the Messiah who came to comfort those who mourn and it is in Jesus name that we pray, the man of sorrow who brings comfort and it is so.

Foreign.

That's it for today.

Thank you for listening to Living the Selah life.

If this moment stirred something in your spirit, please share it with someone who needs to be reminded to pause and listen.

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That's Living the Celalife at P R O t o n.me until next time.

Remember that God is speaking.

He wants to guide you and direct you and give you his wisdom for your life.

Create space to listen, bring your mourning honestly before him and receive his comfort, the comfort that he promises.

May you go from this place resting, carrying the awareness that his presence is always near.

May you be rooted in the unshakable word of God, the Logos that ground you and the rhema that guides you.

May you keep rising into the life he designed for you, into purpose, into peace, into the fullness of his calling.

May your life become a living Selah, an intentional pause that reveals his presence.

It is in Jesus, mighty name that we pray, and it is so Selah.