Chapter 13
The Contradiction of Blessing

What does the blessing of God really look like?

Why of course, it looks precisely the opposite of what you would ever have expected. And if you’re really listening for it now, you’ll be able to hear, from the very first words that Jesus speaks in the sermon on the Mount, the utter contradiction to everything you’ve always believed about the word “blessed.”

But before you listen to Jesus speak, remind yourself that His thoughts are not your thoughts. Not one. Not ever. And not even close. In fact, Jesus describes His goal for your relationship with Him in a most contradictory manner:

Jesus says there are only two choices in your relationship with Him. If you don’t choose to be broken, you will be ground to powder. There is no door number three.

The Greek word for “broken” is sunthlao, “to be broken together.” Broken together with what? Broken together with Him. To fall on Him is to partake of what He partakes. And what He partakes of is brokenness.

But obviously, whatever pain there might be in brokenness couldn’t possibly compare to the pain of being ground to dust. Hold foremost in your mind now the thought of brokenness as His goal for you, as you listen to Jesus describe who He thinks is really blessed:

My thoughts are not your thoughts, declares God. Not by an entire immeasurable universe. Not one. Not ever. Not even close.

If what Jesus speaks is really heavenly, and if He calls us to utterly contradict ourselves concerning all heavenly things, then the first public words out of His mouth should themselves be an utter contradiction to all that we now believe.

And they are. An absolute, thorough, and utter contradiction.

And it’s not just the first words that He speaks here publicly in the sermon on the Mount that are a contradiction. Over and over throughout this particular discourse, Jesus says, You have heard it said by them of old time... But I say unto you...

That’s the language of contradiction. And remember, when Jesus was finished with the sermon on the Mount, all the people who heard Him had a singularly noteworthy reaction: they were astonished at His doctrine.

The degree to which we are astonished at something is always proportional to the difference between what we had expected and what we actually experience. And the people who heard Jesus that day never expected these words. Not a by an entire universe. The Greek word here for “astonished” actually means to “flatten with a hammer.” These words absolutely flattened them.

Moses had stood on the mountain and enumerated the blessings of the Old Contract. Those blessings were to serve as the hearer’s very motivation to choose life.

Jesus now sits on the Mount and enumerates the blessings of the New Contract. These blessings, by an entire immeasurable universe of difference in purpose, are to now serve as the hearer’s very motivation to choose death.

Do you understand the contradiction in purpose by an entire universe of difference? The blessings of Moses were given to prepare those who heard them to live in this world. The blessings of Jesus are given to prepare those who hear them to die in this world.

Blessed are the broken: the blessing comes to break you upon the rock.

Jesus opens His mouth, and with the first six amazingly simple words, He turns the whole universe upside down in utter contradiction. He draws back the curtain to give us our first-ever glimpse into how things really look in the coming kingdom of God.

Who are the blessed? The blessed are, of course, precisely the opposite of who you would ever have thought: Blessed are the poor in spirit.

It’s only the poor in spirit who are the blessed ones, He declares. And that is beyond astonishing.

The word “poor,” ptochos, means “to crouch as a cringing beggar, a pauper, strictly denoting absolute or public mendicancy.” A mendicant is one who has been reduced to a total dependency on someone else for his very living.

“Poor” is the very last word they would ever have expected Him to conjoin with the word “blessed”! Listen carefully to the preachers of “your best life now.” The word “poor” is exactly an entire universe away from what they say is “blessed.”

And because we are unaware that His thoughts are not even remotely close to our own, when we hear the words of Jesus, we automatically pass them through our non-contradiction bias filter. And instead of hearing Blessed are the poor in spirit, we transform the words into God really feels sorry for the poor.

And when we hear that, we’re awfully glad that He is confirming what we already feel for the poor as well. Because now we know that we really do think just like God does on the subject of blessings. Because Jesus just told us so. Or so we think.

But that’s not what Jesus is saying at all.

That’s not the incredibly amazing, absolutely astonishing, shockingly different by an entire universe, never heard of before, never even imagined before, hidden from the very foundation of the world, utter contradiction that Jesus is declaring at all.

Jesus is saying precisely the opposite, the very one thing about blessings that you could never have imagined before He opened His mouth and told you. Not that God feels sorry for the poor. But rather that, when God blesses someone, he actually blesses them with poverty of spirit!

Poverty of spirit is the blessing of God! All by itself!

He does not say the poor in spirit “will” be the blessed when their situation is remedied. He does not say that the poor in spirit “will have” the kingdom of God some day.

He says, they are the blessed. Right now. Because theirs is the kingdom of God.

And here’s the astonishing truth that you could never have known before: every circumstance that God has ever allowed into your life, from the time your were born until this very moment, has been with only one goal in mind: to bring you to poverty of spirit.

Why? Why would God want to make you poor in spirit? Because, according to Jesus, only the poor in spirit will ever have the kingdom of God!

Why? Because only the poor in spirit are able to contradict themselves. Poverty of spirit provides the only state of mind, and the only perspective, from which self-contradiction actually appears desirable.

And if you never find self-contradiction to be desirable, you’ll never contradict yourself. And if you never contradict yourself, you’ll never take up your cross and follow Him to die. Instead, you’ll contradict Him. And you’ll take up your crown and live. And when you choose life, you’ll actually be choosing death.

And that’s what you never even came within a universe of thinking, not even once in your entire life: all of the blessings of God are an attempt to reduce you to the place where you will willingly contradict yourself. Therefore, Jesus defines the word “blessed” precisely as you could never have even imagined.

As you already know, definitions connect one idea with another idea by what is sometimes called in English a “linking verb.” Instead of showing action, linking verbs serve to connect some information about a subject to more information about that subject. In a definition, two separate things are not made equal, they are simply shown to already be equal.

You can always recognize a definition because it can be turned backwards or forwards without changing its meaning. Both sides are always equal. For example, “man is a rational animal” and “a rational animal is man” mean the very same thing.

Blessed are the poor in spirit means the same thing as “the poor in spirit are blessed.” Turning it backwards helps circumvent the perception filter we have on our minds.

Think of a definition as a fence. It fences in one thing, and in so doing it fences out everything that is incompatible with it, including the most incompatible of all, its contradiction.

Jesus is doing nothing more and nothing less than redefining reality for us as only God can see it. He is simply fencing in what is really blessed and fencing out what is not really blessed from God’s singularly contradictory point of view.

And because He’s God and you’re not, He gets to define all the words and you don’t. His definitions are true. And yours, if they disagree with His, are not true. And here’s the crux of what Isaiah has already told us: because His thoughts are not your thoughts – not by an entire universe – your definitions of heavenly things and His never agree. Not once. Not ever. No exceptions. And if you find that your definitions do agree with His, you can always know with absolute certainty, it’s not really His definition at all.

In God’s kingdom, where God rules as God sees it and as Jesus alone unconceals it, He gets to define all the words. You don’t get to define any. That idea is critical to accept if you want to walk with Him. Otherwise, instead of contradicting yourself as He directs you to, you’ll wind up contradicting Him with every word He gives you.

Whether you agree with it or not, according to Jesus, inside the definition-fence of the word blessed are the words poor in spirit. There may be other things inside this fence as well, but none of them is allowed to be incompatible with, or contradictory to, the quality of poor in spirit. The blessing of God will always be recognized in its effect of making the recipient poor in spirit. Every time. Without exception.

In words never spoken before, Jesus begins to unconceal what is really fenced in with the word blessed. And astonishingly, it’s all of the very notions that have always precisely contradicted your own definition of that same word. Hidden from the foundation of the world, He finally draws back the curtain and reveals to us who are really the blessed. And it’s exactly what we would never have guessed. Not by an entire universe.

Who are the blessed? Jesus pushes us past the brink of absolute astonishment with His choices of what He places inside the fence: along with the poor in spirit, those that mourn are the blessed; as are those that hunger and thirst for an absent righteousness; and the meek are here, the peacemakers are here, the pure in heart, and perhaps most amazingly of all, the persecuted and the reviled are here, inside the fence of blessing.

What does the blessing of God really look like? It looks only exactly like what you never imagined. And most astonishingly, by His definition, you’ve been doing your very best to avoid His blessings your entire life.

Why would all of these contradictory circumstances actually be the very blessings of God rather than their opposites as we have always been told?

Because in this world, God’s goal is exactly the opposite of your goal:

You’re trying to add as much of this world to yourself as you can before He removes you from this world. He is trying to remove as much of this world from you as He can before He removes you from this world.

Contradictorily to anything we might ever have imagined, His blessings diminish us in this world. They do not increase us. They weaken us. They do not strengthen us. They remove our wisdom. They do not sustain it or increase it. And most astonishingly, they remove our righteousness. They never add to it. And His blessings, the real ones, always create a longing for the world to come. Never for this one.

And if His blessings don’t diminish you, weaken you, remove your righteousness, and create a longing for the world to come, they’re not His blessings at all. What enlarges you, strengthens you, adds to your righteousness, and creates a longing for this world, is not a blessing at all. It’s a curse.

That’s exactly why riches are never a blessing. Riches confirm a man’s judgment about the things that are in the world. They never contradict it.

No one ever says, “That guy is so stupid. Look at all that money he’s making.” They never say that. They never even think that.

They always say instead, “That guy is so smart. Look at all that money he’s making.”

No man ever comes home to his wife and says, “Honey, I’m so smart. I lost everything we own today.” And his wife never says in return, “Well, come over here and kiss me quick before it wears off.”

Instead he says, “Honey, I’m so stupid. I lost everything today.” And she says, “You’re right. You are. My mother told me not to marry you.”

Money always confirms a man’s judgment. It never contradicts it. When the money is flowing, a man never says, “What the heck am I doing wrong?” And neither does his wife. And unfortunately, neither does his pastor.

Instead, the man says, “I must be right.” And his wife says, “Of course you are, you handsome thing.” And his pastor says, “Of course you are, you mighty man of God. And don’t forget to tithe!”

Money confirms a man. Every time. Without exception.

On the other hand, Jesus is in the business of strictly contradicting a man’s judgment. He never confirms it. Not even once. He says you’re wrong. Before you even open your mouth. No matter how much money you make.

Money and Jesus are constantly at odds with each other; the money always seeking to confirm the man in this world, and Jesus always seeking to contradict the man in this world.

And that’s the real and astonishing problem with being rich: even God Himself cannot contradict money.

Unless you’re living the contradicted life, the money will always convince you that you’re doing the right thing. Even if God Himself is standing right in front of you, telling you that you’re not:

When a man has an abundance of money, he cannot be contradicted. Not even when it comes to inheriting eternal life. Not even by Christ Jesus Himself. That’s the incredibly deceitful power of money.

“Deceitfulness” is the Greek word apate, “delusion,” from the word apatao, meaning “to cheat.” A rich man deludes himself, and swindles himself in the end, out of the real riches of heaven.

“Your best life now” teaches that whatever brings you wealth is the sure and certain will of God. That prosperity is the very evidence of the will of God. And conversely, that whatever takes away wealth is categorically not the will of God.

The rich young ruler would have been glad to hear that. According to “your best life now,” he could have kept his money and followed Jesus too. Now that’s the kind of cross a man wouldn’t mind bearing.

If the rich young ruler could have simply laid his cross right up on top of his Lexus (carefully of course), backed out of the driveway of his luxury home, and affixed a sign to the side that said, “Golgotha or bust,” then he would have given two thumbs to the Savior. If that’s what it meant to “take up your cross and follow Jesus,” then he would have gladly suffered the shame. Now that’s the kind of death a man could live with!

But unfortunately, Jesus didn’t even give him that option. Astonishingly, Jesus counseled the rich young ruler to do the unthinkable: to turn his back on his “best life now” and instead, follow Him to his “best life later.” Forget about the earthly riches, says Jesus. They’re nothing. Come and get the real riches, the heavenly ones.

But sadly, he went away greatly grieved, for he had great possessions. He simply could not contradict the money.

The preachers of “your best life now” approach today’s rich young rulers a little differently than Jesus did. But hey, that’s what you call spiritual progress. To them, it’s a little harder to motivate their followers with the promise of mere treasure in heaven like He did. That’s a little too much pie in the sky in the sweet by and by.

Especially when you’ve just told everybody that the rich young ruler already has the treasure of heaven right there in his bank account. But, they do at least get half of it right. They do want him to give it all away. Maybe just not to the same people.

But in utter contradiction, when a man is brought low, when the money flow dries up, when the circumstances crowd in to push him down, when the inside of his life begins to harmonize with the outside and he finally becomes poor in spirit, then it becomes altogether easy for him to acknowledge that something is wrong. Money no longer confirms him.

Rather, by it’s very absence, it loudly contradicts him. And because he no longer has the right words to explain his way out of his confusing situation, he is now, for the very first time, open for some new words. Maybe even some utterly contradictory words. And at last, by the blessing of God, he becomes a babe with no words of his own.

That’s what the real blessings of God do. They bring you, most of the time kicking and screaming, to contradiction.

The only way you will ever desire the kingdom of heaven that cannot be seen, is to cease to desire the kingdoms of this earth that can be seen. His blessings close your eyes to this world and its treasures, and open your eyes to the next world and its treasures. They never do the opposite.

What’s the real problem with defining the blessings of God as an increase of riches in this world? Just this: where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

God doesn’t want your heart to be here, even if your body still is. When your body finally leaves this world, as it will shortly, He wants your heart to have gone on ahead, as far in advance as it possibly can.

“Your best life now” is a total confusion of terminology: it’s all about setting your affection on things on the earth “as though they are” the things which are above. If you’re seeking those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, then unless He’s totally refurbished the place without telling the rest of us, you’re probably not going to find the treasures of Egypt there in His throne room.

Jesus was tempted of Satan in the wilderness:

Not every word the devil speaks is a lie, because in this same temptation, the devil had actually quoted the scripture. And the scripture, even in the mouth of the devil, doesn’t somehow transform itself into a lie. Rather, it is the devil’s inferences from the scriptures that always contain the lies.

Factual errors are easy to spot and to counter. Inferential errors are more difficult. Errors of inference are based on many facts, not just one.

Interestingly, when the devil declares to Jesus that it is he, the devil, who has the authority to bestow the power and glory of all the kingdoms of this world on whomsoever I will, Jesus does not say, No you don’t.

Apparently, that fact was, and is, inarguable. The devil told Jesus that his power of bestowal had been delivered unto me, “surrendered, transmitted, and entrusted” unto him. Think about it: unless that was true, it wouldn’t really have been much of a temptation for Jesus, would it?

And if the blessings of God are really the same riches as the ‘bestowals’ of the devil, how could you ever really tell who was ‘blessing’ you? The gifts would look the same no matter who they came from.

And if the blessings of God looked no different than the bestowals of the devil, it would be a very difficult task just trying to figure out to whom you should address the thank-you card.

Did Jesus really lay up treasures for Himself in this world like some actually teach that He did? Was Jesus actually rich? Do you think that Jesus had a big bank account somewhere that He just didn’t tell the disciples about?

If He did, then when He said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God, He would have been talking about Himself as well as all the other rich men. Imagine Jesus having a hard time getting into heaven. That’s bizarre.

Rich guys usually at least have a place to sleep. But not Jesus.

When it was demanded of Jesus and Peter that they pay their taxes, Jesus sent Peter to find a coin in a fish’s mouth. That certainly doesn’t sound like a man who has a lot of ready cash on hand. (Matthew 17:27)

One of the favorite scriptures of “your best life now” is the one where the disciples ask Jesus exactly what they will get if they follow Him:

This is what the prophets of prosperity call the “hundred-fold blessing.” It’s one of their favorites. According to “your best life now” you can hold Jesus point-blank to this promise. A hundred times back for whatever you give. And it’s for now, in this lifetime, not the next one, they are quick to point out. Jesus said so.

Well let’s break this down and see how it would actually work. Since he was the one who asked, let’s start with Peter.

According to “your best life now,” Peter would have died owning no less than one hundred homes and one hundred lands. In this lifetime. That’s the promise. And actually if you want to get technical about it, according the words of Jesus, exactly one hundred. No more, no less. I’m not sure that we could verify historically that Peter really did have his hundred when he died, but according to their interpretation of these words of Jesus, he must have. So, good for Peter. That puts him well up in the one tenth of one percent, living life large. Obviously, just like His Master did.

But that’s just the start of the amazing things that are in store for Peter, who undoubtedly would have been the very first to capitalize on this fantastic hundred-fold promise from Jesus.

It just gets more exciting from here: according to the “your best life now” interpretation of Jesus’ words, his mother would have had to have borne two hundred more children, exactly half boys and half girls, to provide Peter with that hundred-fold return on the brother and sister that he would have left. Yep. One hundred boys and one hundred girls. Exactly. And if he left more than just one brother or sister, there would have to have been hundreds more. Sure Peter is being blessed, but I’m not so sure about Mom.

Oh, and also, Mom and Dad both would have had to have gotten married exactly one hundred more times to provide Peter with that hundred-fold return of mothers and fathers that Jesus promised him here if he left his own mother and father. And we know from the gospel narrative that Peter did indeed leave his father back at the boat the day that Jesus called him. And of course, that would have meant leaving Mom as well. But again, this might spell more trouble for Mom than Dad.

Do you know how hard it would have been, around number forty or fifty, to keep convincing all those eligible Jewish bachelors to enter into that kind of multiple-marriage arrangement with Mom? Talk about miraculous! This promise is really paying off for Peter! Maybe not so much for Mom.

And then of course, because a hundred-fold return of wives and children are promised for the wife and children he would leave, Peter would need to hunt down a hundred more willing wives and raise two hundred children. There’s likely to be very little time left over for any preaching.

So did we cover all the bases? There were a hundred-fold of houses and lands that Peter would need to have. Check and check. A hundred-fold of mothers and fathers. Check and check. A hundred-fold brothers and sisters. Check and check. And a hundred-fold wives and children split evenly between boys and girls. Check, check and check. I think we got it all.

For Peter, that is.

Now let’s start on disciple number two.

But do you see the problem developing here already? If this hundred-fold blessing is really for all the disciples, then right about disciple number 2,437, if my calculations are correct, we’re going to completely run out of real estate!

No wonder Jesus said, Go ye into all the world.

What He really must have meant was, We’re going to need more land!

Then of course, Peter goes out and immediately complicates the situation beyond reason by increasing the number of disciples by three thousand the very first time he opens his mouth to preach! We either need to get Peter to shut up, or we’re going to need a lot more land!

In fact, by the time Saul gets converted and becomes the apostle Paul, Jesus would have been promising him real estate somewhere in Cleveland. And how much of a blessing could that have been?

Do you understand? Here’s the way it has to work: if it’s a hundred-fold for anyone, it’s a hundred-fold for everyone. You can’t have it any other way.

If Jesus meant what “your best life now” says He meant, then everybody in the kingdom has to get a hundred-fold of everything. And here’s the problem: the guys who keep promising you a hundred-fold – don’t even have a hundred-fold themselves! That ought to tell you everything you need to know right there. Never believe the word of the guy who is promising you something that he himself doesn’t even have.

Don’t get me wrong. I know the prophets of prosperity are working hard to get their hundred-fold. And if you’ll just pass along that hundred you’ve got folded there in your pocket, they’ll be a little closer to their goal.

Glory to god! Now that’s the real hundred-fold!

The problem is, you can’t do what they’re doing. Do you think God has promised everybody in the kingdom their very own mega-church and their very own television show? Sorry. It’s just not duplicatable. And in the kingdom, if it’s not duplicatable for the least among you, forget about it. It’s not really the work of God at all. Never. Not even once.

As per usual, the preachers of prosperity have it exactly backwards: Jesus didn’t say, “He that is greatest among you all, the same shall be great.”

But rather, He that is least among you all, the same shall be great (Luke 9:48).

Unfortunately, “your best life now” never once refers their audience back to the real context of the “hundred-fold blessing.” Jesus spoke those words to Peter right after He told the rich young ruler to go sell everything he had and give it to the poor. These words are spoken in the context of Jesus’ instruction to get rid of earthly possessions, not to accumulate them. And therefore they couldn’t possibly be about acquiring the very real estate that Jesus had just instructed the young man to go and sell.

The real hundred-fold promise to Peter and all who would follow Him was really about the same thing that all of Jesus’ promises were about: not the seen kingdom of this world, but the unseen kingdom of God.

Here’s what Jesus really promised Peter and all His followers:

Jesus promised a community of believers whose love for each other would be so much like a family that, no matter where any disciple went, he would find himself right at home in a hundred different homes just like the home he had left; he would find himself loved by a hundred different mothers and fathers just like the mother and father he had left; he would find himself loved by a hundred different sons and daughters just like the sons and daughters he had left.

Here’s how Jesus Himself explained it:

If you count mothers and brothers and sisters and houses the way Jesus told you to, you’ll have you’re own hundred-fold in no time. And that’s absolutely duplicatable.

And by the way: don’t forget to hold Jesus to his promise of a hundred-fold persecution in this lifetime. For some reason, “your best life now” always skips that one. And don’t tell me He was referring to a hard-to-get-along-with Homeowners Association giving you grief over your hundred houses.

Another of the favorite promises of the prosperity preachers is in one of the letters of the apostle John:

“See,” says “your best life now.” “This is the top of the heap. Above all things, God wants you to prosper. How much clearer could it be?”

But one would have to ask, are your sure you’re really understanding this correctly? Is your prosperity really the will of God above all things?

Do you think, for example, that prosperity is the will of God above even the spreading of the gospel? Do you think that John is somehow insisting that everyone should get rich and healthy even before the gospel is preached? If prosperity is above all things, then of course, that’s exactly what he’s saying.

That would have disqualified the apostle Paul right out of the gate. At least half the time he was both sick and poor.

Poor Paul. Oh well, some people just never get it right.

And is prosperity God’s priority for you even above your obedience to Him? According to this interpretation, it has to be. Above the work of Christ on the cross? Above the very glory of God? According to this, yes and yes.

If it’s above all things, then it’s above all things. That’s plainly simple and simply plain.

In fact, if prosperity really is above all things like “your best life now” insists it is, then it would actually be a sin not to seek prosperity first, above all things. And of course, that is precisely what they teach.

But read what John says again:

Their first misunderstanding in this verse comes from the phrase I wish. “Your best life now” seems to think that John is saying “I will” instead of “I wish.” As though John is saying it is God’s ‘will’ that you prosper.

But the phrase I wish is the Greek word euchomai. A primary verb, it literally means “to wish.” It never means “to will.” “To will” would be the Greek word thelema.

Paul uses the same Greek word when he says to the church at Rome:

Paul is by no means saying it is the ‘will’ of God that he be accursed from Christ. He is simply ‘wishing’ that somehow, anyhow, even at his own ultimate eternal expense, that those whom he loves could be saved.

And all should share that sentiment. That’s the very heart that beats in Christ, Who Himself was accursed for those that He loved:

But anyone who would interpret John’s ‘wish’ that you should prosper as though John were saying that it is the ‘will’ of God that you prosper, would also have to interpret Paul’s ‘wish’ that he be accursed from Christ for his kinsmen, as also being the ‘will’ of God that he be accursed.

And since Christ Himself had already been accursed from God for each and all of Paul’s kinsmen, it’s probably safe to assume that Paul really wasn’t trying to say that it was the ‘will’ of God that he be accursed as well. It was just the ‘wish’ of Paul. It wasn’t the ‘will’ of God.

And likewise, it’s just the ‘wish’ of John that you prosper. It’s not the ‘will’ of God that you prosper. Get your verbs right. They’re important.

Here’s the important difference: we can always be guaranteed that the ‘will’ of God will come to pass. But God is not beholden to make Paul’s or John’s ‘wishes’ come to pass. Their ‘wishes’ are just that: wishes. They’re not God’s will.

John’s ‘wish’ is sort of like saying “Sweet dreams” to your kids at night before they go to sleep. You can’t guarantee sweet dreams as the will of God, and it would be foolish if you tried. But you’re sure ‘wishing’ your kids will have sweet dreams just the same.

The word “above,” as in above all things, is the second problem with their interpretation of John’s words. Of the 304 times in the New Testament that the Greek word peri is used, only this one time is it translated as the word “above.” All the other 303 times it is translated as either “through,” “about,” “around,” “concerning,” or “of,” and in the majority of the verses it is translated as “about” or “around.” But the word has absolutely nothing to do with priority or sequence.

And if you try to translate the Greek word peri as “above” in any of the other 303 places it is used, you’ll wind up with some pretty funny stuff. Instead of John the Baptist wearing his girdle “around” his waist, you’ll have him wearing it “above” his waist. And even for a prophet with John’s rugged constitution, that might have been a little embarrassing. And you’ll have Jesus speaking from down in a hole wherever He goes, as he looks at all those people not sitting “around” him, but sitting “above” Him.

Peri is only translated once in the entire New Testament as “above.” And it’s here, in this verse. The Greek word for “above” would be the word huper. It means “over,” “above,” “beyond,” or “greater.”

But the word used here is peri, not huper. Here the word peri should be understood to mean “about, or concerning, these things.”

And then there is the comparative phrase even as. That’s the Greek word kathos. It’s made up of two words, kata, “down,” and hos, “in that manner.” In other words, “only like this.”

So what John is actually saying is, I wish [not “God wills”] that concerning all things [not “above” all things], you would prosper and be in health, just like your soul is prospering.

So the real question is this: how does your soul really prosper?

If the blessings that Moses proclaimed from Mount Sinai in the Old Contract are used as the standard of ‘soul prosperity,’ then “your best life now” can justifiably make the case that as your soul prospers, its evidence will be found in those kind of material blessings.

But if the blessings that Jesus proclaimed from the Mount of Olives in the New Contract are used as the standard, the evidence of ‘soul prosperity’ becomes different by a universe.

Jesus said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation... for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

If “poverty of spirit” is really the blessing, what will be it’s outward evidence? And if “mourning” is really the blessing, what will be it’s outward evidence? And if “hunger and thirst for an absent righteousness,” and “meekness” and “purity” are really the blessings, what will be their outward evidence?

That’s right: nothing you could ever see. All of the evidence of the blessings that Jesus brings would only be on the inside. Completely out of sight. Precisely the only place that Jesus said the kingdom can be found.

If the kingdom is built only on the inside, within you, then where must all the work of the kingdom happen as well? The real blessings of God are an inside job: within you. Christ’s real blessings would provide the only kind of evidence that faith allows: an unseen one.

The real blessings of God don’t fill you up with this world. The real blessings of God empty you out. The “blessings” that would fill you up with this world always empty you of the world to come.

God provides no ocular evidence of His eternity-changing work. It’s all secret. It’s all hidden. He hides it so that it cannot be seen. He will be glad to tell you all about it, of course. In the most foolish and unverifiable words you could never even imagine. But He’ll never show it to you. And those who say He will show it to you contradict the only real Expert in the room.

Astonishingly, that which you have struggled against all your life is found to be the very blessing of God Himself. And the results of all those circumstances you’ve spent your whole life trying to avoid are themselves found to have been the very blessings of God Himself.

These blessings that Jesus describes contain the only tools that God uses to fashion you for the world to come. They bring with them the very same tools with which He fashioned His only begotten Son.

Was Christ not poor in spirit?

Did Christ not mourn?

Was Christ not meek?

Did He not hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God?

Was Christ not merciful?

Was Christ not pure in heart?

Was Christ not a peacemaker?

Was Christ not reviled and persecuted?

Christ’s blessings impart to His followers His very own nature. The rich of this world are not the blessed. Don’t be deceived! The poor in spirit who are rich in faith are the blessed in this world. As Christ was not of this world, none of His blessings are of this world:

Contradictorily, the blessings of Moses bring nothing of the crucified life. Are the rich poor in spirit? Do the rich mourn? Are they meek? Do they hunger and thirst? Are they reviled? No. Instead, theirs is the un-blessed, the un-crucified, and the un-contradicted life. Are the rich the truly blessed of God? Jesus says no.

Paul finally gets it right, but only after he hears Jesus Himself speak:

What does the blessed life really look like?

Paul finally realizes that God’s real blessings look nothing like what he thought they did. They come to accomplish what he never even imagined that God even wanted to accomplish.

Think about this: if God chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, then God’s blessing could only be that which makes you foolish. The blessing of God could never be that which makes you wise. That which would make you wise would be a curse, because it would leave you un-chosen by God.

And if God chooses the weak in this world to confound the mighty, then God’s blessing could only be that which makes you weak. The blessing of God could never be that which makes you strong. That which would make you strong would be a curse, because it would leave you un-chosen by God.

And if the poor in spirit are the blessed, then that which makes you rich in spirit could never be the blessing.

Paul finally arrives at this astounding and utterly contradictory conclusion:

I take pleasure in what? In infirmities? In reproaches? In necessities? In persecutions? In distresses?

That’s not how “your best life now” talks. That’s an altogether foreign language. That’s strange talk. That’s crucified talk. That’s not-from-this-world talk. That’s from-the-world-to-come talk. That’s real-blessings-of-God talk.

Look around you. Who do know who talks like that? That’s not the message of “your best life now.” That’s the message of “your best life later.”

The merely temporary never commands my attention, declares Paul. I fix my gaze instead on the eternal. The things which are seen are never the real blessing. They are far too transient for God’s way of thinking. The things which are not seen are the real blessings. They contain the very stuff of eternity.

I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. That’s the real blessing.

God blesses you in this world for only one reason: in order to prepare you for an eternity with Him in the next world.

He didn’t say, “I stay to prepare a place for you.” He didn’t say “You stay and prepare a place for Me.” His blessings are the tools whereby He prepares you. While He is preparing the place for you, He is preparing you for the place. And when you’re ready for it, it’ll be ready for you.

The place is easy to prepare. You, not so much. And that’s what the real blessings are for. The problem is, the blessings of Moses, of the law, will leave you unprepared for that place. By the blessings of Moses, you would never feel at home there. Jesus is preparing a place where only the poor in spirit will feel at home.

By the blessings of Moses, you can only feel at home here. In this promised land. In this world. Just like “your best life now” teaches you to.

And consequently, the heavenly help will always be disguised as earthly hurt. So that they who seek the blessings of this world will never receive it. And the heavenly pleasure will always be disguised as earthly pain. So that they who find their comfort in riches will automatically reject it. Dividing the spirit from the flesh, separating the worldly affections from the heavenly ones, that’s the sole business of the real blessings of God. And that’s always a distressing process. And the rich of this world spurn all distress. Money removes distress. The rich reject distress with utter disdain and contempt. Their goal is to live sumptuously. Every day.

Did you think that preparing you and your naturally sinful mind for face-to-face fellowship with God Himself would be an enjoyable process? It could only be enjoyable if you left out the cross. And that’s exactly what “your best life now” does. Crucifixion is simply never on their fine-dining menu.

Think about it: with what words might you describe the experience of a man who is crucified?

Is he poor in spirit or rich in spirit? Does he mourn or does he laugh? Does he hunger for a different rightness, or is he satisfied with the status quo? Is he meek and lowly or high and mighty? Is he pure or diluted in his focus?

Crucifixion is unimaginably painful. Purposely so. That’s the entire point of crucifixion. Not just death. But suffering as well. Listen carefully again:

The suffering is the gift of God to you. He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. The real blessed life follows along the road of suffering. Not along the road of comfort and prosperity. The blessings of Christ create the only appropriate attitude for the crucified life. The blessings of Moses create the only appropriate attitude for the crowned life. But to which does Jesus call you? A crown or a cross?

The blessings of Moses just cannot get the real job done. Because the real job is crucifixion. And that’s the problem with “your best life now.” It never looks crucified. Because it isn’t.

And when you pretend that it is, and try to talk like it is, you wind up making an absurd mockery of the real crucifixion of Christ. You imagine that his cross must have been enjoyable. Because yours certainly is.

You need the better blessings to prepare you for that better place. And the better blessing are the blessings of Jesus. No better blessings, no better place. That’s the only way this deal works.