When we turn to the beatitudes we are focusing on the Kingdom of heaven. They are characteristics of the child of God who are the citizens of that Kingdom and can relate to them. They deal with out happiness. Everything the world seeks after they still find they experience a complete lack of happiness in spite of their quests to achieve it. They make it the end all and do not understand what Christ says. It is the direct result of something else. Happy are those who know these characteristics! True happiness is then achieved!

Hunger: Hunger is inherent and we are all born with it. It is a bloated belly and death if one does not feed that hunger and eat. Christ takes hunger and makes it spiritual. What is it to hunger and thirst after righteousness? It is to be right with God and to fulfill His dictates. But God is talking about our sanctification here. We hunger for that righteousness only by the grace of God! And the yearning we have is the work of the Holy Spirit! The sorrow of the world is for the consequences, but the child of God needs relief from his wretchedness, his sin, and his guilt that sin brings. Being a child of God and by the grace of God you and I experience that work that HE has performed in us. We receive justification for sure, but verse 6 speaks directly of sanctification and the work that God performs in and through us.

Yearning: Never ever separate justification and sanctification. The master was forgiven so much debt yet he turned around and would not forgive his servant. We too must yearn after sanctification and not just be "happy" about our justification. This is a real danger the Bible warns us against in Romans 6. Maybe we even boast about it? The true child of God YEARNS for it. Not conforming but the child of God is TRANSFORMED! Our living is a sweet sacrifice "to PROVE what is good, acceptable unto God." Not just a feeling of "it is good for me...." Then we are hungering, we are thirsting after righteousness. Ask the question in every juncture and relationship of life as sometimes you and I live and spend way to much time trying to please others instead of God.

Satisfaction: What satisfaction it is to KNOW that as we live that we are RIGHT WITH GOD and although we fall from time to time, God beholds His work in us that we strive to live according to HIM which is TRUE HAPPINESS!

Praise be to the Almighty God that you and I KNOW the blood of Calvary and know and experience the sanctifying Holy Spirit in our lives and that He is happy with us! We will give him all praise in this life and into all of eternity for such a gift!