Pure Faith: A Bible Discussion Podcast

Matthew 5:1-10...Part 3 - Blessed Moments: Beatitudes, Birthdays, and Beloved Memories

Mitchell Heitkamp and Michele Waymire Episode 101

Can you recall the last time you felt genuinely happy or blessed? Join us as we discuss the difference between happiness and joy in the Bible's Beatitudes. We also touch on the concept of being "blessed" in today's society, and how it has evolved over time.

Have you ever felt the power of music in evoking deep emotions? In this episode, we share nostalgic memories of singing with our Grandma in church and the joy it brings when we hear the lyrics of those songs. We also chat about a book and movie called "90 Minutes In Heaven" and the importance of staying faithful and praying during difficult times. Get ready to dive deeper into the Beatitudes in our next episode!

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Michele:

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Pure Faith Podcast, a podcast where we discuss all things Bible. I am your host, Michele Waymire, and with me is my brother and co-host, Mitchell Heitkamp. We ask that you like this video, subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification icon. Is that still popping up down here? To be notified when new episodes are released.

Mitchell:

I've got a whole new thing now.

Michele:

Oh, I didn't watch it.

Mitchell:

I have your notice that it's actually kind of cool because it's a whole thing. It's like a, what you would see on my phone, and then it has like a hand that hits a note or the like, and then it goes into notifications and then it hits it.

Michele:

How handy is that.

Mitchell:

Is that a pun? Was that pun intended?

Michele:

I'm so funny.

Mitchell:

That was a grandma joke.

Michele:

Oh, whatever, whatever. Oh, you're so funny. I'm gonna make myself laugh. You're so funny, So anything exciting going on.

Mitchell:

Um, I don't think so.

Michele:

Well, when we're recording this, today is Olivia's birthday, so happy birthday to Olivia. It's 22 as of today, which is not the day that you're listening to this or the day that you might be watching it, so, but yeah, so it was her birthday The time you're watching this, it was five days ago. Five days ago. So day for her, and we wish you all a happy 4th of July, because when you see this, it's gonna be right before the 4th of July. Oh yeah, yay.

Mitchell:

Oh, and we never said happy father day either. That kind of went by So yeah, so sorry. Happy father day. I'll be careful about fathers.

Michele:

So it's fine. I mean, I think we do It. Just, I mean, believe me, it's all about you, dads. Did you not get what you wanted for father's day way early.

Mitchell:

Well, i was gonna get that, no matter what. You're talking about a Blackstone.

Michele:

Yeah, your Blackstone. So, yeah, Yeah, you got that. I wanted to see what my message said, because we I've been praying for somebody and I just wanted to see what the message said.

Mitchell:

Yeah, kind of briefly look at it too. Yeah, not good news.

Michele:

We will just continue to, in the back of our minds also to keep families lifted up during a hard time. So, yeah, that's what we do We pray, We pray a lot. We do We pray for.

Mitchell:

That's the only answer.

Michele:

It is. It is Well, prayers and tears. I tried to wipe my tears before I came here today. and then, you know, you get messages and I never should have read it, but we'll see what happens. So the Lord works in mysterious ways and you don't know what's gonna happen. You just sent me well, me and Matt. Hi, matt, i got a couple of books and one of them is called 90 Minutes. and was it called 9 Minutes in Heaven? So I mean, you just don't know what's gonna happen. So you know you always had to be faithful and you always have to pray and you know God's will be done. So we have to look at it.

Mitchell:

Yeah, that's actually a really good book. I actually seen the movie first.

Michele:

Did you. I haven't seen the movie, i've not read the book. Like I said, it's just a couple that you've recommended to us. It's like, hey, listen to this book, it's free. Yeah, no, it's not, it's free for you.

Mitchell:

Oh, it's free for me, oh yeah. You don't have the extra subscription.

Michele:

I do, but when I go on there it's not free for me.

Mitchell:

Really.

Michele:

Yeah. So I don't know. I don't know what the difference is. I guess it's probably because it's not like books that I've been reading, like I don't know how it works, but if it's maybe like types of books that you've been reading, they'll throw free books at you, so you continue to stay in.

Mitchell:

Oh, this was just in the Audible's catalog. Oh, like their free catalog.

Michele:

Hmm, we'll see.

Mitchell:

Anyhow, Just under the religion and spirituality section. Hmm, but you have to be careful, because some of the religion and spirituality is off the wall. It's not stuff you want to read, just so you know, Just so.

Michele:

I know It is a book that you know. I don't know if Matt's listening to them yet. We have not done a book review in a while, So, and I really do enjoy when all of us listen to a book and review it. So, yeah, maybe this can be one of them. I don't, like I said, I've not talked to Matt about it, so I don't know what he's doing. I guess he'll let us know, So yeah, So what are we doing tonight?

Mitchell:

I think we might just go ahead and pick up where we left off again.

Michele:

Oh really.

Mitchell:

It seemed to work pretty good last time.

Michele:

It did.

Mitchell:

Yeah.

Michele:

I mean, do what you want.

Mitchell:

Especially since you cut me off in the middle of what I was doing.

Michele:

Okay. So listen, You have a tendency of going off into your own la-la land.

Mitchell:

Yeah So.

Michele:

Sometimes I keep you roped in So you're giving the message at church in a couple of weeks is what I hear. Oh, i am.

Mitchell:

I mean like three is a three.

Michele:

You get married in three weeks, 16 days, 16 days.

Mitchell:

It's married. I better start again, ready.

Michele:

Anyhow, she sent the worship team a message, you know, because she, of course, is not a procrastinator like some of us I procrastinate, i am the queen procrastinator And she was like Hey, you know if you can get your music, so I can get it in there. We're like, oh, feed us in. I saw Mitchell is giving the message on July 9th And I was like, oh, boys, i'm going to have to be there because someone's going to have to keep them roped in, because I actually have a pretty good idea of what I want to talk about.

Mitchell:

I just got my notes together.

Michele:

This is the problem. You put notes together, but that means nothing, wow.

Mitchell:

I have to put my thoughts together.

Michele:

Yeah, so if anybody wants to join us on July 9th at Living Waters Church, starting at 1030.

Mitchell:

Yep.

Michele:

You can hear Mitchell give the message that day.

Mitchell:

It'll be interesting.

Michele:

I have a feeling it will be And I might just give worship. I don't even know, i don't know if that's my day or not, but you can hear me sing. You give the message.

Mitchell:

We want them to come. We want them to come, we think that they would really enjoy it.

Michele:

No, that's only if Olivia was singing for Jenna. I don't ever heard Jenna sing. I don't know, i don't know. She might be pretty good, i don't know, but we'll see.

Mitchell:

It's better than me singing.

Michele:

Yeah, i can hear you singing. It takes all out of me to be like time out. Mitchell, can you just tone it down a little bit. Take it back a little bit.

Mitchell:

Make a joyful noise. I make joyful noises.

Michele:

Oh, it's noise, It's noise.

Mitchell:

And it's joyful.

Michele:

It's not in your heart, it is, oh my goodness. Okay, sorry, totally off track. See, i said that you get off track and then I totally went off track. It's your fault. So sorry, charlie, i said it's your voice all the time. Don't call me Charlie.

Mitchell:

Okay, we ready. Yeah, are we sure?

Michele:

Sure Okay, let me on.

Mitchell:

Okay, yeah, i'm that boring.

Michele:

I'm not sure, i'm not sure.

Mitchell:

Yeah, i'm that boring. I haven't even started yet, so why do you start off by giving you some props? Because I think this episode is our 30th YouTube video that will be releasing, and I think that might have been the first time that you actually cried on YouTube video was last week, even though you cut us off before anything else.

Michele:

Wow, yes.

Mitchell:

Although I don't know if you did whenever we did our one year interview.

Michele:

I don't think I did. I think it's been a while since I've cried.

Mitchell:

Yeah.

Michele:

I don't want people to actually see me cry. I'm an ugly crier, so I don't want anybody to see me cry. So I try to hold it in, but it's gotten pretty bad. You know that. So, yeah, props to me. You got to say it too.

Mitchell:

My tongue, but because you started crying last week, you kind of cut me off.

Michele:

Oh, I did.

Mitchell:

I've never actually finished my thought.

Michele:

Wait, are you going to start it all?

Mitchell:

Okay, i'm good. I just need to do a little bit of a recap so I can finish that thought.

Michele:

Yes.

Mitchell:

So we can move on.

Michele:

Okay.

Mitchell:

So at the end of our episode we're talking about the difference between happiness and being joyful. Yes, we're. Happiness was a feeling that was fleeting. It changes, but feelings can just change in an instant when something happens. But to be joyful was a state of being, it was a frame of mind. It is something that comes whenever you develop that close personal relationship with Jesus.

Mitchell:

It could be a fasting, yes, and so it comes with knowing that, no matter what happens in life, no matter what comes your way, whether it be good, bad, whatever you have that knowing in your heart, that's, at the end of the day, when your time comes, you're going to heaven. You're going to have that eternity with God. So that's where that peace of mind comes from. And then we also started talking about the fact that. But we're also talking about Macarios. That's how that all even began. So we're talking about Macarios from Macarios. The actual definition of Macarios was happy or to be envied.

Mitchell:

And during or in these Beatitudes it is translated as blessed, and so we're talking about how Macarios means happy, but it's not that state of feeling, it wasn't that euphoric. This happy literally means the same thing as what we in our modern day society look at joy. It's that same thing, it's that state of being, it's that state of mind that you get with having that deep personal relationship with the Lord. But today we see happy and we think of the feeling, and joy is the actual, more closely correlated to what this happy actually means. And so we're talking about how you could even, instead of saying blessed are, you could say joyful are or happy are if you understand the correct meanings, but this doesn't work everywhere.

Mitchell:

You see blessed in the Bible, because remember last week or in the last episode, it talks about how there are actually two different Greek words that are translated as blessed in the Bible. There was Macarios, which you're talking about, and then there was Eulogatos, which is means actually blessed by God. It's a crazy word, yeah, it is weird, but it's got like weird symbols and stuff, stuff like.

Michele:

Yeah, and blessed by God.

Mitchell:

Yeah, that one actually means blessed by God, where Macarios means happy or to be envied. So even though it's translated as blessed, it actually means happy or to be envied. Okay, but blessed is a good definition And we'll get into that. And I mean, and you can use blessed Blessed is obviously fine because that's what they actually use to translate it. And that goes back to the whole concept of why these are even called the Beatitudes, and I didn't actually write this down, but it had something to do with the fact that a Beatitude is a blessing type thing. I don't know. Look up what Beatitude means. I didn't write it down.

Michele:

I didn't write it down.

Mitchell:

You make fun of me.

Michele:

You make it so easy.

Mitchell:

I got no comment. So, yeah, the only place this actual what's what? I'm looking for? this to replace these words. It only works when Macarius is used, not when Ulugeetas is used, and you're only going to know that if you look at the concordance. Okay, so anyways, hi Raph, so I'm talking about this, and that brings up the question that you may be having is why can't we use blessed? And, like I said, we can. It's just a problem with blessed and the way that we use it in today's society is it has a stronger biblical or theological tone to it?

Michele:

Yeah, I think so too, And like when someone says blessed you, you know.

Mitchell:

It's almost off putting a little bit, because it's almost like I don't know, it's almost too religious or spiritual and it's just maybe not something that you really want to get too close to for some people. But then also, when we talk about blessed, a lot of times the way we look at blessed is in a positive light. When you look at your life, like you know, my wife, my children, my house, car, whatever, all these good things that were given to me as gifts from God blessings, which that's true. But as we get into these, these Beatitudes, we see that it's not just the good things that are the blessings. We have to also look at the fact of loss of life, of of even just sickness, struggles, pains, whatever comes in our lives, whether it's good or bad, can still be viewed as blessings. It's, it all depends on It's hard It is.

Michele:

It can be very hard to think of as a blessing.

Mitchell:

Yeah, and a lot of people don't view it as blessing. But I mean, i could say a lot of things that would probably make you cry.

Michele:

Yeah, i know right.

Mitchell:

I'm trying to tread lightly here.

Michele:

I think I'm pretty good.

Mitchell:

But yeah, i mean somebody going through struggles, whether it be with cancer sickness, even though they may be going through hard times or whatever, and normally for that kind of stuff it's harder on the family than it is the actual person.

Michele:

I think so too.

Mitchell:

A lot of times the person going through it, they realize what's going on and they accept what's going on. But they're going to the better place Right. We're left here having to deal with the aftermath of the leaving Yeah.

Michele:

The burden of it all, Yeah.

Mitchell:

So yeah, they got it way better.

Michele:

Yeah, you're exactly right And that it can be very true And something like sickness, like cancer, can hit that person very hard to hear it, but after it sets in like it's a mindset. Being blessed is a mindset, like if you can know that having a sickness, losing someone, being in debt, being out of work can actually be a blessing in disguise. Something great can come out of all of it. So it's really a state of mind as well.

Mitchell:

Yes, i agree. So, yes, using blessed in these bad attitudes is a good way or is a good word to use. But if you don't fully understand the meaning of blessing, then there's some other words that we can can implant in there to help give us a better understanding of what Macarios actually means, and we've already discussed happy. Happy is the proper definition of Macarios, but if you're looking at it from that feeling aspect of it, this doesn't work.

Mitchell:

If you understand the true meaning of what they mean by happy, that state of being, which would be like being joy or having joy, then, yes, happy does work, but only if you understand the meaning that they're trying to get across. The other possible definition of Macarios was to be envied, and that would work. I mean, let's look at the first one that we're going to be covering is blessed or the poor in spirit. You could say envied or poor in spirit, but the problem with envied is that typically has a negative or even sinful vibe to it.

Michele:

Yes, I'm going to agree with you.

Mitchell:

Envy is one of the seven deadly sins, am I correct? I don't think an envy was one.

Michele:

I don't know if envy actually is one.

Mitchell:

I don't know, it could be wrong. I don't know.

Michele:

But it can go along with a lot of them that are out there. But for me one of the things that I guess it shouldn't be like an envy, but if you envy a lifestyle, then that's not a positive thing.

Michele:

It's not a positive thing. You know that person might have a lifestyle, but it's not all about that. It's not all about the outside. You have no idea what's going on on the inside or anything. So you shouldn't envy people because you don't know what's going on in their lives. I mean envy, i put as a I don't want to say as a harsh word, but it's one that I just don't like It has a negative vibe to it.

Mitchell:

So, yes, that's why we typically won't use envy. We could use fortunate.

Michele:

Yes.

Mitchell:

So fortunate are.

Michele:

Well, I don't know.

Mitchell:

I mean the fortunate does work, I mean it is a good work or a good word to use. But then when we use the word fortunate, that typically makes you think about luck, And this isn't about luck. So that's why that one typically falls short. It's another one.

Michele:

I have no idea.

Mitchell:

You can completely take out blessed R and replace it with congratulations too. So congratulations to the porn spirit. Congratulations to those who mourn, but now we're almost getting to commonplace, do?

Michele:

happy Congratulations.

Mitchell:

Yeah, and it works. I mean, it gives that right feeling. But yeah, like you're saying, it's too.

Michele:

It's flashy.

Mitchell:

I think It's too commonplace. It takes it takes that the impact away from it, so it almost softens it too much and you don't get that full feeling out of it that it was intended. I've already mentioned that my preferred choice is joyful, but that's basically just a better definition of what happy is in the instance of Macarios and the way that we talk in today's culture. But or you can just stick with blessed. You could use any one of those or none of them. You have something completely different. The whole idea behind it is just to help you kind of get a better grasp or understanding of what is meant by this blessed R, which comes from Macarios. So it just that's. In my opinion, one of the cool parts in the hard parts about our translations is there's a group of Bible scholars that are get together and kind of hash it out like, hey, this is the original Greek or Hebrew or whatever it is.

Mitchell:

This is what we think it means, and a little bit of tradition comes in with that. That's how they come up with these translations, but, like we've pointed out a few times already on this podcast, greek words have multiple definitions. They do, and just because that's the one they chose doesn't mean that's the only option.

Mitchell:

Exactly So. That's why we have so many different translations is because these people don't agree with what these people said this meant, and you got different translations, and that's the problem with all of it, and that's what makes her head spin. Yeah, and that's why like looking up some of these Greek words and doing in depth study on these Greek words, because it helps us understand the full vibe of what's going on in the.

Mitchell:

Bible. So one more thing we need to mention before we actually get into the Beatitudes is the fact that these Beatitudes weren't just made up on the spot by Jesus. This isn't a new revelation that he came up with. All of these Beatitudes have their foundation in Old Testament. Most of them are tied to the Psalms, but there are other books from the Old Testament that they're tied to as well. I know Isaiah is another one that we will be talking about here in like four weeks, whenever we get to verse four.

Michele:

We'll make that six.

Mitchell:

Well, I think we could be there in four weeks.

Michele:

Oh, we'll see.

Mitchell:

We're starting three here soon-ish. Like how much time I got Like three minutes, like maybe next week, okay, maybe six weeks, we'll see.

Michele:

Well, what do we get there?

Mitchell:

But yeah, once we get to verse four, we are going to be covering a section of Isaiah, but I don't plan on doing this for all of the Beatitudes, because that's a lot and already have a lot of information, without doing the Old Testament references to them. But I'm actually going to be pairing up one or two And that's something else we will see as we get into these. Is they all kind of speak with each other and they all go hand in hand with each other, so they're all working together And, like I said, these are kind of like the Christian core values, so that makes sense. They work together, that hey, this one and like they all help in making us better people, better Christians, excuse me, Are you okay?

Mitchell:

Not really. I think my throat is starting to swell shut and needs ice cream to soothe it down.

Michele:

I was wondering where this was going. I'm like what is going on?

Mitchell:

Actually I've been battling like strep for like the last two weeks.

Michele:

Seriously, every week I got something going on. Let me cough on you. I got let me share my iPad with you.

Mitchell:

I'm helping you. That's your immune system.

Michele:

No, it's okay, We've been battling stuff at house, not me.

Mitchell:

Maybe it's your fault.

Michele:

Nope, you've not been around. Daniel. Daniel's been sick, not me. Okay, that's a really nice cup. You got there. It's been a while.

Mitchell:

Thank you, it was a gift.

Michele:

Mm-hmm From me, anyways.

Mitchell:

So, yeah, i don't know if I'm going to be doing all the Old Testament references, but it is important to realize that these are not new revelations with Jesus, that these come from Old Testament and they're just organized and put together in a more streamlined way, like we said, that are easy to understand and easy to memorize, mm-hmm, and so it's something that's very important to understand.

Michele:

The thing is that I look at these and I'm never This takes. This is true story.

Mitchell:

Okay.

Michele:

I remember singing a song in church. These were the line, these are the lyrics to the song, and no idea came from the Bible, no idea.

Mitchell:

Hmm.

Michele:

I could sing this song right now. I won't, but these are the lyrics.

Mitchell:

I don't know what song you're talking about.

Michele:

Right, i use this Because, again I apologize, but the most I got out of church growing up was the music. So this is a song It does. It makes my heart happy because I got to sing with Grandma when we went to church and Grandma was sitting next to me. She didn't sing as well as you, but she sang Well not everybody's perfect. No, I was gonna say not everybody has such a joyful voice like you.

Mitchell:

There's that too.

Michele:

Love my grandma, love our grandma.

Mitchell:

So I take it we're done.

Michele:

Yeah.

Mitchell:

So whenever we come back next week we will be getting into the Beatitudes. There's nothing else straight into the Beatitudes next week. So verse three that'll take two weeks. I'll try to rush next time everybody.