"Blessed are those who..." is how Jesus begins the most influential sermon ever preached. This section of the sermon is called the 'Beatitudes,' and is a description of Jesus' kingdom. It is the opposite of the kingdom of this world. In Jesus' kingdom, the people who understand their position before God are those who are blessed. Those who choose God's ways and choose repentance are those who reap blessing, if not here in this life, they reap blessing in eternity for faith in Jesus.

Jesus invites us to fish for people, and we do that by doing what Jesus did. Jesus proclaimed hope to the broken places of the world. Everything is not alright, but hope for the world has dawned. That hope is found in the message of Repentance. Jesus went where the people are and he took them as He found them. He did not sit around and expect people to come to Him but the opposite: wherever people gathered, that's where He proclaimed Hope. These people were broken and sick. He healed their physical ailments but didn't stop there and announced the path of healing their deepest hurt, their sin-sickness. He took people with Him. He called 12 men into deeper relationship with Him and modeled for them how to make disciples. This is what Jesus invites us into.

Jesus' Temptation in the Wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11 gives us a peek at Satan's playbook. Satan allures us with the desires of the flesh (I want to FEEL that), the desires of the eyes (I want to HAVE that), and the pride of life (I want to be KNOWN for that). This is how Satan tempted Jesus, and this is how the enemy attacks us. We respond by running to the cross in faith, knowing we belong to Jesus.