Hello everyone, Jeanne Ritari from Minnesota, here guest-posting. I just had the most amazing encounter. It was for me, but it was also for you.

I don’t have to tell you that being a person of faith married to an unbeliever can be hard.
We can experience different degrees of opposition, from silent disapproval all the way
through active, hateful, even violent persecution. I recently acted with integrity in the
face of evil and suffered fairly serious consequences for myself and some of my family
members. I know God has my back, and I’m absolutely sure that he’s going to get us
through this to a better place. I have no regrets and very few anxious thoughts, though a
younger me might have been shaking my fist at God for permitting me to suffer for doing
the right thing.

Today there was a snippet of a verse playing around the edges of my mind. It felt as
though the Spirit was trying to throw something to me, but I kept dropping it. Finally,
sitting in a coffee shop, I caught it. The snippet was, “Rejoice and be glad,” and I knew it
was referring specifically to the time Jesus says it in Matthew 5:11-12:

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil
against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in
heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I looked up the verse on my phone, and the whole passage of the Beatitudes came up.
The familiar words were no longer simply Jesus describing “the poor in spirit” and “the
meek” in an abstract, third-person fashion. It felt more like the scene at Jesus’ baptism,
when Heaven was opened and a voice said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I
am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) It was not audible, but very much the Father’s voice
as powerfully as I have ever heard it.

I had to leave the coffee shop and move to my car since there were tears pouring down
my face. The encounter continued:

You are poor in spirit, and the kingdom of heaven is yours.

You are mourning, but you will be comforted.

You are meek, but you shall inherit the earth.

You hunger and thirst for righteousness and you shall be filled.

You are merciful, and you will be shown mercy.

You are pure in heart, and you shall see Me.

You are a peacemaker and you are My child.

The words went straight from His heart to mine. As I recorded the encounter in my
journal (with much gladness and rejoicing!), I felt the Spirit nudge me to share this with
you, the SUMites. You are those who are blessed when your spouse (or others) insult
you and say all kinds of evil against you because of your faith. Rejoice and be glad, for
your reward in heaven is great!