"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
California Coastline
This verse confused me for a long time. I didn’t understand it at all. If I am poor in spirit, how can I have the kingdom of heaven? Don’t I need to be plentiful in the Spirit of God to get to heaven…isn’t that like a pre-requisite? But then I read the verse in another version and it made sense to me (go Good News Bible) "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”
I am sure you have heard the adage “the more I learn, the less I know” implying that as we grow more knowledgeable in an area we realize the depth of the subject is much deeper than we could have ever imagined. I think the same is true about God and his kingdom…the more we learn, the less we know. Plumb the depths of heaven and you will need an eternity of string.
God is big. God is complex. God is multifaceted. Where he is knowable, accessible, and caring, there isn’t any way that we - as humans - can ever know every facet, every thought, every characteristic, every way of God. But, those of us who try, who chase after God knowing we are “poor in spirit” are rewarded. How? The kingdom of God is revealed and belongs to us.
What does this look like? I think it means that we start to understand God’s heart on certain matters; we begin to understand things from his viewpoint, his perspective, his heartbeat. We begin to act on his behalf - being his emissaries in the world. Essentially, we are bringing heaven to earth by acting as he wills when he wills it. A caring word, a random act of kindness, a thoughtful gesture, a prayer, a prophetic word, a meal brought, a card sent, garbage taken out…
Being poor in spirit is everyone’s condition…none of us is wealthy in this area when compared to Jesus. The query is, what are you doing about it? If you were monetarily poor, you find a way to make money. If you are educationally deprived – you find a way to teach yourself. If you are medically deprived you improvise (one woman had cancer, read about what makes tumors grow, took that out of her diet and the dang thing shrunk!). If you don’t have a car you use a bus, bike or taxi. Get my point?
Being spiritually poor isn’t a physical in-your-face condition. But it does reveal itself in many, many ways on a daily basis. What is your language like when you are upset? How is your anger level when you are cut-off in traffic? How do you respond to a rebellious smart-mouthed teenager? How do you deal with conflict? Are you a revenge plotter?
Being poor in spirit is a continuum…you never become “wealthy” but you do get out of the basement and into the penthouse suite with some work. Are you ready to be rewarded? Do you want the kingdom of heaven to belong to you? Then seek after God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and see what he has to offer.
What can you do today to improve your spiritual poverty? What action can you take to get you up a floor or two on the continuum? What actions in your day to day life reveal your poverty level? Who else is “poor” around you and how can your life influence them for the positive?
Updates:
Living – the painters didn’t finish by July 28th, but are completed now. We are awaiting railing installation and finalizing of the buyer’s bank loan. Hopefully I will be completely out of escrow by the 18th…or my buyer walks. I can’t say I blame him – it has been 7 MONTHS!
Travel – Made it home to California safely and don’t expect to travel again until late October.
Work – I get to learn a new software product! InDesign 5 here I come!
Cool Stuff – I have a website! Check it out: www.denagrace.com
Requests:
Living – For blessing and favor for the construction company – they have been dealing with tricky sub-contractors, inclimate weather, delayed suppliers, and impatient homeowners.
Work – Books re-published, up to Kindle and for training to progress smoothly
Book – What does God want me to do with all these devotionals? What kind of book does he want? How does he want it organized / categorized? What is the next step?
PS – Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!
No comments:
Post a Comment