Skip to main content

72. Blessed Are the Poor In Spirit


Matthew 5:5, Luke 6:20, Psalm 86
Key Verse: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 
Matthew 5:3

Even though the verse in Luke: "blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” may sound as though Jesus is referring to physical poverty, in contrast to Matthew's more spiritual emphasis, this would not be accurate.  Both verses are meant to be applied in a spiritual sense.  Blessed are you when you have a spirit of humility for in that attitude, you will inherit the Kingdom of God. 

A person who is poor in spirit has given up trying to do life on their own.  They recognize that their way is probably not God's way.  They are willing to surrender to God, for His Will to be done. 

Their prayer of surrender will sound like the Psalmist when he says, "Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.  Guard my life, for I am devoted to You.  You are my God; save your servant who trusts in You.”  (Psalm 86:1-2) We see his humble attitude continue throughout the Psalm when he says, "Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.”  (Ps.  86:11)

It is the humble person who will listen.  It is the humble person who will obey.  It is the humble person who can decrease and let Christ increase as we saw John the Baptist do earlier.  (John 3:30, Day 53).  God loves to work through humble people, such as Moses, (Numbers 12:3).  When we are humble, and not concerned about who gets the credit, God has proved that He can do mighty things.  Those humble ones who give God the glory for any good thing in their lives are those who will live in the Kingdom of Heaven, for they know that it's really about Him. 


Hymn: "Spirit of God Descend Upon My Heart"  

An interesting variation

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

258. "Remember, Always Remember!"

Exodus 12:1-30 Key Verse: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 "Celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." (Exodus 12:17) "And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:27) The original act was an act of worship as the first true act of freedom for the people of Israel. They had been brought to Egypt by Joseph during a time of famine so that through Joseph God could preserve their lives. ( Genesis 37 , & 39-50 ) After Joseph died, however, instead of heading back to C...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Little Light of Mine

Scripture: Psalm 130 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. It’s the first Sunday of Advent. Today we lit one candle and heard the passage, in Isaiah 9, about the great light! We have heard that the great light is the child born to us on Christmas day. It is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas is a day we will truly celebrate as we have for years and years, and our ancestors before us for centuries. Christmas is coming! Advent means coming! It is good to spend the next few weeks reflecting on all that it means for us. We begin from the depths of darkness. The world is still suffering the effects of sin. We are still suffering the effects of a world broken by sin. And not just the consequences of our own sins. According to Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The fires in California, the floods and storms on the East coast, and all the other natural disasters we hear ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

August 13 What Is Fitting

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—how much less for a slave to rule over princes! ~Proverbs 19:10   On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. ~Acts 12:21-23  Wow! Well, what in the world can there be to benefit us here? First of all, perhaps we should review the first Biblical definition of a fool, penned by no other than Solomon’s Father, David himself. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1) It is not fitting for the fool to live the blessed life. Why should they when they deny from whom all blessings flow?  King Herod was a fool. Now, just to be clear, this is not the Herod who ruled at Jesus’ birth and ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more