BEATITUDES: POOR IN SPIRIT RICH IN GOD

Matthew 5: (NIV)


³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


I got a real chuckle today hearing a song by the Martins called "ATTITUDES". The song talks about the wrong attitudes that many church goers have. It made me start thinking about the beatitudes that Jesus taught about in Matthew chapter 5 during His Sermon on the Mount. If we would let these attitudes sink deep into our heart, we would not have near the "trouble" we see in the churches. The song was funny but the fact that there is much truth in it is not. The church and its actions as the body of Christ should be a mirror of the life of Jesus, not something that makes the world laugh at our hypocrisy. I am going to spend some days meditating on these scriptures called the beatitudes and hopefully gain some personal insight as to how I can incorporate these Godly attributes into my own life.

The first beatitude is that we should be poor in spirit. What does this mean? To be poor in spirit is to be aware and sensitive to the fact that without Jesus we are nothing. To be poor is spirit is to really grasp the spiritual concept stated by John the Baptist when he said in John 3 "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." If the Holy Spirit living in us is what gives us real life and without Him we are dead in our sins, then we should realize that our spirits are absolutely bankrupt of worth as far as holiness is concerned. We are truly "POOR" in spirit. 
When we come to this realization, we are moved into an awesome position of possession. The King James Version of this verse says that the poor in spirit are blessed because we are in possession of the kingdom of heaven. if we consider ourselves so highly we are disqualified from the blessings of God because we need to be totally dependent on God and not dependent on ourselves. The blessings of God always come when we are totally leaning and trusting in Him and His power, mercy, grace, and love. Our flesh produces death and sometimes after getting saved we make the same mistake that the Galatians made and think we can go back to living in the flesh...not so. We are our own worst enemy and when we choose to ignore the Holy Ghost and His prompting. We can walk blessed, highly favored, and full of His glory by being crucified daily with Christ.


Let us all speak with great conviction the same words of John the Baptist. Jesus become greater and greater in me as I become less and less. That's what I'm thinking.