Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit

    Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

    The poor in spirit have good company. God tells us in Isaiah 57:15 "For thus says The One who is high and lifted up, Who inhabits eternity, Whose Name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite." 

    God dwells (lives) with the humble in spirit. He restores the spirit of the lowly. He revives the heart of the contrite. Don't you want God to say that about you? I know I do. The humble in spirit are the poor in spirit. We know we lack what we need (a Savior) and we know we can't obtain it for ourselves (salvation). 

    The poor in spirit are also 'the humble in spirit'. We are contrite in our hearts: we know we have sinned and we repent of our wicked ways against God: our evil thoughts, the iniquity in our lives, the transgressions against His Word. We recognize that only God can forgive us for the sins we have committed against Him, so we come to God with humble hearts, seek His face, beg His mercy. And God FORGIVES us! Such Love God has for the seeker, the one who never knew Him until now! Amazing Love God has for the prodigal, the one who used to know Him, left, and has now returned to be embraced by a loving, forgiving Father! 

    Though salvation is freely given to us, it cost Jesus Christ His life: His whole life. Being nailed to a cross was the end of His earthly life, but it wasn't the first time He was come against in His earthly life. From the time He began His ministry of preaching the gospel of salvation through repentance, His words stung the hearts of the many thousands who heard Him speak. And not all of them received His authority to speak in such a manner. 

    The religious rulers of His day conspired with one of His friends to betray Him, someone Jesus chose to surround Himself with. At any point after the betrayal, Judas could have repented and been forgiven. After all, he had been traveling with Jesus for three years, he had heard the gospel message of repentance shared many times over. But he never believed it, so he could not receive it. 

    I believe it and I have received it. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. Therefore, I have received Him into my heart and given Him my life, my whole life. I believe that Jesus Christ is God's Only Begotten Son, that He died on the cross in my place, taking the punishment for my sins. I believe that Jesus overcame death, conquering hell and the grave, when He walked out of the tomb and into a new, resurrected body. 

    I believe that one day I will see my Savior after death takes my body or in the day God sends Him to gather the church home with Him. Whether by way of the grave or way of the air, I'm getting ready to meet Jesus and remain with Him permanently. Are you going with me? It would be lovely if we could go together. 

    James 2:5

Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? 

    We are the poor of this world. You know why? This world is not our home. Therefore, nothing we have in this world is really ours: it's borrowed, loaned out to us for our temporary use. Even this flesh draped across our skeletons and muscles is temporary: we won't need it where we're going. 

    New bodies await us: new spiritual bodies. Here, we worship Him Whose handiwork we see. There, we will worship Him Whose face we will see. Here, we congregate to praise Him, hear His Word and be changed by His Word. There, we will join the great congregation of witnesses and angels to praise Him, hear Him speak and be completed in Him. 

    As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." [1 Corinthians 13:12]. 

    2 Corinthians 3:18

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of The Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from The Lord, Who is The Spirit.

    I saw a post that said, "I'm proud to be a Christian." Let me tell you now, that if there is pride in your heart for anything of the sort, get rid of it. That type of post takes glory away from God. The only reason we are Christians is because we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord: in our hearts, in our thoughts, in our lives. 

    That is nothing to be proud of. It is, however, something to be humbled by. The kingdom of heaven is mine because I believe that God sent His Only Begotten Son to give me eternal life. [John 3:16].

Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit - Bessie Griffin