POOR IN SPIRIT?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” —Matthew 5:2

I read the following in one of my devotions today and found it pretty spot on.

If the Beatitudes were written for our current culture today they make look like this:

BLESSED ARE THE WEALTHY, FOR THEY WILL HAVE IT ALL.

BLESSED ARE THE BEAUTIFUL, FOR THEY WILL BE ADMIRED.

BLESSED ARE THE POPULAR, FOR THEY WILL BE LOVED.

BLESSED ARE THE FAMOUS, FOR THEY WILL HAVE THE MOST FOLLOWERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

It really is close to hitting home and truth, albeit a sad truth.

This is not what Jesus said. What Jesus said is still the same today and ALWAYS will be. Because God is the God of Always.

What did Jesus say? He led with this shocker with His first Beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” MATT. 5: 2 NKJV Happy are the poor in spirit.

Jesus did not say “Blessed are the poor, “ but said “poor in spirit.” We are not blessed by being rich or poor. There is not condemnation in being wealthy or poor in the Bible. But, the Bible does say “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” 1 TIM. 6: 10 NKJV

I have known what you would consider wealthy people who were happy and some who were miserable. And the same goes for poor people, some are happy and some are miserable.

I believe we are given according to our faith and what God knows we can and will do with that given. So, our bank accounts or status here in this world or are no consequence. It is about your spiritual state before God. The word poor in this verse comes from a verb meaning to shrink, cower, or cringe. In Jesus day, beggars often did this.

Do we want to be happy? Of course we all do.

Do we want to receive God’s blessing? Again, I cannot think of a reason we wouldn’t

IF so, THEN you must be poor in spirit.

Poor in spirit recognizes apart from God, we are in spiritual poverty. We all, apart from God, suffer from this.

APART FROM THE LORD, I AM LOST, HELPLESS, AND SADLY HOPELESS. THIS SONG LYRIC JUST POPPED IN MY HEAD….”MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS, THAN JESUS BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

IF WE WANT TO BE HAPPY. WE MUST ADMIT WHAT OUR TRUE SPIRITUAL STATE IS. BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SEE THEMSELVES AS THEY REALLY ARE. FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. HAPPINESS BEGINS WITH ADMITTING THIS……

“Be humble in your spirit. We need to come to God realizing our own sin and spiritual emptiness. Drop our pride, and acknowledge that without God, we are nothing! God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble—James 4:6”