The Beatitudes (2) - Blessed are the poor in spirit!

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Matthew 5:3 NKJV
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Are you "poor in spirit"? Do you desire to be "poor in spirit"? This is a rhetorical question, but I hope your response is not No. Be that as it may, by the time you are done reading this, I hope you make a commitment to developing a poor-in-spirit attitude if you haven't already because it is an attitude God places a premium on. 

Being poor in spirit is one of the blessed believer attitudes. In short, it is the first Jesus started with in the sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:3). Friends, the fact that Jesus released blessings upon the poor in spirit indicates His desire for all believers to manifest such an attitude. The account in Matthew 5 is maybe the only time in the Bible when the word "poor" is used in a positive light. So, clearly, it is something to pay attention to. 

So, what does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means to be spiritually humble or to be devoid of spiritual arrogance. Basically, the poor in spirit are God-needy (Psa 72:13) and God-seeking (Psa 69:32); they acknowledge their need for God, and they diligently seek Him. They have an insatiable and enduring appetite for God; they desire to know more of Him and they gratify that desire. They may already have a wealth of knowledge of God experientially, with diverse manifestations of His power, but they consider it as nothing (Phil 3:10). Here are the words of Paul - a man who exhibited the poor-in-spirit attitude: "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord...... and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:8 NKJV). Paul had many physical and spiritual accomplishments to boast of, but He counted it as nothing that He may gain the knowledge of Christ which he considered more excellent that everything else. 

Friends, God desires that we exhibit such an attitude in our relationship with Him because He sincerely wants us to continually grow from the knowledge we draw out of our experiences with Him. His ultimate goal for us is to be conformed to the image of Jesus (Rom 8:29), which can only be achieved via growth in knowledge of Jesus or knowledge garnered from cultivating a healthy relationship with Him. This cannot be attained without a "poor in spirit" mindset. There are some that may have gotten to a certain height with God, evident by their exploits (Dan 11:32b), that they probably think they don't need the instruments of spiritual growth (studying the word and praying often or fasting when necessary) as much as before. This is the antithesis of being poor in spirit. The poor in spirit will always prioritise anything that adrenalizes their relationship with God more than anything else.

Now, what is the blessing Jesus pronounced on those who are poor in spirit? Our scriptural reference says the kingdom of heaven belongs to them (Matt 5:3). That is, the kingdom of heaven or if you like the kingdom of God - is theirs to enjoy. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom 14:17), meaning that these virtues will be abundantly evident in their lives. Moreover, the inherent dividends, blessings, privileges, resources, endowments in the kingdom are also theirs to enjoy now and forever. In addition, God responds to the cry of the poor in spirit (Psa 22:24); He stands by their right hand which is symbolic for God drawing them closer (Psa 109:31); and they will obtain honour (Pro 29:23). 

Finally, it is clear that Jesus Himself, though He is God, exhibited a poor-in-spirit attitude. He didn't hold on to the status of equality with God when it was time to make an eternal sacrifice of Himself for man (Phil 2:5-7). In addition, He prayed while on earth as if His life depended on it. Consequently, He desires that everyone of us - Christians - be poor in spirit too, and He has placed the above-stated blessings and more upon the poor-in-spirit attitude as motivation. You cannot miss the blessing if you cultivate the attitude. God bless you real good as you develop and continuously express the poor-in-spirit attitude henceforth.

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