The Kingdom Is For The Poor.

16 Jan The Kingdom Is For The Poor.

Happy New Year once again beloved friends! I trust God that your year started out great and you are in tune with our Father. We cannot possibly thank Him enough for the opportunities He grants us to live and dwell among the living.
Like I said in the my last post for 2016, this new season, I suggest that instead of just wanting to do more, we should pursuing BEING more… being more like Christ, aligning more with His word and living lives that will add to the expansion of His kingdom. Find details of the post here.

I intend by God’s grace to do a series as I study on The Beatitudes to kick start this new season. These words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 5:3-12 are some of His very first teachings when He began His ministry. We will look at each one once every week. Lets trust God that by the time we are done with this series, we will become more like Christ and spread His likeness within our homes and communities. Wouldn’t you like that? I certainly would! Let’s begin.

The first of them is found in verse 3 of Matthew Chapter 5;

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Click To Tweet

I cannot question the truth that just like me, you are striving to possess the kingdom of heaven. I cannot imagine possessing anything or being anywhere else besides with God in eternity.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Let’s look at this verse in another translation.

“Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].” Matthew 5:3 AMP

From the light thrown in this translation, we cannot judge that Christ here refers to the poor in material terms or any other worldly description because He was quite clear in His statement; “the poor in spirit”.

So who are the poor in spirit?
In my studies and prayers, I learnt that the poor in spirit are:

1. Those who are humble and lowly in their eyes.
2. Those who see their helplessness without God.
3. Those who have penitent hearts (those who are sorry for their sin and seek forgiveness).
4. Those who know they need The Lord their Saviour.
5. Those who acknowledge that all they are/hope to be and have/hope to have, is owing to God’s free grace.
6. Those who depend totally on God’s mercy.

How To Be Poor In Spirit.
I believe all of the qualities above are quite simple to understand. The question now should be, how can we be all of those? And the key is to constantly stay conscious of who God is and who we are in relation to Him.
–God is perfect. Psalm 92:15, Psalm 18:30
–God is superior to us. Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 8:3
–God is the giver of life. Genesis 2:7, Job 33:4
–We are nothing and can do/have nothing without God. Colossians 1:17, Romans 11:36, John 3:27

When we always remember and think on God’s Almightiness and our nothingness without Him, we will destroy pride and walk in humility before Him and others, we will cling to Him as we see our need for Him.

…”For their’s is the kingdom of heaven.”
A poor spirit will possess the kingdom of heaven; righteousness, peace and joy in this world plus eternal glory with our heavenly Father. Who wouldn’t want this?

The rewards of being poor in spirit are awesome!  So we can say that among other things, the poor in spirit:

1. Is a born heir of the kingdom.
2. Has the authority of God vested on him.
3. Has total access to God’s kingdom as his/her citizen.

Plus, as possessors of the Kingdom, we have the authority of heaven, to establish God’s kingdom here on earth and in our live’s circumstances.

“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19 NKJV

So what’s not to desire in being poor in the spirit? Click To Tweet

Oh hallelujah!

Do you understand the glory in this?
Wouldn’t you love to BE “poor in the spirit”?

Copyright© Ugochi Oritsejolomisan 2017