Archive for April, 2013
Blessed are the “poor in Spirit”
Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
To be poor in spirit is to realize that nothing we have is worth more than the kingdom of God. This includes not only our material possessions, but our relationships, aspirations, reputations, careers, and more.
The poor were people who recognized their utter helplessness before what life had dealt them. They recognized that nothing within their power solved their weak state, thus they would eagerly reach out to others for assistance in rising out of their situation, as a beggar would.
David,(Old Testament) a person we would not consider as defenseless, says of himself in a situation where he felt only God could deliver him, “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6).
God wants us to have this recognition of poverty regarding true spiritual things, and possess the drive to seek their enrichment from Him.
Our hope is based on his resurrection
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8