Poor in Spirit

The first Beatitude, being poor is spirit, is the key to obeying the rest of the teachings of Jesus.

Poor in Spirit

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

(Matthew 5:3)

One of the men in our church and his wife are sensing the call of God to serve in vocational ministry. We had a great meeting with them recently and discussed at length their various beliefs. We spoke about the kingdom of God and how we are to live as citizens of the kingdom of God while here on this earth. I asked them if they thought the lifestyles of kingdom citizens described by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount was possible for us today. Could we, for example, truly be poor in spirit, hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc.? Their answer was yes. I agree with them. In His Beatitudes, Jesus clearly set forth how we as His followers are to live in the here and now. Is it easy? No. In fact, apart from the Holy Spirit living within us and empowering us, it is impossible to live the kind of life Jesus instructs us to live. We will never attain perfection on this earth, but we should strive to live more like Christ and be the kingdom citizens He has called us to be.

The first Beatitude, being poor is spirit, is the key to obeying the rest of the teachings of Jesus. To be poor in spirit means to be humble and totally reliant on the Lord for everything. God can use us in powerful ways and teach us so much if we will be humble and seek Him.

A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity, through the kindness and generosity of a great friend of mine, to drive a Porsche around the Circuit of the Americas racetrack in Austin, TX. Wow, was that an exhilarating experience! I got in the driver's seat and told the instructor who rode shotgun that I had never driven a car like this on a track, and I was very nervous. He told me something insightful. He said he would much rather have someone like me driving than someone who was proud and thought they knew everything.

Do you want God to bless you and use you in wonderful ways? If the answer is yes, then you must humble yourself, become poor in spirit, and recognize your complete dependence on Jesus for everything. God will bless a humble heart every time, and He will reject a proud one every time as well.

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Dad Life, Pt. 2

Continuing where we left off last week, Pastor Danny interviews four more godly dads about what it's like being a dad and a husband and trying to raise godly kids in our crazy world. They share powerful testimonies about how God has worked in their lives and their families' lives.

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