Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
(Message Bible)
You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule.
Moving with the understanding that mankind is in need of recovery from the fall of Adam and Eve, healing begins with the true assessment of who you are and who you need to be healed. No healing can take place until we see ourselves as God sees us.
The very first step of the Twelve Steps is a confession about our current state.
"We admitted that we were powerless". Powerless to better our spiritual state on this side of heaven. We might be able to function and do our daily regiment, but we truly are powerless to better ourselves in the eyes of God.
To admit that you are powerless is the revelation of an inner need to fix something that is beyond your control. Every person born to this world comes in with a bent to be independent from God. Such a bent manifests itself in various ways. Not every one will be a drug addict or alcoholic. That doesn't lessen the chasm between themselves and God.
Not every person born will go to jail or be destitute and homeless, but there is nothing they can do in their own strength to bridge the gap between themselves and Jesus.
I confess to you this morning that I am poor in Spirit. I was spiritually bankrupt and in poverty. God offered to me this new way of living that would take me out of my old habits and ways. I accepted. I've been living this new life for 54 years now. I haven't always been consistent in walking with Him. There have been some pretty incredible lows in my journey when I decided that I didn't need Him as bad as I thought I did. I walked away from God for seven years. He didn't walk away from me. But during those seven years, I found out exactly how "poor in spirit" I truly was. I found out exactly how powerless I was. I kidded myself......no I actually deceived myself into believing that the world had more to offer than God did. What a chump I was.
But then, much like the prodigal son, I came to my senses.....got up from the middle of my sin mess....and headed back to my Father. He accepted me with such love and joy that it was overwhelming to me.
That was 35 years ago.
There was still a mess to clean up. There were falls along the way where I let myself get sidetracked from His path. I chose to leave His way to see what was out there, only to fall and come running back.
What's the truth that I have learned about myself over these years?
I am powerless...
I am poor in Spirit.
Such knowledge is the lynch pin to all relationship with God.
There will never be a day or time when you no longer need Him.
No matter how much you grow in Christ...
No matter how much He pours out on you from the riches of heaven...
I much always be aware of my need for Him.
Like Jesus said....
"I am THE way....THE truth....and THE life."
So if I remove myself from relationship with Jesus, and decide that I am no longer powerless but can handle my own affairs, what does this really mean?
It means that I have lost "THE way" or direction Jesus has plotted out for me to follow.
Losing the direction puts me in a place where I no longer am living in "THE truth". I am moving into a false reality that is easily motivated my own fleshly wants and desires. In other words, I deceive myself into believing that I am alright and have no need for God.
Lastly, I measure my own state of living as one of real life. When in fact I have removed myself from the only source of true life there is....Jesus.
The longer I remain in this state, the harder it is to find my way back to Christ. Impossible? No. But it will be a hard road to follow. Why? Because of the deception that we have surrounded ourselves with. Our only hope is that God will break off the hardness that has covered our hearts and our choices, and reveal His truth to us. A truth that begins with the fact that we are poor in spirit. A fact that tells us we are truly powerless.
From this place, real life can come forth.
Think on these things today.
Don't every forget how powerless you truly are outside of God.
God on you...
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