So.. Kate here.
I have found my way out of the cobwebs and back onto the blog. My life has been hectic; there has been so much going on in the past four or five months that this blog has been the last of my priorities. Well, actually, my priorities have been pretty messed up, but that is a whole other topic.
Last night, I got stuck on this one verse. Well, to start off. I have challenged myself. I feel like we, as Christians, are so easily "fed" and we don't really take the time to dig into the word for ourselves. My new challenge is this: to tear apart the teachings of Christ, for myself. I want to build my faith doctrine on the Christ's teachings, not on other's teachings of Christ.
Moving on. Last night, I was reading in Matthew and I could not get past this one verse. I sat there and read it. And I re-read it. I read it in NIV; I read it in MSG. I could not get past this one verse.
I have found my way out of the cobwebs and back onto the blog. My life has been hectic; there has been so much going on in the past four or five months that this blog has been the last of my priorities. Well, actually, my priorities have been pretty messed up, but that is a whole other topic.
Last night, I got stuck on this one verse. Well, to start off. I have challenged myself. I feel like we, as Christians, are so easily "fed" and we don't really take the time to dig into the word for ourselves. My new challenge is this: to tear apart the teachings of Christ, for myself. I want to build my faith doctrine on the Christ's teachings, not on other's teachings of Christ.
Moving on. Last night, I was reading in Matthew and I could not get past this one verse. I sat there and read it. And I re-read it. I read it in NIV; I read it in MSG. I could not get past this one verse.
" Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of God"matt 5.3, niv
This boggles my mind. What makes someone "poor in spirit"? How do we achieve this poverty in spirit? When I think of the word poor, I think of someone who has nothing. True poverty is to have nothing to offer.
After meditating on just this for a while, I checked out another verse it was cross-referenced with.
"For this is what the high and lofty One says–he who lives forever, whose name is holy:'I live in a high and holy place,but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,and to revive the spirit of the lowlyand to revive the heart of the contrite'."is 57.15, niv
God is awesome. Truly awesome. Not only does He live in this awesome place called Heaven, but He lives WITH us. Everyday. He is with those who are "contrite and lowly in spirit". So, despite the years of homeschooling and pretty much copying the dictionary word for word ( including the pronunciation), I still wanted to look up the meaning of contrite.
Contrite1. caused by or showing sincere remorse2. filled with a sense of guilt and the desire for atonement
God is with the contrite; He is with the lowly in spirit. In fact, not only is he with us, but he will revive us– our heart and spirit. How awesome is that. To know that not only are we a broken people, but there is a God that will hold us, and mend our broken hearts.
So, going back to the original verse that had me completely baffled.
"you're blessed when you're at the end of you're rope.With less of you, there is more of God and his rule"matt 5.3, msg
I love the Message version. It really brings a lot of things into a full view. So, if we are truly poor in spirit, we are "at the end of our rope". We have nothing left to offer. We are a spiritually poverty-stricken people. However, there is a difference between those people who truly are poverty-stricken, and those people who are poverty-stricken and know it. We have to admit that we honestly have nothing at all to offer God; we have absolutely no hope apart from the grace of God. Once we accept this fact– that we have nothing to offer to God that will make up for our natural wickedness and tendency towards sin– I believe we have achieved that poverty.
It says in James, " Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will life you up". In this day and age, we are a prideful group of people. We are constantly looking for things to make us look good and to cover our flaws up. I can speak for myself, I fall victim to this every day! Every day is a new battle. Every day is a chance to set things right! Be humble. Admit your sinful nature and God respects that. He looks at your "contrite" heart and he revives it!! He will lift you up!
Let all of that sink in for a few minutes. It is so powerful to think about, and yet such a simple verse. It is humbling. We are " poor in spirit" when we actually acknowledge that we have absolutely nothing to offer and no hope apart from the awesome gift of grace that God has blessed us with. Without God, we are nothing.
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