“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
– Matthew 5:3
When we choose God, we are forgiven, rescued, and become a new creation. But in our daily lives, we can still feel thirsty for Him and wonder why we’re still struggling with some of life’s issues. So often through our churches and sermons, we make the mistake of forgetting that Jesus isn’t just our Savior, He’s our Rabbi — our Teacher. He gives us the words of life, and we can learn from His life-giving lessons. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins with the Beatitudes, which are nine sayings, or blessings attributed to Jesus. There are many wonderful, helpful, and meaningful teachings of the Beatitudes, but I find that many teachers and pastors actually misunderstand what Jesus is saying. This sermon states if you follow these nine principles, then you will receive a specific blessing. For example, if you can learn to be poor in spirit, then you’ll inherit the Kingdom of God, almost making the Beatitudes into a new ten commandments. Jesus was not giving a new ten commandments; He was making a proclamation. Being poor in spirit means your heart is broken, you have no will left, or you’ve been crushed by life and this doesn’t sound like a good thing. But Jesus says if you’ve been crushed by life and you can’t bring yourself to believe in God anymore, blessed are you because the Kingdom of God has come! Friend, in the book of Luke, Jesus clearly states that blessed are those who are poor and hungry, those who weep, and blessed are those who are insulted. And that’s how we’re supposed to read the Beatitudes, not to read it as commandments of things we should do, but rather as a proclamation of blessing from Jesus! |
Prayer
Jesus, thank you that I can live out the blessings proclaimed in the Beatitudes.
Reflection
How can you see yourself blessed and happy if you are poor, hungry or weeping?
If you’re unable to attend your local church or need some additional weekly inspiration, be sure to tune into Hour of Power every Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. PT on TBN or watch online at hourofpower.org/episode.
One Response
Pastor Bobby, listened to your message last night and as always was extremely Blessed! Thank you again for proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that is hurting. God Bless