Jesus 101: Know You Need


In Matthew 5:3 Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Who are the poor in spirit and why are they blessed?  

The poor in spirit are the humble who know they need God and others.  Sometimes it helps to understand what something is by looking at its opposite.  The opposite of being poor in spirit is to be prideful.  Revelation 3:17-18 speaks of the church of Laodicea.  It was a church that thought it was rich and didn't need a thing from God or anyone else.  But Jesus tells it that it's really poor, miserable, blind and naked!  He calls on it to humble itself and turn to him for what it needs!

The church in America today is a lot like that church.  It's wealthy and spoiled.  Oftentimes American churches are inward-focused and blind to the needs of the communities that surround them.  They have great buildings and programs.  But they're spiritually impoverished.

The poor in spirit are blessed because they're citizens of God's eternal kingdom.  They will enjoy God's blessings forever!

It's no accident that this is the first of the Beatitudes.  To enter the kingdom, we must humble ourselves and receive citizenship in God's kingdom as a gift we don't deserve!

Jesus calls us to set aside our pride, humble ourselves, and see ourselves as he sees us.  Then we can be the people he wants us to be and inherit his eternal kingdom!

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