More Than a Conqueror Devotional #7

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven – Matthew 5:3
February 3, 2010

These words are the opening to Jesus’ first sermon. As Christ begins his ministry he makes his up into a high mountain, his disciples, those that pledged their service to the Lord followed him. The reward for those that were able to follow the Lord was a sermon that detailed the founding principles of all Christ’s teachings that would follow. The beatitudes or blessed attitudes are a collection of guiding principles that govern how humanity should conduct themselves with one another as well as with our Lord. The first of these principles describes how the Lord intends us to live in order to obtain salvation. We are blessed when we come to a place where we no longer have the strength to carry on because when there is less of ourselves than the Lord can be exalted. To be poor in spirit means to be abased, to arrive a place in our lives where we need to rely on the Lord’s strength because we have run out of own strength or ingenuity. When we are poor in spirit we cannot supply our own needs and recognize the need for the Lord’s intervention.

We are more than conquerors today because we understand that in order to overcome we must be entirely dependent on the Lord. There are times when we come to the end of our rope, when we no longer have the ability to char our own course. We may lose our job, a dear companion or loved one may die, we may become ill. There are circumstances that force us to be poor in spirit, occasions that bring us to a low estate. The Lord is looking for his disciples to develop a mentality of being poor in spirit regardless of our circumstances. The apostle Paul said I know how to be abased and to abound…both to abound and to suffer need (Philippians 4:12). If we wish to obtain salvation, i.e. the kingdom of heaven we must live a life that relies on the Lord and Him alone. Being poor in spirit is a state of mind, a lifestyle not more so than an economic status. As heirs to the throne of Christ we do not have to live in poverty, we can reap the harvest of the latter and former rain; however in our abundance we are to maintain a mentality of poverty. The kingdom is ours because we are the Lord’s.