“Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom.”

You have to face the emptiness of your own heart. “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom.” You have to start with letting God dress you down. There’s no other way. Only when you face the major crisis of seeing your own sin, then and only then can you really understand how much you need God.

“He who has been forgiven much, loves much,” Jesus said. Who needs to be forgiven much except those who have faced Jesus of Nazareth and gotten on their face before Him? They’ve wept at His feet, anointed Him with perfume and dried His feet with their hair. Until you’ve had that sort of self-abasement and understanding of how deeply you need Jesus and that there’s no other way, you’ll not find the power of God in your life. “Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone” (John 12). Until you comprehend that, and go to the cross and deny your very self as having any value—until you start there, you don’t need a Messiah.

___________

Was reading this teaching tonight and thinking just how desperately I need HIM. I think its a very good idea to examine my own heart daily it reminds me how much I need HIM every moment of every day.

God bless
maryjane

Good word MaryJane.

Very beautiful word MaryJane.

Humbleness and brokeness simply cannot be faked. It comes from that meeting place of the cross where many tears are left daily.

God bless

AMEN!!!

Amen, MJ!

The phrase "Poor in Spirit" often dogs me. It is in direct contrast to arrogance, self-esteem, pride, self-sufficiency...

The picture of Jacob wrestling with the LORD and then how the LORD struck his thigh, crippling him, requiring a cane. Ahhh...Jacob always seemed to be the person in charge and he got what he wanted - some way or another. Somehow, it seems as though his greatest strength came when he knew that his strength was totally useless, lending credence to Paul's testimony "when I am weak, then am I strong." 2Cor. 12:10

Thanks for the post, MJ.

ginnyrose

"The phrase "Poor in Spirit" often dogs me. It is in direct contrast to arrogance, self-esteem, pride, self-sufficiency."

Amen!

Most of the modern day church is not poor in spirit. If we truly saw our great need of God, we would be repenting for our own sins and the sins of our nation and crying out for revival.

"Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." (Revelation 3:17).

"I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."(Revelation 3:18).

There is a chapter in Tozer's book "The Pursuit of God" entitled "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing." This chapter brings to light what it truly means to be "poor in spirit."

Here is Tozer's prayer at the end of the chapter:

"Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

As the Valley of Vision prayer goes....."the way down is the way up". Another of the great paradoxes of walking with HIM. Very few folks realize that living the Beatitudes is a wonderful daily exercise for the Christian. Beginning at Poor In Spirit we ascend to true Christian experience where we experience knowing Him, the power of His resurrection life and join in the fellowship of His sufferings.

Now this is a great thread. This is so true. The only way to have true vision is to be blinded to everything else but Him.

Truly God is calling His church back to all the sermon on the mount. We we listen?

I am glad this was a blessing to some few here as well. Even today I have been thinking how easy it is to loose sight of those things that matter most... the things of HIS Kingdom. As I examine my heart I see that their are distractions and things that I have allowed to take root and take hold that mean nothing. I am so thankful that God sends His Holy Spirit to convict me that I might see these weeds that have taken root in my heart, that I might in Him deal with these weeds so that they do not choke off HIS precious seeds. I pray I will never take for granted the truly wonderful blessing God has given me in seeing myself as I really honestly am. When I see me and how wretched a sinner I am I know so much more how great my LORD JESUS is and how very much I need "HIM". Jesus is my LORD, my life, my love, my all...apart from HIM is nothing!

God bless
maryjane

"The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing."

This phrase struck me. This is the essence of being "poor in Spirit." We have nothing of our own: all we have is HIS.

And this is the essence of the Son of God, who had nothing of His own. He was the revelation of the Father's love and righteousness; He had no righteousness of His own, no humility of His own...

And we through His poverty are made rich (2 Cor. 8.9). When we enter into that same poverty of the Son of God, suddenly we are RICH with all the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven: the very righteousness of God, the peace of God, the humility of God...

I found the Tozer book with that chapter on the Blessedness of Possessing Nothing here:

http://www.theboc.com/freestuff/awtozer/books/the_pursuit_of_god/bless_possess_nothing.html

Thank you ADisciple for posting the link to the chapter from Tozer's book. Really was a blessing to read through.

This excerpt from the chapter was such a blessing and really spoke to me:

"These blessed poor are no longer slaves to the tyranny of things. They have broken the yoke of the oppressor; and this they have done not by fighting but by surrendering. Though free from all sense of possessing, they yet possess all things. `Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.