POST #3 - JESUS' SERMON ON THE MOUNT: Poor in Spirit and ready for Transformation

Saturday / Sunday, September 12 & 13, 2015:
.
Yesterday, as I thought about what was happening in NYC and the surrounding areas, I gratefully thought about my friends in South Jersey.  One of the memories I treasure, while living in Jersey, was each Tuesday (for several years) sitting at a long table (for lunch at Wendy's) with a group of mothers after our ladies Bible class. These are mothers of children with strong wills, medical challenges, and special needs like autism, learning disabilities, PKU, and developmental delays. In this group of 10 were women who in the previous year had husbands who had lost their jobs or been transferred, a home that had burned, family members with cancer, family members with mental illness, and family members who had passed away. I mostly listened. Thinking back to that last year together, a few statements I heard repeatedly were:
.

• "I have to get myself out of the way and let GOD be GOD!"
• "I am finally learning to just let GOD take care of it!"
• "I know I need to give up the control, but it is so hard!"
• "GOD is teaching me__________."

.
I love these sisters! We spent time in GOD's word together each week. I'd only known them for a short time, but it seemed like a lifetime. I loved watching their faith grow! We walked our spiritual journeys together! As my Granny might have said, "We've been through the wringer and back again!"
.
The next few months, we are going to be talking about CHRIST's Sermon on the Mount. (Some of you have been on this journey with me before).  We're going to take our time. We'll spend several weeks on each "Be-attitude".  We will begin by talking about being POOR IN SPIRIT. It's the first "Be-attitude" in the Sermon on the Mount. It even comes with a promise!
.

Matthew 5:3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

.

JESUS came to this earth to be a blessing. So, it makes sense that HE would start this amazing sermon with a series of statements telling us how to live a BLESSED LIFE!

.

Matthew 5:3 is the only verse, in the Bible, that uses the words "poor in spirit". To be poor in spirit is to have a humble opinion of oneself.  

• I know that I'm a sinner and only Jesus was sinless. 
• I have come to the realization that this world is not all about me. 
• In fact, I admit that it's NOT about me!

.

For today, as we look in GOD'S WORD, join me in looking at a few other New Testament verses that address the subject of being humble:
.
**********************

James 4:10

 "Humble yourselves in the presence of the LORD,

and HE will exalt you."

************************

The next verse hooks the word BLESSING to being HUMBLE... leaving us with an idea how to live this BLESSED LIFE:

.

1 Peter 3:8-10  To sum up, let all be

harmonious,

         sympathetic,

                 brotherly,

                                                                 kindhearted, and 

humble in spirit..."

.

...not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead;  for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing."

*************************
.

One more verse...seems to connect humility with the ability to give our anxieties to the LORD. That's interesting! That's what stood out to me on those Tuesday's at Wendy's.  The first times that I sat at that Wendy's table (in Jersey) with this group of women, I heard a lot of...

•  "I this" and "...me that".  
• "I'm so worried about..." 
• "I'm so anxious about the economy..." 
• "We've got all this junk going on in our family..."

At some time within the next year, I began observing a group of women who had been slowly moving away from an anxious focus on life.  Their "I focus" was becoming  a "GOD focus".  GOD was truly becoming #1 in their lives, as they were growing into women who were POOR IN SPIRIT.   I was BLESSED to live in Jersey with these sisters-in-Christ.

.

 .

1 Peter 5:6-7
"Humble yourselves, therefore,

under the mighty hand of GOD,

that HE may exalt you at the proper time,

casting all your anxiety upon HIM,

because HE cares for you."

**********************************

.

SIDE NOTE: These 3 GOD-inspired scriptures, about humility, were penned by James (JESUS' brother) and Peter who learned a lot about humility by being with JESUS.
.
GIGATTAATTGIG:

~BLESSED~