Matthew 5: 3 ----> Blessed are the poor in the spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
When Christ saw the multitude, he went up into a mountain and started to teach. Part of His teachings on the mount is known as The Beatitudes. So, we will learn God’s guidance to live in supreme blessings, great blessings or happiness. It starts with Matthew 5:3 as the basic foundation.
Word Studies:
- Blessed : makarios - supremely blest, fortunate, well off, happy, spiritually prosperous with life, joy and satisfaction in God’s favor, successful
The word "blessed" is an Old English word “bledsian” or “covered with blood”. It refers to the protection and provision of a covenant relationship with God (Gal 3:14-18). Or it could even mean “higher”. As we a covered, protected, and provided for, the key to higher living and having a happy heart is having the RIGHT ATITUDE. Right Attitudes are the prescription for healthy physical, emotional, spiritual and mental well being.
When you read the Sermon on the Mount it sounds like opposites.
– Happy if you're sad...
– Happy if you're poor ...
– Happy if you're put down and persecuted!
That does not sound much like happiness to us. But what Jesus was saying is that we can learn to be happy regardless of your situation or your circumstances. Our happiness is not determined by what's happening around us, but rather by what's happening in us.
Jesus wants to teach us that to experience continual happiness depends not on the right circumstances but it depends on continually having the right attitudes. So, the higher living is a result of right choices, not right situations. It's not how much we have on the outside that makes us happy, it's what we are on the inside that makes us happy. Happiness is something we choose because we choose our attitudes. It’s not something someone else chooses for us because no one else chooses our attitudes for us.
- Poor spirit : humble, character of humility, not arrogant or prideful, not setting our hearts on worldly wealth or things of the world, empty of self
What does He mean by “Poor in Spirit”? He's not talking about low self-esteem or putting yourself down or having a low opinion of yourself. Poor in spirit means totally dependant on God, beggarly. It means that we humble ourselves, not arrogant and not full of pride, but saying to ourselves “I am not going to make it without help”, and not setting our hearts on worldly wealth or things of the world.
There is no ME,
The opposite of poor in spirit is arrogance or egotism. Jesus teaches that if we're full of our self, we're never going to be happy. Humility is the first key to taking higher ground. If you want to have lasting happiness then you need to learn to be humble.
- Kingdom : basileia - royalty, rule, authority, power, dominion
Talks about authority and power, it means we can be rulers only if we first humble ourselves.
The
How does humility increase our happiness?
1. When we are humble and we don't have to have all the answers. We realise that the world does not depend on us, so, we can resign as general manager of the universe. Because when I'm humble I realise that I don't have to solve all the problems in the world. I don't have to pretend that I'm perfect because God doesn't demand that I be perfect in order to be happy.
2. Selfish, self-centred people are an irritation. Nobody likes to be around them. They wreck relationships. Self-centred people are never happy! Because they are unhappy, they make everybody else unhappy. They spread all their gloom and doom simply by their self focus. Humility doesn't mean we think less of ourselves, we just think more about others. When we become interested in others we become interesting to others. We have better relationships when we're a humble person. When we’re full of pride we bruise very easily. We’re very sensitive to other people's comments. On the other hand, when I we’re walking in humility before the Lord and just being who we are, being real and honest and depending upon God, We’re not near as susceptible to insults.
3. It releases God's power and His presence in our life.
“God gives strength to the humble, but He sets himself against the proud.”
James 4:6 (TLB)
The Bible says that the secret of spiritual power is to walk humbly before the Lord, to realise we are dependent on Him. The secret to releasing God’s strength in our life is to be dependent upon Him. The key to going up to a higher level is to let God lift our life
What do we learn?
Jesus teaches us to be humble and to be happy go together. The key to higher ground and happy living is to be poor in spirit, to be dependent on God.
“Now that you know the truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice! “ John 13:17 (GNB)
Matthew 5:3 ---> Happy are those who know their need for God, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs! (JBP)
That means that all that God has to offer is available to the person who walks humbly before the Lord. All that God has to offer is ours when we live in dependence before the Lord. The fact is that every one of us needs Jesus Christ in our lives. We need God's power to make it through next week and the rest of our life. His power is available and God is waiting to pour out His power on each of us. But we've got to ask. And we've got to admit that we need His help. We need God's power in your life. But it only comes when we humble ourself and say, "God! Help!" The person who says "Help!" is the humble person and the person who is the humble person, God says, "There's nothing I won't do for that person! The kingdom of heaven will be theirs."
Ask yourself two questions:
1. In what areas of my life do I need to practice humility?
2. In what areas of my life do I need to depend on God more?
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