We have been talking all week about being “poor in spirit!” To be poor in spirit is to be humble!  It’s not just saying that I am humble, it is real and actual humility.  Humility which understands and believes that there are some things that I can’t do and I need help and that help can only come from my Creator and Sustainer God!

Humility is the work of God! A true servant of Jesus will possess a deep and abiding dependence on and in the Lord!  It is easy to say that we have a relationship with Jesus, but the truth is:  If we have a relationship with Jesus, we will not have to say anything, because the relationship will prove itself in and through the way that we live out our lives.  One of the biggest reasons that I have a relationship with Jesus is because I cannot do life by myself!

We can fake dependence in front of the world, but we need to always remember that God knows our heart and that is where real dependence begins and ends! Real dependence begins and ends in our heart.  We need to realize that we have no spiritual merit!  We are helpless worthless and sinful!  We need to admit that we can earn no spiritual reward!  It is God Who is mighty, worthy and glorified!  We need to lose our pride!  We are poor and He is rich!  We cannot find any assurance in self!  We are doomed and He is redemptive!  We stand empty handed before God!  We are dead and He is alive!

Humility is not an act!  Humility is an attitude! We get to make a choice to live with or without this attitude.  We get to make a choice to live in our own power or in the supernatural power of God.

Come back tomorrow and we will take a look at some steps that we can take to make this attitude our own!

It is harder to be “poor in spirit” than we think! When Jesus told us in Matthew 5:3 that “Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.” We thought:  “I can do that!”  The truth is – it is not near as easy as we might think, because just when you think you have a grasp on humility, your grasp messes you up!

We have a problem! We are strong willed, proud and full of attitude.  We like to think that we can will our way through any situation or circumstance.  The problem with willing our way through, is that we are depending on our own strength.  Our pride gets in the way every time that we make a little progress, because we believe that we deserve a pat on the back.  And if we do deserve a pat on the back, then it is once again, because we accomplished something in and of ourselves.  We are full of attitude, because we look around this world and see a lot of people getting it wrong and we know that at least we are getting some of it right, but if we are getting life right, then it is not us, it is Him in and through us.

We become self righteous and confident in and of ourselves and this is the big challenge. We must get self out of the way – if we are to experience the supernatural hand of God upon our lives.  We convince ourselves that we are happy and that we feel good about the life that we are living, but deep down – we know that something is missing.  That something that is missing is dependence upon and faith in God our Creator and Sustainer!

Realize and really believe that you are nothing without Him and everything and more than you can dream or imagine with Him!

We have began our journey through the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. In verse three we read the first and foundational attitude:  “Blessed are the poor in Spirit for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.” We know that “Blessed” = Happy!  So what does it mean to be “poor in spirit?”

To be poor in spirit is to shrink, cower and cringe as a totally destitute beggar, who is completely dependent upon others, because he/she has no ability to support themselves. The best way to picture “poor in spirit” is to see a beggar with one hand reaching out in desperate need and one hand covering up in embarrassed shame!  When Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit – He is talking about spiritual poverty.  We need to realize, believe and live like we are nothing without Jesus, because the truth is:  We are nothing without Jesus!

To be “poor in spirit” is to be humble. It is a humble realization that we are helpless to do anything to really help ourselves and so we do the only thing that we can do and that is – we put our whole trust in God.  I am spiritually bankrupt!  I deserve nothing!  I have only one option – To turn and trust God and His grace and mercy!

We need to see ourselves as we really are! We are lost, hopeless and helpless without Jesus.  It does not matter what level of education you have obtained, how much money you have saved up, what status you live at and in, what accomplishments that you can brag on or what religion you claim to believe and to belong!  We all need to recognize our spiritual destitution and realize our complete dependance upon Jesus Christ as our Savior.  We cannot save ourselves, but we can be saved!