I’m Sorry! I am not telling you that I’m sorry.  I am telling you that I’m sorry!  In others words I am not apologizing to you for something.  I am just telling you that when I look at God and then look at myself – I am sorry!  I am nothing without Him and I cannot do anything that amounts to anything without Him.  I need His forgiveness, grace, mercy, restoration and redemption.

We now have the first two “Beatitudes” in our arsenal! We learned last week that we are to be “poor in spirit”, which means that we are to live in and with the humble realization of our sinfulness and our inability to do anything about our sinfulness in and of ourselves.  When I live with this attitude, I can’t help but to look up to God.  God is my strength and source and I am nothing without Him!  I like to think of this character trait as HUMILITY!

This week we are working to incorporate the second attitude, which  is “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted!” What does it mean to mourn?  The word mourn used in this passage is the strongest of nine Greek words that are used in our New Testament.  The word used here for mourning implies a deep inner agony.  It also is a present participle and so it indicates that this is a continuous action.  When we get humble and begin to truly see ourselves as we are, then we can’t help, but to look up to God.  When we see God in His holiness and perfection, then we can’t help but to see that we are sinners in need of a Savior.  This is a moment by moment, day by day occurence.  I like to think of this character trait as sorrow.  When I see God in His holiness and me in my sinfulness, then I can’t help but to be sorry and seek forgiveness and restoration.

A few reminders for the week! Read Matthew 5:1-12 everyday and try to memorize it!  Try to live these verses – let them challenge and change the way that you live your life.  Try to get each new attitude as soon as you begin to understand it – don’t wait!  God has some great things that He wants to accomplish in and through you – enjoy the journey!

Wow – What a day! I love Sundays!  For a pastor – Sunday is game day!  Today was a tough day, because I had a tough message to share.  My spirit loves the “heavy” message, but my flesh is always a little scared that people will not get it or take it the wrong way.  Being the pastor of a church is a whole lot harder than it looks!  I love being a pastor and I am thankful to God for His calling upon my life and thankful for a church that helps me to do all that God has called me to do!

We are reading, studying and doing our best to apply the truths of the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. Make sure that you read them, try to memorize them and especially work to live them out in your daily living.  I will spend some time this week talking about “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted!” Join me each day back on this page and feel free to share what God is teaching you about how to put the attitude into practice!

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!