pastorswifelife

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

     How desperate for God are we? 

     Most of us believe that we do alright on our own and will bring God into our lives if we run into trouble.  When we feel like we have our little plans moving along and it appears on the surface that we have control over our lives, why bother God?  As I’ve heard said, He must have bigger problems elsewhere.

    Recently I was traveling from Atlanta to Charleston and driving at about 70 mph and suddenly I felt that I was about to faint.  I have these every 3-4 years, and I know when they are coming.  I get the metal taste in my mouth, my head gets woozy, I get extremely hot and start sweating, and I see speckled lights in my vision that steadily come together leading to a blinding light, and then I go out.  So as I was experiencing the symptoms coming over me, I barely saw a sign that said rest area ahead 1-1/4 miles.  I flipped on the air conditioner, reclined my seat enough that I could still see over the steering wheel and got the blood flowing to my head and at the same time called out, “Mom”!  My next thought was, well she can’t do anything for me right now, so I yelled out “GOD!” a number of times.  Miraculously, I made it to the rest area, and unable to see much of anything, I was not capable of parking properly between the lines, so I parked parallel to the sidewalk and went unconscious.  This was a desperate situation, and I relied on God to see me through it.  Desperation about our physical needs is one thing, but have we ever felt the same desperation about our spiritual lives? 

     I believe that to be “poor in spirit” is to let go of our pride and humble ourselves before God.  It is to recognize our great needs spiritually.  We are desperate and cry out to Him that we cannot live this life on our own.  It’s when we say “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” Psalm 139:23-24.  It’s when we acknowledge that without God, we are nothing.

god lives in yu - treo_062809_002_web (Photo credit: kevindean)

     Psalm 140:5 says “The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set snares for me.”  It is the proud that have not emptied their souls to self and begged God to enter. To be “poor in spirit” means to open to the Word of God and truly empty our souls of self.  We must give Him access in order to truly fill us with His Holy Spirit. Those who seek His presence, know their desperate needs and confess their sins, their selfish thoughts and agendas and ask God to take control of their lives. 

     Once we acknowledge our desperate need for Him and give Him access to control our lives, our thoughts and our actions, then we can begin our transformation and wake up from a state of unconsciousness to the truth!