Devo 26: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Can you imagine sitting on the side of a hill and hearing the preacher say, “Blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the persecuted, blessed are you when they revile against you. I tell you the truth…if you even think in your heart…then you are worthy of eternal damnation…”

I just think about how the Sermon on the Mount was intended to pierce our hearts and make us realize how sinful we truly are. The world has taken this sermon and used it as a humanistic solution for world peace and feeding the poor; yet, Jesus presented this sermon in such a way to cause us to realize how truly inadequate we are without Him.

Jesus begins with, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” then He goes on to make us feel so miserable in revealing the secrets of our hearts… “I tell you the truth, if you have even looked at a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery in your heart. If you have said to your brother ‘Raca!’ (fool), then you have committed murder in your heart.”

The Lord is not driving us into legalism here so that we set up guards, barriers, rules, and principles to protect us from disobeying the law. On the contrary, He is showing us that in our hearts, it is impossible for us to be righteous. We can put all kinds of rules and guards in place, but we will never achieve righteousness. For this reason, we must become poor in spirit, mourn, be meek, hunger and thirst, etc…It is a posture of the heart. We have to reach a point of total desperation where we acknowledge our absolute poverty and desolation without the Lord.

One of my favorite beatitudes is “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This reminds me of Psalm 24:3-4 “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Or may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol…”

The Sermon on the Mount was not preached for us to examine ourselves according to the law or by comparing ourselves to others, but for us to realize that the Lord knows our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked, who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, test the mind…”

This sermon was preached for us to reach that place of being poor in spirit where we turn to God and call on His name. I guarantee the holiness in the eyes of Jesus made everyone squirm; yet it is out of love that He reveals our hearts and drives us to that point of full reliance on Him.

He has called us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48). He doesn’t say that, however, for us to sit and look at how imperfect we are and feel defeated—of course we are imperfect. We are sinful human beings; yet He has put that goal of perfection before us so that we will daily put to death the deeds of the flesh and be conformed to His image (8:13, 29). He has given us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things and bring all things to our remembrance (John 14:26) and He has commanded us to walk in the spirit so that we do not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).

Right now, you might feel inadequate, small, and little, but that’s ok. You are. So am I. God is not, though. He has promised that those who mourn will be comforted and those who are poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom. The Lord is calling for a circumcision of the heart like Jeremiah prophesied of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31. He is calling for shepherds after His heart (Jer. 3:15).

I don’t want to say anything to make you feel comfortable right now, because the way you feel is good. It will drive you to the Lord in repentance. I encourage you to bear your heart before Him. I’m doing the same thing. Pray the following prayer or a version of your own. I encourage you to add these prayers and verses to a personal prayer list that you pray over yourself daily.

“Lord, make the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart pleasing in your sight (Ps 19:12). Lord, I put my heart in your hands to turn whichever way you choose (Prov. 21:1). Make me poor in spirit. I want to rely on You alone. I know that my heart is deceitfully wicked. Lord, I repent. I rend my heart before you (Joel 2:13). Write Your law on my heart that I might not sin against You (Jer. 31:33, Ps. 119:11).” Make me a person after your heart like David and like the shepherds of which Jeremiah prophesied. I love you, Lord. I want to be whole-hearted. Amen.”

Love,

Amanda

Copyright © 2010, Amanda Rich, All Rights Reserved