June 4, 2007
The Beatitudes: The Barrier to Spiritual PovertyPosted by Bryan
The Beatitudes: Introduction
The Beatitudes: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
The barrier to spiritual poverty is pride. It is impossible to experience spiritual destitution in the presence of pride. Pride declares that your attitudes, your conduct, your behavior, your accomplishments will actually impress God.
Think about that for a moment. What can you do that is going to out-do God?
What if you built an entire youth center with your bare hands? Remember, it was God who made the wood, the steel, the electricity, the water, every resource that will be used there. Oh, and by the way, He made the whole world on which it sits, just by speaking it into existence.
What if you took a yearlong sabbatical to feed the poor in India? Surely, that would impress God, right? Think again; isn't it God who feeds the whole world every meal of every day. All your resources could not buy you a single meal if God himself had not first resourced your world with food.
What if you received an inheritance, and gave a million dollars to your church? You know that would impress some, but surely God would be, too, right? Perhaps not, for a God who paves his streets with gold and lines His palace walls with priceless gems. Oh, and by the way, your gift of $1 million doesn't look quite so sacrificial when compared to the cross.
Jesus gave His life. Put a value on that.
Is it any wonder that God's word says that pride goes before a fall?
God says your righteousness is like a filthy rag; when you separate yourself from the pride of an accomplishment, you can begin to make sense of what he's saying.
Every barrier placed between God and man is reduced to pride. It's pride that says, "look at me, look at the job I did, look at my creativity, my ingenuity, my resourcefulness, my industriousness, my patience, my skill, my cleverness, my fortitude, my ability."
There is no room for pride in the human life. If you are going to brag, brag on God. If you are going to boast, boast on the Lord. If you are going to exalt someone, exalt Jesus.
June 4, 2007 10:08 PM