BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT

MATTHEW 5:3 (NLT) "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs"

So I woke up this morning with a little sign that showed I was quite low on the Word and it was the spirit of fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of becoming what I fear...and as I walked the distance between my room and bathroom, I remembered this scripture and felt an overwhelming peace. So it was a no-brainer on whether or not to share.

"God blesses those who are poor AND REALIZE their NEED for Him...."

Here's the thing, God desires to bless His creation. In fact, God BLESSED His creation in the beginning. He gave man dominion over everything that was on the face of the earth, blessed woman with the ability to procreate along with man, put the dread of man within every beast of the earth and it was even His Breath that gave man life. So, it is clear that man (the human race) was blessed from the beginning but here, Jesus talks about a different kind of "Blessing". Here, Jesus talks about a "KINGDOM OF GOD" type of blessing.

If you have heard this scripture at any point in your life, it has probably sounded something like this : "Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God" but I particularly love this translation because it specifically explains what the phrase "poor in spirit" means. It says "GOD blesses those who are POOR AND REALIZE their NEED for Him...."

In other words, it is not Good to be without God, it is not enough to just know about God and it is highly profitable to REALIZE your need for Him! The key words here are REALIZE and NEED. In other words, BECOME FULLY AWARE OF YOUR DEPENDENCE ON GOD AS A FACT!!! Understand that whatever good you are and will ever become is SOLELY because of God - it had nothing to do with your human abilities. You studied hard does not always mean that you will pass the test and you have a great resume does not necessarily mean that you'll get the job. Those things are great to do and have but in the end, the Bible says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights in whom there is no variation nor shadow of turning" (James 1:17). In the End, it is God who crowns every effort with success. Therefore God blesses those who are poor and REALIZE their NEED for Him. It's not just enough to understand that you sorta need God but to understand that you need God as a FACT of life. That is, to understand it like science, to have a knowing of it as the truth, to know that you know deep down in your knower that you need God and without Him, you have nothing.

Let's understand something, the type of need this verse talks about is an ABSOLUTE dependence on God. It's understanding that GOD IS the very air you breathe. It's not just thinking you may need God to help you on something but REALIZING you need God everyday, every time, every where and on every thing. It is BELIEVING that you need God and nothing else. This type of need causes you to chase after God relentlessly. It is this need for God that causes you to go in search of His truths just so you can FIND Him. Hence, the second part of that scripture.

"....For the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs"

Understand this, the realization of your need for God will always deliver to you the place of God. David in Psalm 63:1 says "...my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you..." and later in verse 8 he says, "my soul follows close behind you, your right hand upholds me." You see, this desperation for God causes you to follow God and no doubt, God leads you to the place of His dwelling - far above the problems, currents and tides of this world. There's really nothing like realizing your need for God. He promotes you from the natural level to the supernatural. He blesses you with the joy and pleasures of His presence.

There's an old song i know and the words are just as simple as this verse is. It simply says:

I have no power of my own

I have no power of my own

I confess to You, Holy Spirit of the Lord

I have no power of my own

More than anything in this world, more than money, fame, power, glory or any kind of worldly achievement, WE need God. You and I NEED God. We cannot do without Him and it's a pity that so many are without Him. The Bible says "...for in Him we live, breathe and have our being" (Acts 7:28) so there is no life without Him and if you are without Him, yes, you're a zombie - a living dead because there is absolutely no life without God. I need Him, You need Him, the whole world needs Him and Jesus is the ONLY way to Him. So, get with it. I'm not asking you to become a christian (in today's sense of the word), I'm advising you to become a follower of the Way to God.

"Im IN LOVE......are u IN LOVE?"

1 Cor. 13: 4 (NLT) "Love is Patient and Kind..."

Love is a beautiful thing...no, not that kind of romantic love but God's kind of love. It's interesting to read this again because I have read this and recited it and read it and heard it and recited it so much that I thought I knew everything about it and I'm sure that you all have thought thesame way...but let's take a second look.

Paul starts it off by saying this; "Love is patient and Love is kind." (emphasis on the punctuation) He then goes on to describe the things love will, will not and does not do...but they all fall back on the first principle of Love - LOVE IS PATIENT AND LOVE IS KIND. Let's look at it in this way - Love is patient AND kind. In other words, Love is a combination of patience and kindness. Shocking???? ok...let me take you back.

In the beginning of the chapter, Paul gives different scenarios by listing random acts of kindness (Prophesying, operating with the gift of knowledge, giving to the poor) and explains that without love, these things would be useless...but then in verse 4 he defines what love is...LOVE IS patient AND kind....it's a combination of both patience for human shortcomings, patience for slow processes, patience when things aren't going your way, patience when things are looking bleak, patience that allows one to hope even in the darkest situations AND kindness...kindness to pursue justice for the other party and kindness that allows you to keep giving even when you don't seem to be receiving your desires.

.....Here's the beautiful part....that's GOD's kind of love...the kind of love He desires that we ALL have for one another. Imagine then, how much sweeter Romantic love on God's terms could be....

I'm IN Love....ARE YOU IN LOVE????

Remember, LOVE is patient AND Love is Kind.....

The Supremacy of God

ROMANS 11:36 - "For everything comes from God and exists by His power and is intended for His glory"

Everything that we see and have comes from God and in every circumstance and situation in our life, God intends for His glory to shine through. There is not one time in our lives where God does not intend to get the glory. Even in our pain, sorrow, suffering, joys, happiness, sadness and gladness, God intends for His glory to be made manifest!!!

Think about it for a minute...remember the story of Lazarus? Lazarus was sick and died....now, does any of that sound like God? No, it doesn't. It doesn't sound like the loving God I know...It's not like God to strike a young man with sickness and death (most especially after His own Son took all those whippings so that 'By His stripes we were healed'). Nevertheless, Lazarus was sick and died. Now while he was still sick, im sure many were thinking "its o.k, there's still hope...he will get better soon." They were probably even prophesying over him saying, "he will live to glorify God in the land of the living." They even sent word to Jesus and Jesus did say "this sickness will not end in death but it is for God's glory so that the Son of God may be glorified through it" but after he died, can you see the people thinking "it's all over...there's nothing more to be done...wrap him up and lay him in his grave...God certainly can't get glory from him anymore."

What is amazing is that the sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary knew Jesus and how the Spirit of God was upon Him. Martha even believed Him to be the Son of God but situations around them had began to tell on one of them. "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Neither of them could believe that God could still be glorified in it, yet, they both still held on to what they believed Him to be - The Son of God and even worshipped Him in the face of their situation. Of course, we all know the end of the story (if you don't, you should definitely read it. John 11).

Here's my point, when our reason for worshipping God is solely based on what He has done for us in the past, it's easy to forget about all His benefits but when we remember that everything comes from Him, exists by Him and is intended for His glory, it becomes a little easier to praise Him not just for what He does but for WHO He is. Please understand me, its ok to praise God for what He has done but it's better to praise Him just for WHO He is - the SUPREME God, the ALL SUFFICIENT, ALL POWERFUL, ALMIGHTY, EVER-LASTING, ALL SEEING, Creator of Heaven and Earth.

I guess this is why David said "I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth because He understood that God is God any day, any time and any where...He is Supreme Ruler of the Universe and in whatever situation, He takes glory. When we begin to praise Him this way, it's very difficult to not get result...Mary fell at Jesus' feet and worshipped Him even in the midst of her despair and got an unforeseen miracle.

I don't know what you are experiencing or have had to endure...and you've been praying and fasting and doing all that you know how to do but have still not gotten a favorable result or answer, i want to tell you that God intends to be glorified in it. He wants His glory to be shown to the world in both the best and worst of situations...so, give it to Him. Give Him the Glory while in your despair and watch Him turn what seemed like a stumbling block into a stepping stone for your rising!

The Choice of Holiness

ROMANS 6:12 - "Don't let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires"

ROMANS 6:16 - "Don't you realize that you become slaves to whatever you choose to obey?"

When we accepted Jesus as our personal savior and lord, the power of sin over our lives was broken. Those habits and addictions that we had and thought we could never leave had no power over us anymore. Therefore, all that we feel in our flesh that draws us to sin and when we feel like we just can't resist the things we are tempted with, that's simply a lie from the enemy.

Now, i understand that you might be wondering at this point, "Is she really going to try to tell me what i feel?" My answer is no - no, im not going to tell you what you feel because i simply don't care. I know that sounds harsh and inconsiderate but here's why i don't care - because the fact might be that you feel an uncontrollable urge to do what is wrong but the TRUTH is that the Son of God has set you free and whosoever the Son sets free is truly free. Therefore, that uncontrollable urge that you feel you have is simply playing on your disbelief in the authenticity of your salvation.

Paul says here in this passage "Don't LET sin CONTROL the way you live. DO NOT give in to sinful desires" In other words, he is implying that you can control the way you live. Don't let your fleshly, worldly desires dictate to you how you should live. You are the boss over your feelings therefore, YOU DICTATE to your body what it should feel. You dictate what your mind should think...you dictate what your eyes should see, where your legs should go, what your mouth should say, what your hands should do...YOU DECIDE. Even more, he says "dont you know that you are slaves to whatever you CHOOSE to obey. So basically, it's your choice!

I strongly believe that this is why God holds us accountable for whatever we do...Holiness is not a gift of the spirit or of salvation. We must understand that Holiness is very different from Righteousness. Righteousness is right standing with God, that is, the opportunity to now be aligned with God and come into His presence but Holiness is a conscious DECISION and EFFORT to live a life of purity, sacrifice and worship unto God. Holiness is the lifestyle that allows you to see God (for without Holiness, no man shall see God).

So what are your decisions today? Are they putting you on a path to Holiness or enslaving you again to sin? You decide.

DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE

ROMANS 5:5 "For we know how dearly God loves us..."

The reality is that God loves us...and no, his love isn't like the everyday natural likeness which we often mistake for love. His love is enduring, long suffering, eternal and everlasting. His love is so DEAR that He was unwilling to hold back the ultimate sacrifice to reconcile us back to himself. God's love for us is DANGEROUS, DESPERATE and UNHINDERED. His love was not held back by the forces of hell, not thrown off by the grossness of our own sins and is by no means hindered by our present situations and circumstances in life.

God is not like man who can love you today and crucify you tomorrow. His word says can a nursing mother forget her baby? This kind of situation is quite hard to find yet possible...He says EVEN IF A MOTHER COULD FORGET HER BABY, HE WILL NEVER FORGET US...He has engraved our name in the palm of His hands that we should forever be in His remembrance...God's love is multi-dimensional. Its high, long, wide, deep and able to penetrate the worst of circumstances. This alone should put a smile on your face! If you have ever felt like no one understands, no one cares, no one knows, i've got good news for you....GOD LOVES YOU.

There are many people in life who have gone through their entire life without a father or a mother or have been through divorces and heart breaks and heart wrenching situations where it seemed as though everyone that should love you have let you down and you bear in your heart a burden of bitterness and hatred towards those people. I just want to let you know, GOD'S love for you is better than that. It's impossible to fully comprehend the intensity of God's love for you. He loves you so much, He is willing to give lives for your sake!

His love caused Him, the King of all kings, Creator of Heaven and Earth, GOD ALMIGHTY, to come down to earth, be cursed at, take on our sins, become a curse himself by hanging on a tree, bleed and die for you and for me to be redeemed back to himself. Think about it this way - a prostitute and drug addict owes her pimp and supplier a huge sum of money. She is so deep in her mess that she has now become the property of her pimp. She cant leave him because he owns her and she cant pay the amount she owes because its more than just the sum - she owes him in cash and kind - but there is this very wealthy, influential and popular guy from afar who has loved her for as long as she's been a prostitute and is sick of seeing this pimp treat her as badly as he does so what does he decide to do? He goes to the pimp and decides to trade himself for the woman. He is beaten up, spat on and made to endure the harshest of treatments in her place and eventually dies for her JUST so that she can be free!!! Its impossible to think of this scenario in our world because it simply seems like a stupid thing to do but that's exactly what God did for you and for me....His love drove Him to foolishness (if i may put it that way).

His love is really just amazing. He is the only friend that will never leave, never forsake, never deny you, never overburden you, never give you up and never ever fail. So today, i beg you with the mercies of God, get to know His love.