February 2010
“Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me . . . You can be glad when that happens. Jump for joy . . . for your reward is great in Heaven . . . you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.” (Luke 6:22, 23 The Message/ New King James Version)
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6
O.K. Stand up if you DIDN’T overdo it for Valentine’s Day and Family Day. I ‘m still sitting. Yet when we’re back to work, how quickly we say, “I’m starving.” Following the recent Haiti disaster, I have a different view of hunger, don’t you?
What does God want to hear of our hunger?
A number of years ago, when the chorus Breathe* first came on the scene, a woman approached me in all sincerity and ranted about the inanity of that song. “Think about the lyrics,” I cautioned her. “’This is the air I breathe . . . Your holy presence living in me.’ Doesn’t that describe the atmosphere in which we as Christians should live? And the refrain, “And I . . . I’m desp’rate for You . . . I’m lost without You.” Doesn’t the Father want us to relate to Him in that way?”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20)
Ever had the “poor me” syndrome; come to the end of your rope with everything and everyone; come to the end of your bank account? I have. God brought me up short this morning. For two weeks, I had been struggling with the meaning of “poor in spirit” until The Message’s take on Matthew 5:3 hit home: “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule.”
God whispered, “Don’t you realize that when you’re “down in the dumps” you are centered on you? You can’t begin to see Me, My grace or My kingdom at work. We both lose!”
What an eye-opener! I have to come to the end of me to begin to see Him. Only then does His word wash over me, and I can see His kingdom purposes at work on earth, and His kingdom rewards awaiting me in heaven.
