Today's Word
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 5:3
The Kingdom of Heaven is Here
Where Mark records Jesus speaking of the Kingdom of God, Matthew records Jesus speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven. Both refer to the same thing. The point is that with the coming of Jesus, God’s Kingdom has arrived.
But what about all the dirt poor, suffering people all over the planet? Where is God’s Kingdom for them?
Jesus addresses this right at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3). He says that the poor in spirit have the same access to blessedness and happiness as do the rich, even more so, because the rich always have the barrier of their comforts coming between themselves and God. The poor do not. “Poor in spirit” (Luke just records “poor”) means the person who has become completely detached from things and has become completely attached to God. One scholar translates Matthew 5:3 like this;
O the bliss of the man who has realized his own utter
helplessness, and who has put his whole trust in God,
for thus alone he can render to God that perfect
obedience which will make him a citizen of the kingdom
of heaven!
If you have traveled in the third world perhaps you have noticed a happiness among the poor that results from the freedom they have from the ways that material wealth owns the souls of many of us in the developed world.
Prayer
“Lord, may it be that, rather than my owning things, they instead own me. And perhaps they own my soul. Lord, forgive me and give me both the discernment to hear your call on me and the courage to follow it. In Jesus' name, Amen”
Having the privilege of being part of a ministry team on a mission trip to a third world country, the shock was not due to the cultural differences. Befriending Godly students from Africa, here to attend a local university, and attending church with them, the same shock was experienced. Their love of God, their peace in God, caused me to think deeply about all my worldliness and my relationship with God. It seemed they ministered more to me about life and God's Kingdom than what I thought I knew. The nationals of the third world country were so open to God's love without the other things we brought from America for them and because of that God did amazing things through the mission team. The students from Africa blessed me to understand better how to stand on God's Word, promises and faith for that which is beyond those items of comfort. Both had a hold on God and not a hand out to God. Both understood Kingdom living which is crippled, for lack of better words, by our material world here in our blessed land. It isy desire to return some day to that country, or even any other country God would send me, not with an attitude of having douch to offer but with an attitude of having so much to learn about living a life that trusts God for provisions that we take for granted here. Don't get me wrong. God has richly blessed our nation and I am thankful for them. It is coming to know God in a way that I, we, sometimes can't grasp in having all we possess that we think we need to be blessed. After being in a third world country, I ask myself if my relationship with God would change, if what I thought I knew about God would change, if I had the same living conditions and same (lack) of material things as did those nationals. The devotion to God and trust in God of the African students madee realize that an hour at church and perhaps time with a Sunday school class is a drop in the bucket on comparison. We don't have to walkiled or ride a bike miles to gather as the Body to worship. And our hour of worship is pale in comparison to the weekends spent with God that the African students shared about with me. (many stayed at the place of gathering all weekend, sleeping on the ground so to be there early for the next day of worship) Seeking God as these do in spite of their circumstances causes me to stop and think about my complaints and my devotions. I need to change.
ReplyDeleteThe Greek word for “blessed” means supremely blest, fortunate, well off, blessed or happy. It also means living in a state or sphere not produced or affected by man or outside circumstances. Unfortunely, sometimes what we consider a blessing draws us into the trap of seeking God's gifts instead of the relationship.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Laura Story's song "Blessings" nails the meaning of blessed.
We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?
And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?
Anonymous #2 thank you.
ReplyDeleteMonetary needs to fade into the background.