04/11/2026
M
"๐ฝ๐ก๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ, ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ข ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐."atthew 5:3
I focused a lot this week on what it means to be poor in spirit and tried to show what it means to be poor in spirit. I believe that this is where our faith in Jesus begins. But that is not where it ends!! The reason Jesus says HAPPY are the poor in spirit is because this is the key, if you will, that unlocks the gates of heaven. People who think they are rich in spirit or are righteous in God's eyes because of the good works they do, will not be part of the kingdom of heaven. People who believe that they are going to heaven because they are basically good people will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus makes that clear in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
But look at what happens to those who go to God and declare they are poor in spirit. Through our faith in Jesus, God pours out spiritual blessings into our life. The Bible tells us, ๐๐ง๐๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐
๐๐จ๐ช๐จ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ, ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ ๐ช๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐ข๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ก ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐. (๐๐จ๐ฅ. 1:3) Through our faith in Christ we go from poor in spirit to receiving the riches of Christ. ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ข (๐
๐๐จ๐ช๐จ) ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐๐ ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ค๐, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐จ, ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐'๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ช๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐๐ค๐ข ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐. (๐๐จ๐ฅ. 1:7-8) Paul tells the Ephesians, "๐ผ๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ข ๐ก๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ค๐'๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ (๐ฅ๐ค๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ), ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ ๐ข๐: ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ. (๐๐จ๐ฅ. 3-8) Paul tells the Corinthians, "๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐
๐๐จ๐ช๐จ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ, ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐ง๐๐๐, ๐ฎ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ค๐ง, ๐จ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐๐ ๐๐๐จ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐๐." (2 ๐พ๐ค๐ง. 8-9) To the Colosians Paul writes, "๐๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐ฎ ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐ค๐ซ๐, ๐จ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ก๐ก ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฎ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐, ๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฎ, ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ, ๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐๐ค๐ข ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐จ๐ช๐ง๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐๐ค๐ข ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ๐ก๐๐๐๐.
When you humble yourself before Jesus and ask Him for His mercy, He will transform your life from being poor in spirit to possessing His righteousness, which God freely gives. That is what Jesus said at the end of the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. He said, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles Himself will be exalted." How do you humble yourself to Jesus? By submitting (humbling) your life to the Bible which is God's Word. That is how we allow Jesus to live through us. That is how we receive the riches that God so graciously gives.
You are rich because you have received eternal life. You are rich because you have been adopted into God's family and are now co-heirs with Christ. You have an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you that will never perish, spoil, or fade. It is true you will suffer for Christ's sake. It is true that you will be tempted and may fall into temptation, none of us will be perfect in this life. But if you have gone to Jesus and accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, you do possess the perfect righteousness of Jesus inside you. So we confess our sin and repent. And the blood of Christ purifies us from all unrighteousness and the Spirit empowers us to do what the author of Hebrews tells us, "๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ง๐, ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐จ๐ช๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ช๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ๐๐จ, ๐ก๐๐ฉ ๐ช๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฌ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ค ๐๐๐จ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐จ, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ ๐ช๐จ ๐ง๐ช๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ช๐จ. ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ช๐จ ๐๐๐ญ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐
๐๐จ๐ช๐จ, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐, ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฎ ๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ข ๐๐ฃ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐จ๐จ, ๐จ๐๐ค๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐จ๐๐๐ข๐, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐. (๐๐๐. 12:1-2)
I hope you better understand what it is to be poor in spirit. I hope that you can also understand why Jesus is teaching that true happiness comes through being poor in spirit. True happiness comes through humbling yourself before Jesus and allowing Him to transform your life. True happiness comes from knowing that you are now part of the kingdom of heaven, you are a child of God, you have peace with God, and now have an inheritance kept in heaven for you. This is why Jesus says "๐ฝ๐ก๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ, ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ข ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ." God bless.
Pastor Bob
