Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
~ Matthew 5:3
Jesus began His first recorded sermon with the above sentence. Blessed are the poor in spirit. The kingdom of heaven is something to be desired here and now. Nevermind the eternal aspect of heaven that none of us can truly wrap our minds around, but there is an aspect of the kingdom of heaven that is now. We need it. Today is the day of salvation, and once again not worrying so much about heaven and hell and eternity as being saved from the hell of today, to be saved from our own selfishness and self centeredness so that we can walk with God today. The first step in accessing the kingdom of heaven on this plane of existence, of finding and developing a relationship with the King, is realizing the need. It is good to want relationship with God, to desire to be closer to Him. But that's not enough. We can be distracted from desires. We can change our minds. But needs are an altogether different story. If we are poor in spirit then we have come to the place where we understand our insufficiency. We don't have enough. We need God. It's not about want or desire anymore. We have come to the place where we understand that we do not have what we need for life, we are poor. In that place of poorness, of not having or being enough in ourselves, we can turn away from self sufficiency and cry out to God for help. In doing so we find relationship, salvation and citizenship in the kingdom. We are all poor in spirit. Today let us see our poverty so that we see our great need to find everything that we need in Him and through Him.
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