Prayer: Father God, I thank you for this new day. I praise and worship you. Thank you for all the blessings that you have given me and thank you for your amazing love and for being my strong tower and helping me to live for Jesus, my saviour. Please speak to me today and help me to give you the worship you are worthy off.  And as I come before your throne of grace and mercy. I confess and acknowledge I have sinned against you in thought and deed, I ask you to forgive me and, in your grace, purify my heart and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. And in your great love lead me and help me to walk in the paths of righteousness, so that I may bring glory to you the one triune God. I now receive your forgiveness and mercy in the name of my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Scripture Reading for Prayer and Praise: Psalm 108:1-5

"My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul.” Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.” I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.” For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”                                                                                                                                                           

Worship Song Sung or Said: Here I Am To Worship (Tim Hughes)  

https://youtu.be/2koRW-D0_B4

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You're my God

You're altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me

King of all days
Oh, so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came to the earth You created
All for love's sake became poor

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You're my God

You're altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me

Well, I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Well, I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Well, I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Well, I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Gods Word for Today: Matthew 5:3

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Devotional/Study:

One the greatest sermon ever preached was given by Jesus and is found in Matthew chapters 5-7. On this Mountain Jesus begins His sermon in Matthew 5:3-12 with a collection of statements known as the Beatitudes. In this section Jesus states the kind of person that is blessed by God. is the person who lives a lifestyle that is opposite to the lifestyle of world.

Those who were listening to Jesus were Jews living under the occupation and oppression of the romans, these jews were waiting for the kingdom of God and the Messiah to come and set them free from the power of the romans and to live under the kingdom of God.

These Jews were from all kinds of backgrounds, the rich and the poor, the righteous and the unrighteous, the strong and the weak, the happy and the unhappy. So, Jesus begins this sermon and the first word he utters is ‘blessed’.”  Some commentators suggest that blessed communicates the idea of contentment, a state of true happiness and favoured by God.

(blessed describes the person who is favoured by God and therefore in some sense happy. Carson the exposition Bible commentary).

What Jesus said about the kind of people that are blessed would have probably shocked those who were listening. Because in Jesus' time there was a deep conviction among Jesus' listeners that the person who was favoured by God was the wealthy, healthy and those who had children. Even today the blessed or happy are thought to be the rich, powerful, healthy and successful. The modern beatitudes may sound something like this: 

Blessed are the gorgeous, for they shall be admired.

Blessed are the wealthy, for they have everything. 

Blessed are the popular, for they shall be loved by all.

Blessed are the famous, for they shall be followed. 

A pastor said There is nothing wrong with the desire to be happy, but there is everything wrong with the way we often go seeking it. (2002, Pastor Vince Gerhardy). 

I have discovered in my own life even when life is difficult, full of trials and hardships, true happiness comes through loving, knowing and trusting and believing that God has a purpose and plan for my life. 

Something that really makes me angry is how the world has deceived people into thinking that happiness is found in satisfying our physical desires, comforts and appetites. The world, flesh and the devil want us to believe when we are wealthy, powerful and have good looks and a good body, we will find happiness and satisfaction. 

Because of this deception many people spend their lives thinking, I could be happy if I had money success and fame. However, you can have all these things but still be unhappy, unfulfilled and with a sense of restlessness. A well-known theologian Augustine said You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. 

Jesus in His teaching turns everything upside down and declares that the people who are blessed are not the rich and wealthy or the high and mighty and successful or the ones with the good looks and the perfect body.  Jesus teaches the blessed or happy are the poor in spirit, the hungry, the thirsty, the meek, the mourning and the persecuted. 

One of the verses that has challenged me is v3. Blessed are those who are rich and have everything in life for they will be happy and favoured by God. Is that what Jesus said? No: Jesus said Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ”When Jesus said these words, He is saying, blessed are those who acknowledge and recognise their unworthiness before God and recognise they need and are dependence on Him. 

I would suggest that the poor in spirit are those who are truly humble, and recognise who God is, and who they are in the light of the holiness and awesomeness of God. 

Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones a wonderful minister said to be poor in spirit means a complete absence of pride, a complete absence of self-assurance and of self-reliance. So, to be poor in spirit means to acknowledge our deepest need for God and crying out constantly the cry of David we find in Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”  Let me also say poor in spirit doesn’t mean that we are not worth anything because in Christ we are the sons and daughter of the king of kings and Lord of Lords. 

Pause for Prayer:

Let’s take some time to think and mediate on this fact that we are sons and daughter of our God, what does this mean for you? 

Poor in spirit is having the right attitude about ourselves and having an absence of pride self-assurance, self-reliance and self-importance and self-confidence. 

The opposite of the poor in spirit, is proud in spirit, Jesus told a parable of two men, a Pharisee and a tax collector, which gives us a glimpse of been of poor in spirit and proud in spirit. 

We find this in Luke 18:9-14 "9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.” 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”’ 13 But the tax collector stood at a distance.” He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”’ 14 I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.” For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 

In this parable Jesus tells us about a Pharisee who went to the temple and to pray and said in v11 "God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.”  He revealed his pride by declaring how righteous he was and how unrighteous the tax collector was. The tax collector with humility and deep sorrow over his sin said in v13 "these very simple words God have mercy on me, a sinner.”  

What was the difference between the two men? The Pharisee approached God in his self-righteousness and was proud in spirit and exalted himself. The tax collector approached God with humility and humbled himself and showed his need for God.  

One day when Jesus was speaking the crowds and to his disciples: he said in Matthew 23:12 "For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Brothers and sisters in Gods kingdom, the one who is humble, poor in spirit, is the one who will exalted. It’s so easy to condemn the Pharisee, but we need to be aware we can become proud and self-righteous. 

Christians who live a life of humility and have that sense of been poor in spirit are blessed . 

So, what will help us to become poor in spirit? The journey of becoming poor in spirit starts or begins I would suggest, when we are at that place where we recognise our sinfulness and Gods holiness. 

Once When the prophet Isaiah saw God in the splendour of majesty and listening to the praise of the angels saying in v3 "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah realized he was sinful before God and he was so overcome, he said in Isaiah 6:5 "Woe to me! I am ruined! For, I am a man of unclean lips.”

Isaiah realised who he was in the sight of the one and true living God. I believe this encounter was the beginning of his journey of been poor in spirit. 

When you have those kinds of encounters, you soon realise how sinful you are and how Holy God is and how much you need and depend on Him. It is understanding God is and holiness and glory which begins the journey of been poor in spirit. It’s in His holy presence we soon realise, how much we need and depend on God. 

I also suggest to become poor in spirit we need transformation within our inner being. This is not something that happens overnight.  Transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit who transforms us when we pray and seek God and humble ourselves daily repent and empty ourselves of our pride, our selfishness.  It’s this ongoing attitude that develops within us been poor in spirit, living a life totally dependent on God.

God says in Isaiah 66:2 "these are the ones I look on with favour: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and tremble at my word.”  Brothers and sisters, the people God seeks and blesses, are the poor in spirit, those whose hearts are full of humility, brokenness, repentance and recognises their need and desire for the one living God. 

Let us pray and ask God to show us if there is any pride in us and ask Him to change our hearts and create a poor in spirit attitude.                                        

Personal Prayers: