Bible League: Living His Word "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."Our verse for today is the first of the Beatitudes listed in Matthews 5. The Beatitudes were spoken by Jesus as part of His Sermon on the Mount. The word "beatitude" refers to a state of being abundantly blessed and extremely happy. The Beatitudes are declarations of blessedness over those who embody what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Each of them begins with a pronouncement of "Blessed" over those who embody a particular virtue disciples should have and then follows with the reason why those who embody the virtue are blessed. The first Beatitude says that those with the virtue of being "poor in spirit" are blessed. To be poor in spirit does not refer to being poor monetarily or being dispirited in some way. It means that true disciples---unlike the scribes and Pharisees---do not have a high opinion of their own worth apart from the grace and mercy of God. Those who are poor in spirit acknowledge that in and of themselves they have nothing that could justify themselves before God and acknowledge that they need the salvation that can only come through faith in Jesus Christ. The reason why disciples who are poor in spirit are blessed is because "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." What does it mean to have the kingdom of heaven? It means that disciples have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ and have thereby entered the Kingdom of heaven. This does not mean that they have already died and gone to heaven. The "Kingdom of heaven" as used by the Apostle Matthew is a virtual synonym for the "Kingdom of God." It refers to the reign of God over His realm---which includes both heaven and earth. Whenever someone becomes a disciple they enter the Kingdom of God right here on earth and whenever they do what they have been called to do by God they advance and develop His kingdom right here on earth. Those who have the Kingdom are blessed because they have all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship in the kingdom. Don't be ashamed of being poor in spirit, for through it we attain all the riches that the Kingdom of God has to offer. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingDeuteronomy 20, 21, 22 Deuteronomy 20 -- Laws of Warfare NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 21 -- Atonement for a Murder; Family Relations NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 22 -- Additional Laws, Morality, Marriage NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 14:26-50 Mark 14 -- Jesus Anointed; Last Supper; Gethsemane; Judas Betrays Jesus; Jesus before the Sanhedrin, disowned by Peter NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!His faithful love endures forever. Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. Insight “Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out!” God has done so much for us, and we have so much for which to thank him. He wants us to tell everyone all that he has done. These verses are not so much a mandate to witness as a declaration that when we live in God's presence we will not be able to keep this glorious experience to ourselves. Challenge What has God done for you? Is there someone you can tell? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Genesis 8:9 Then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.Wearied out with her wanderings, the dove returns at length to the ark as her only resting place. How heavily she flies--she will drop--she will never reach the ark! But she struggles on. Noah has been looking out for his dove all day long, and is ready to receive her. She has just strength to reach the edge of the ark, she can hardly alight upon it, and is ready to drop, when Noah puts forth his hand and pulls her in unto him. Mark that: "pulled her in unto him." She did not fly right in herself, but was too fearful, or too weary to do so. She flew as far as she could, and then he put forth his hand and pulled her in unto him. This act of mercy was shown to the wandering dove, and she was not chidden for her wanderings. Just as she was she was pulled into the ark. So you, seeking sinner, with all your sin, will be received. "Only return"--those are God's two gracious words--"only return." What! nothing else? No, "only return." She had no olive branch in her mouth this time, nothing at all but just herself and her wanderings; but it is "only return," and she does return, and Noah pulls her in. Fly, thou wanderer; fly thou fainting one, dove as thou art, though thou thinkest thyself to be black as the raven with the mire of sin, back, back to the Saviour. Every moment thou waitest does but increase thy misery; thine attempts to plume thyself and make thyself fit for Jesus are all vanity. Come thou to him just as thou art. "Return, thou backsliding Israel." He does not say, "Return, thou repenting Israel" (there is such an invitation doubtless), but "thou backsliding one," as a backslider with all thy backslidings about thee, Return, return, return! Jesus is waiting for thee! He will stretch forth his hand and "pull thee in"--in to himself, thy heart's true home. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 42:6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.Isaiah 26:3,4 "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. • "Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock. Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalm 22:24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard. James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Matthew 6:25,26 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? • "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? John 20:27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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