Daily Devotional

Matthew 5.1-3
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the poor in Spirit. What does it mean to be poor in Spirit? I know what it means to be poor in the flesh. A great many American’s live paycheck to paycheck struggling with poverty and all the hardships that come with it. Few would claim that being poor in the world is a blessing.

I’ve always considered the poor in Spirit to be those who were not enjoying a deep spiritual communion with God. As Christians we claim that a great richness of spiritual blessings await those who pursue an active relationship with God the Father through God the Son by the power of God the Spirit. To live in communion with the Holy Spirit is indeed ‘blessed.’ But how can one be called blessed who does not have a spiritual relationship with God

In his sermon ‘Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount’ John Wesley wrote that the poor in Spirit are those who have come to realize that they are sinners, those who have come to see with painful clarity that they are living in spiritual poverty. The poor in spirit are those who are “convinced that [they are] spiritually poor indeed; having no spiritual good abiding in [them].” (I.4)

Here we may pause again to wonder how it is that spiritual poverty would lead one to claim the kingdom of Heaven. According to Wesley, this spiritual poverty is a gift and represents the first step towards the Kingdom of Heaven. “Real Christianity always begins in poverty of spirit” (I.1)

Once we have realized that we are poor in spirit, that we are sinners in need of God’s grace and helpless to gain the riches of the spiritual life ourselves we have already begun to call out to God for salvation. Poverty of spirit leads to a painful longing for something more and that longing finds its fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.

There are many among us who live daily with a poverty of spirit, a longing for something more without realizing just what it is that they are missing. The poor in spirit are our neighbors, our friends, our children, and sometimes…we ourselves.

Let us pray that through our life at New Covenant the poor in spirit might be drawn deeper into the spiritual riches of the Kingdom of God.

Peace be with you~