Jesus during His walk on earth as God in the flesh made a couple of confusing statements did He not? Matthew 5:3 says " 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This in completely counterintuitive to our natural mindset. Why would God want us to be poor in spirit? You ever heard anyone say Man I wish I could get a little more poor when referring to anything? What does it mean then to be poor in spirit? A better understanding would be to say "Blessed are those who are humble in spirit?"
Humility vs .....
Humility can only come from an understanding that you are needy, that you are dependent on someone else. The someone else I'm referring to would be God, we have to realize that we need God in all areas of our lives. Anytime you are in a church a preacher will automatically point out the word all. All means every area, anything you can possibly think of. What is the opposite of being humble? Pride... pride always leads to a false sense of independence. Pride in the heart says I don't need God, I can make my own life, I can do this without Him, I can work my way into heaven. Pride was the original sin starting with satan. Satan thought he could do a better job, thought he didn't need God. This was also the original sin with Adam and Eve.
How the Bible speaks about the rich...
Have you ever noticed how harshly the Bible speaks about the rich? I wrote about this in another blog, but really, does God have some sort of class warfare going on, does God want to stick up for the defenseless, stick it to the man, be a quote end-quote Robin Hood. No, this is not God. Why then? Read these two verses,
Luke 1:53, "He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he has sent away empty."
Mark 10:25, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
If you are hungry then you obviously are not rich, the rich are not hungry. What does God do with the hungry...fill them with good things. And the rich? Sends them away empty. This seems really harsh, I mean the verse doesn't say that the hungry did anything to deserve good things, nor did the rich do anything to deserve that consequence. So must infer that it has to be a heart issue. Being rich causes you to think independently of God, that you don't need Him that you have life proverbially by the horns, and you will make it with or without Him. After all, can you not pretty much make a great life if you are rich, what would you need God for? However, how many of the extremely wealth do you see on t.v that have everything you could want but seem absolutely miserable on the inside? When you are poor this causes you an almost naturally to have an aspect of humbleness because you know you are dependent on others. You compare you situation to that of the well off and know that you have to have help. Yet again, can a prideful heart admit that it needs help? Can a prideful heart admit that it is depraved, that you are a sinner, that you need saving.
What are you rich in ....?
Most of us when you think rich you think money or materially. The Greek word used in Luke1:53 is "plouteo" which means to be rich, to have an abundance. So let me ask what are you rich in? People that are rich in talent don't usually depend on God to work in and through them because they usually feel pretty competent in what they do. People who are rich in good works, that on the whole they are pretty good people, they never come to God and throw themselves on His mercy and believe the gospel, they are always internally negotiating with God, God if I do this then you owe me this. Richness always leads to a feeling of independence.You can be rich in many ways. Our sense of richness is just an illusion, because the very best of us deserve hell. Our righteousness is but filthy rags to God. Isaiah 64:6. Do you think you are rich enough to face the future...God could take it all away in a second with smallest flick of His finger, even if you managed to die rich then what would it profit you in eternity?
Revelations 3:17- Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
Richness causes blindness, you can't spiritually discern where you are anymore. You think you are one way but God says the exact opposite of you. You may think you are rich spiritually, but you didn't realize you were poor, if you had you would have owned your spiritual poverty and God would have given you the righteousness of Christ Jesus. A false sense of righteousness keeps more people out of heaven than sin. You are rich professionally, I am set for life, I direct my own future, I can meet all my needs... God calls this person a fool, for you never laid up treasure in heaven. You are rich relationally, I'm a capable father, mother, friend...if you would just own your poverty, He would help you.God is so full of grace, so ready to help but your sense of righteousness kept you from experiencing His richness of mercy. It is not your weakness that keeps you from God, but your strengths that keep you from His power.
Does the Bible back all this up...?
Read the Old Testament and New Testament stories. God picks Saul as king, He was from the lowest tribe of Israel. God chose David, the youngest son of Jesse who was in the field shepherding sheep. God chose Moses a man who was a fugitive for murder and could not speak very well. Jesus chose ordinary men for disciples not the rulers of the synagogue. God chose Saul [Paul] one of the greatest persecutors of the church. If dependence on God is the objective then weakness is an advantage. James 4:6 "
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Do you want God's grace, His power in your life, humbleness is that route, admitting daily that you need Him, not just when you want something. God is full of mercy, fully sufficient for all your needs, it is not the depth of your neediness that separates us from God ,but the strength we think we have in our pride.
No one can serve ....
Matthew 6:24 " “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Man is not designed to be able to have two masters, our heart will yearn for one and secretly despise the other. You will compromise your morals on the one you despise trying to achieve the other. If you want mammon " treasure or riches" then you will almost always have to compromise God's moral laws to achieve it. If you want to serve God, you will have to give up the methods by which you try to obtain riches. Don't believe it, try it. The road will be hard, you heart will grow to hate one and love the other. Can you honestly think that you could spend all your time trying to make money and still sufficiently be loyal to God? There is almost always deceit, even though most cannot see if when trying to obtain riches. James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Collection of what the Bible says about riches...
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17
God gives us all things to richly enjoy....meaning we have to depend on Him. Note: God gives all things not just money, but Holy Spirit power to speak and preach...not of your own talent. Holy Spirit power in your home to raise your children. Holy Spirit power professionally to bless you to be a blessing to others. Holy Spirit power to overcome your financial debts through giving you hope. Holy Spirit power to give you the ability to love those who hate you which makes you rich relationally.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Timothy 6:10
The love of money ... we've all heard this verse but most don't know the second part... what happen to those who chased riches. They wandered away from the faith and were pierced with many pangs. Imagine finding the abundant life God gives and straying away from Him for the love of money. The pains that you are pierced with come from the fact that you have tasted enough of God that money could never make you happy, but it has such a grip on your heart you can't walk away from it.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. 25 Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep 26 Woe to you" when all" men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets. Luke 6:24- 26
If you are rich in this age you have your comfort, but after this well..its up to you. If you are full, you will hunger, if you laugh now, you shall mourn and weep. When men speak well of you...is this not riches to some...is this not what they try to obtain in life? To be well known by all, to be spoken of highly. You may be rich socially but did you get it by your own efforts and personality, its your accomplishment. God is not interested in our glory but His. This is the very heart of pride, when we live life without God, without His power, without His help it is a small attempt to bring glory to ourselves. Are all the abilities we have though not a gift from God?
Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? James 2:5-7
Why are the poor of this world rich in faith? They have had to depend on God for every need, every bill, every meal, every healing, everything. When you depend on God repeatedly for years on end day after day you begin learning to trust Him, you know He will never leave you or forsake you because He has been there in your weakness, He's been there when you couldn't take care of yourself. We do not uphold people in our society that cannot take care of themselves, we are can do people, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, work harder, get 3 jobs but never admit that you need help right? Why ...because we have too much pride?
The result of self sufficiency....
What tends to happen to these people that are self sufficient...it is sad to say but God usually brings a situation into their lives like the woman 2 Kings 4:8 She was a prominent woman, had everything she could want except a son, God gives her son a year later and then the son given her by God dies. God allows circumstances sometimes that are out of our control, to those who are self sufficient to get them to realize the extent to which they do need God. God allows things sometimes in your life that you can't conquer.... A health scare...death of a child... loss of a job....and addiction you can't overcome. My experience has been that most people I know come to an extreme spiritual low, bottom of the barrel in layman's terms, then they seek God out of desperation.
Naaman....
Is this not what happened to Naaman in the Bible? He had leprosy, he was a commander of the army for the king of Aram. Aram was Israel's enemy. Naaman was brave and highly thought of. But that is no good when you have leprosy, Naaman had to drop his pride and go seek out the enemy's man of God. What did Naaman do though, he took 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 changes of clothes [my wife might be excited more about the clothes.] Naaman thought he could buy his healing, his healing however would be a gift, but it would cost him his pride, not his gold or silver. How desperate does a man from the enemy camp have to get before going and laying his pride at the feet of an unknown God [to him]?
Is it a sin to be rich....
The short answer is no. God blesses those He wishes but for a purpose. If money and materialism grip your heart, it may be wise to keep a watchful eye on your heart. Why does God bless us then? I think the early church in Acts gives us a glimpse..And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.Acts 2:44-45 The people in the early church with the power of the Holy Spirit were able to loosen their grip on their money and tighten their grip [metaphorically] on each other. They sold their possessions to help each other, no one had a need. 19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?21 So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant 1 Kings 19:19 -21
Elisha a very wealthy man, right before he goes to follow and be discipled by Elijah, burns his plows, cooks his oxen and feeds the community.He gave out of his abundance. We as blessed Christians are meant to bless others out of our abundance. Do you have a gift or abundance of talent, social skills, singing, or money, if so use if for the kingdom of God, to bless others, and always remain in humble adoration and dependence of the one who gave you those gifts.
What do we do if....
You may ask what do we do if we have come to realize that we are guilty of this? #1 We are all guilty of trying to be independent of God in some way in our lives. Some of us may be on track now but were not at one time. So what do we do? Do we discipline ourselves to be more dependent, to try as hard as possible to rely on God, to try to not love riches of any kind? No, this is yet again looking within, we can't discipline ourselves, or work our way out of this, or quit trying to love the natural desires of our heart. We have to infiltrate God's word, believe them, apply His teachings, spend time with God in word and prayer. Its all about developing that relationship, once developed and constantly held onto, God will change your heart, you no longer have to will but He wills and works in you.
Humility vs .....
Humility can only come from an understanding that you are needy, that you are dependent on someone else. The someone else I'm referring to would be God, we have to realize that we need God in all areas of our lives. Anytime you are in a church a preacher will automatically point out the word all. All means every area, anything you can possibly think of. What is the opposite of being humble? Pride... pride always leads to a false sense of independence. Pride in the heart says I don't need God, I can make my own life, I can do this without Him, I can work my way into heaven. Pride was the original sin starting with satan. Satan thought he could do a better job, thought he didn't need God. This was also the original sin with Adam and Eve.
How the Bible speaks about the rich...
Have you ever noticed how harshly the Bible speaks about the rich? I wrote about this in another blog, but really, does God have some sort of class warfare going on, does God want to stick up for the defenseless, stick it to the man, be a quote end-quote Robin Hood. No, this is not God. Why then? Read these two verses,
Luke 1:53, "He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he has sent away empty."
Mark 10:25, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
If you are hungry then you obviously are not rich, the rich are not hungry. What does God do with the hungry...fill them with good things. And the rich? Sends them away empty. This seems really harsh, I mean the verse doesn't say that the hungry did anything to deserve good things, nor did the rich do anything to deserve that consequence. So must infer that it has to be a heart issue. Being rich causes you to think independently of God, that you don't need Him that you have life proverbially by the horns, and you will make it with or without Him. After all, can you not pretty much make a great life if you are rich, what would you need God for? However, how many of the extremely wealth do you see on t.v that have everything you could want but seem absolutely miserable on the inside? When you are poor this causes you an almost naturally to have an aspect of humbleness because you know you are dependent on others. You compare you situation to that of the well off and know that you have to have help. Yet again, can a prideful heart admit that it needs help? Can a prideful heart admit that it is depraved, that you are a sinner, that you need saving.
What are you rich in ....?
Most of us when you think rich you think money or materially. The Greek word used in Luke1:53 is "plouteo" which means to be rich, to have an abundance. So let me ask what are you rich in? People that are rich in talent don't usually depend on God to work in and through them because they usually feel pretty competent in what they do. People who are rich in good works, that on the whole they are pretty good people, they never come to God and throw themselves on His mercy and believe the gospel, they are always internally negotiating with God, God if I do this then you owe me this. Richness always leads to a feeling of independence.You can be rich in many ways. Our sense of richness is just an illusion, because the very best of us deserve hell. Our righteousness is but filthy rags to God. Isaiah 64:6. Do you think you are rich enough to face the future...God could take it all away in a second with smallest flick of His finger, even if you managed to die rich then what would it profit you in eternity?
Revelations 3:17- Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
Richness causes blindness, you can't spiritually discern where you are anymore. You think you are one way but God says the exact opposite of you. You may think you are rich spiritually, but you didn't realize you were poor, if you had you would have owned your spiritual poverty and God would have given you the righteousness of Christ Jesus. A false sense of righteousness keeps more people out of heaven than sin. You are rich professionally, I am set for life, I direct my own future, I can meet all my needs... God calls this person a fool, for you never laid up treasure in heaven. You are rich relationally, I'm a capable father, mother, friend...if you would just own your poverty, He would help you.God is so full of grace, so ready to help but your sense of righteousness kept you from experiencing His richness of mercy. It is not your weakness that keeps you from God, but your strengths that keep you from His power.
Does the Bible back all this up...?
Read the Old Testament and New Testament stories. God picks Saul as king, He was from the lowest tribe of Israel. God chose David, the youngest son of Jesse who was in the field shepherding sheep. God chose Moses a man who was a fugitive for murder and could not speak very well. Jesus chose ordinary men for disciples not the rulers of the synagogue. God chose Saul [Paul] one of the greatest persecutors of the church. If dependence on God is the objective then weakness is an advantage. James 4:6 "
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Do you want God's grace, His power in your life, humbleness is that route, admitting daily that you need Him, not just when you want something. God is full of mercy, fully sufficient for all your needs, it is not the depth of your neediness that separates us from God ,but the strength we think we have in our pride.
No one can serve ....
Matthew 6:24 " “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Man is not designed to be able to have two masters, our heart will yearn for one and secretly despise the other. You will compromise your morals on the one you despise trying to achieve the other. If you want mammon " treasure or riches" then you will almost always have to compromise God's moral laws to achieve it. If you want to serve God, you will have to give up the methods by which you try to obtain riches. Don't believe it, try it. The road will be hard, you heart will grow to hate one and love the other. Can you honestly think that you could spend all your time trying to make money and still sufficiently be loyal to God? There is almost always deceit, even though most cannot see if when trying to obtain riches. James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Collection of what the Bible says about riches...
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17
God gives us all things to richly enjoy....meaning we have to depend on Him. Note: God gives all things not just money, but Holy Spirit power to speak and preach...not of your own talent. Holy Spirit power in your home to raise your children. Holy Spirit power professionally to bless you to be a blessing to others. Holy Spirit power to overcome your financial debts through giving you hope. Holy Spirit power to give you the ability to love those who hate you which makes you rich relationally.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Timothy 6:10
The love of money ... we've all heard this verse but most don't know the second part... what happen to those who chased riches. They wandered away from the faith and were pierced with many pangs. Imagine finding the abundant life God gives and straying away from Him for the love of money. The pains that you are pierced with come from the fact that you have tasted enough of God that money could never make you happy, but it has such a grip on your heart you can't walk away from it.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. 25 Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep 26 Woe to you" when all" men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets. Luke 6:24- 26
If you are rich in this age you have your comfort, but after this well..its up to you. If you are full, you will hunger, if you laugh now, you shall mourn and weep. When men speak well of you...is this not riches to some...is this not what they try to obtain in life? To be well known by all, to be spoken of highly. You may be rich socially but did you get it by your own efforts and personality, its your accomplishment. God is not interested in our glory but His. This is the very heart of pride, when we live life without God, without His power, without His help it is a small attempt to bring glory to ourselves. Are all the abilities we have though not a gift from God?
Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? James 2:5-7
Why are the poor of this world rich in faith? They have had to depend on God for every need, every bill, every meal, every healing, everything. When you depend on God repeatedly for years on end day after day you begin learning to trust Him, you know He will never leave you or forsake you because He has been there in your weakness, He's been there when you couldn't take care of yourself. We do not uphold people in our society that cannot take care of themselves, we are can do people, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, work harder, get 3 jobs but never admit that you need help right? Why ...because we have too much pride?
The result of self sufficiency....
What tends to happen to these people that are self sufficient...it is sad to say but God usually brings a situation into their lives like the woman 2 Kings 4:8 She was a prominent woman, had everything she could want except a son, God gives her son a year later and then the son given her by God dies. God allows circumstances sometimes that are out of our control, to those who are self sufficient to get them to realize the extent to which they do need God. God allows things sometimes in your life that you can't conquer.... A health scare...death of a child... loss of a job....and addiction you can't overcome. My experience has been that most people I know come to an extreme spiritual low, bottom of the barrel in layman's terms, then they seek God out of desperation.
Naaman....
Is this not what happened to Naaman in the Bible? He had leprosy, he was a commander of the army for the king of Aram. Aram was Israel's enemy. Naaman was brave and highly thought of. But that is no good when you have leprosy, Naaman had to drop his pride and go seek out the enemy's man of God. What did Naaman do though, he took 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 changes of clothes [my wife might be excited more about the clothes.] Naaman thought he could buy his healing, his healing however would be a gift, but it would cost him his pride, not his gold or silver. How desperate does a man from the enemy camp have to get before going and laying his pride at the feet of an unknown God [to him]?
Is it a sin to be rich....
The short answer is no. God blesses those He wishes but for a purpose. If money and materialism grip your heart, it may be wise to keep a watchful eye on your heart. Why does God bless us then? I think the early church in Acts gives us a glimpse..And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.Acts 2:44-45 The people in the early church with the power of the Holy Spirit were able to loosen their grip on their money and tighten their grip [metaphorically] on each other. They sold their possessions to help each other, no one had a need. 19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?21 So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant 1 Kings 19:19 -21
Elisha a very wealthy man, right before he goes to follow and be discipled by Elijah, burns his plows, cooks his oxen and feeds the community.He gave out of his abundance. We as blessed Christians are meant to bless others out of our abundance. Do you have a gift or abundance of talent, social skills, singing, or money, if so use if for the kingdom of God, to bless others, and always remain in humble adoration and dependence of the one who gave you those gifts.
What do we do if....
You may ask what do we do if we have come to realize that we are guilty of this? #1 We are all guilty of trying to be independent of God in some way in our lives. Some of us may be on track now but were not at one time. So what do we do? Do we discipline ourselves to be more dependent, to try as hard as possible to rely on God, to try to not love riches of any kind? No, this is yet again looking within, we can't discipline ourselves, or work our way out of this, or quit trying to love the natural desires of our heart. We have to infiltrate God's word, believe them, apply His teachings, spend time with God in word and prayer. Its all about developing that relationship, once developed and constantly held onto, God will change your heart, you no longer have to will but He wills and works in you.