Well, This entry marks the first of what will be a mini-series of blogs going over the beatitudes. This message perhaps more than any other I’ve ever read from Jesus really speaks to my life, for it encompasses so much more than what meets the eye upon first read. The sermon on the mount as it is known, is a guideline for all of Christ disciples to truly follow. These aren’t good ideas, these are the normal standard of Christian living. We will only go after 1 verse at a time, and so today, we begin our study with Luke 6:20

“Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.”

Before we unwrap this treasure, let’s consider the setting in which this took place. Whenever you study the word of God, it’s important to have a proper context. So let’s look at the setting of Luke chapter 6. In this chapter the first few verses talk about miracles that Jesus had performed on the Sabbath. Traditionally, according to the custom of the Jewish Law, it was unlawful to do the things Jesus was doing, so we see Jesus at the onset of chapter 6 defying the system of religion. Jesus argues with the religious people of His day in verse 9, and says “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or evil on the sabbath, to save life or destroy it ? Jesus posits this question in response to their hypocritical judgment of Him for doing good things, just because it went against the “law”. All along, it shows that Jesus is emphasizing that true worship comes from the heart, and is not confined to a temple or a church, and not limited to a time or day of year! Jesus, being the fulfillment of the law, was not destroying the law, but simply fulfilling the heart behind the law, which was to bring life and reveal the Glory of the Father

So now that we know a little bit of a background, let’s move along to one last pit stop before we park at that first beatitude. If we look at Luke 6:12-13 We see Jesus retreat to spend all night in prayer alone with His father, and when the daylight comes along He calls His disciples near and names them. He names all 12 at this point. Key thing: Jesus, after an all night session of prayer, isn’t tired early in the morning, but goes straight to work, naming His disciples and setting the stage to deliver His sermon on the mount. In verses 18-19 We see a multitude flocking to Jesus and he begins to heal, deliver, and make them all free from bondage, it says in fact in verse 19 that people where throwing themselves at Him because Power was coming out of Him and healing them all. Now this is the setting prior to the Sermon on the Mount, we see Jesus defying the religiosity of the day, we see Him spending ALL NIGHT in prayer ALONE, and then we see Him performing miracles the next morning BEFORE he Preaches His word. So now that the stage is set, let’s look at the first beatitude.

Luke 6:20

Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.”

After performing the miracles and holding an all night prayer meeting, what does Jesus prioritize in His message ? Is it self-promotion? nope not all, the first thing He mentions is spiritual poverty. Jesus forthrightly says that Blessed are you who are poor, for YOURS is the Kingdom of God. We know what a pleasure it is for the Lord to give us His kingdom. But before any talk of a Kingdom is mentioned by Jesus here, He mentions the blessed nature of poverty. Is Jesus talking about financial poverty ? No not exactly, He is talking to those of us, who have a craving for God, Who are desperate for Him, who can’t bend over and tie their shoes without knowing that the ability to even do that comes from HIM! It is to these people that He promises to give the Kingdom. What can we learn from Jesus in this passage?

For me it stands out that if we want to know our own spiritual poverty, it will only come by a brokenness before the Lord, and by prayer, not just prayer for the sake of being religious, but by walking with God and praying we will come highly acquainted with His glory and presence.  The Blessing of spiritual poverty is that it forces us to realize, that apart from JESUS we can do nothing…. it never has been, nor will it ever be about us. What strikes me as unique in this story is that Jesus, was doing all sorts of miracles, but that was AFTER He was in prayer all night long. Think about it, If Jesus spent all night in prayer, we should be spending all night in prayer. If He did it… why arent we doing it ? We want His power, without His prayer-life, and it just won’t work. Pray !

Where it get’s real: Ok so now that we see the lesson, what exactly does it mean in everyday terms? Spiritual poverty is a blessing, yes. In American culture, we hear the word word poor, and automatically, we associate negative thoughts with it. The truth about being poor before God, is that is allows us to become rich. Look at it this way, if I were to go up to Donald trump, pretending as though I was a rich man, he would never give me money if I asked for it! So now God, the one who controls and distributes all the resources of creation says, that if we want to inherit the Kingdom, we cannot come to Him with a pompous attitude, carrying our list of spiritual accomplishments, postures, or positions. To be truly poor in spirit is to acknowledge that King Jesus, is everything, and without His GRACE alone… we are merely helpless individuals. At this point we become likely recipients of His power, because when our spiritual poverty is recognized, it shifts all glory back to Him. I think that so often in the Christian life, we come to Jesus with our hands full. We use what we have done for him, as leverage of some sort to promote or plead our case before Him. This is often times why we don’t see the Kingdom breakthrough. In order for the Kingdom to breakthrough, the Glory of God must be preeminent. This is only possible, when we, the loyal subjects dump our hands of our religiosity and rely only upon His power and Grace to accomplish things. It isn’t our gift set, our creativity, our college degrees, or even that prophecy your best friend gave you at small group, or the picture they claimed to have seen when praying for you. It’s JESUS.… High and lifted up, claiming the Glory, that is rightfully His. If we would posture our minds, hearts, and entire lives to be spiritually dependent on His sufficient Grace alone, at this point will we inherit His Kingdom…. Amen

I often find myself wishing that the world would just stop and ask this question, “what is the true gospel” we have so many gospels, which are really no good news at all… I lose sleep at night over this many times. Plain and simple. The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST is the power of GOD unto salvation. (Romans 1:16) but where is the power of God in our preaching ? I truly believe it is because we as a body of believers are so weighed down by sin, we have lost the power of God, and that is also why true disciples aren’t being made. Instead what we have is lukewarm machinery processing people in pew seats, when what we need and should be striving for is the power of God to be present, we can only access Him in humility and surrender, but those qualities are only a byproduct of eah one of us being free from the bondage of sin. It goes somewhat like this… “Much prayer, much power, little prayer, little power” whoever made that quote famous deserves a pat on the back watch this video, and listen to a man who’s full of God’s power… these words that He preaches don’t originate from carnal origins, take note at the difference between this message in comparison to much of today’s preaching

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Now, that we have clarified a few things, let us examine, the impact of
God. I remember fondly as a child the impact of a baseball that drilled
me in the forehead, immediately I feel over, and began crying. The
impact of that baseball knocked my lights out ! There I lay on the
grassy knoll, wounded, a casualty of sport. As any young buck, I
bounced back after a few minutes of self-loathing, and resumed my
position on the baseball diamond. Throughout my life there are several
instances where can I remember an impact taking place. On a more
serious note, I remember when a girl I liked in 11th grade, ending up
dating my best friend behind my back… the “impact” of that heartbreak
was equally painful…. but herein lies the difference between the
impact of God in relation to the impacting forces of this world.
Whether it be a moment of physical pain, or emotional pain, the impact
of earthly things, are at most temporal. The joy of the positives, and
the lows of the negatives become meaningless, in only a matter of time.
The impact of God is completely different. When a person is impacted by
God, and I mean truly encounters the living Christ, it’s not jsut
physical or an emotional impact that leads to a temporary feeling. When
the spirit of almighty God touches a man’s heart, you are marked for
eternity.

Some may recall a moment in a church service, or during prayer where
they felt some “tinkly” feeling, or fell over. Or perhaps you sang a
worship song at the top of your lungs, but the true measure of the
impact of God in a man or woman’s life is the aftershock. You see, the
baseball caused tears, the high-school heartbreak, caused sadness, but
God…. when he came into my life, he destroyed everything. This is
what will happen, when you truly are impacted by God. He will destroy
your life, break down every wall, every idea, and then rebuild you into
the image of Jesus. This is an eternal process, for all of eternity we
will be drawing closer to Him. It’s infinite, we can’t even understand
beauty on that level, because our minds are the size of chick peas, and
His glory knows no dimension. So don’t bug out if your life is tough.
If you have been touched by God, then you are being changed by God.
Enjoy the ride, find the light behind the clouds, and keep your eyes on
Jesus as you walk the proverbial waves of life. Believe that the impact
of God in your life, is leading to life. Have no fear…. you’re a new
creation, and all things are becoming new. Buckle up, life to the full
is a promise. The days of “normalcy” where thrown out the window… you
my friend, are now an alien… just like me ! haha

Romans 8:33-39

33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It
is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who
died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God
and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or
nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we
face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be
slaughtered.”[l] 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.