Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding

This is the first installment in my series of posts on the beatitudes.

“‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’”

Matthew 5:3

Jesus’ statement is quite a paradox, isn’t it? How could the poor obtain an entire kingdom? If you think about it, many of the beatitudes are seemingly contradictory. Jesus says that the gentle inherit the earth; the hungry are satisfied; the persecuted are blessed. It is this that makes the gospel so extraordinary. Jesus takes our nothingness and makes something entirely new. We need bring nothing with us to be accepted by God, and in reality, we have nothing to bring. One of the world’s favorite “inspirational” slogans is “you are enough!” But there is nothing biblical about this statement. You and I are not enough. We are not inherently worthy, and we never will be—but Jesus is. So when Jesus blesses those who are poor in spirit, He is telling us that restoration comes when we reach the end of our rope and come destitute to the throne of God.

We probably all know the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman who came to draw water at the well. When she asks Him where He will get the living water He promises, Jesus responds, “‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life’” (John 4:13-14). The woman came with a dry bucket and a broken life; her world was an absolute mess. She didn’t partially fill her bucket and ask Jesus to top it off for her, because that’s not what Jesus does. We can’t just ask Him to fill the little gaps in our lives that the world doesn’t quite have a solution for. To be saved, we must be crucified with Christ and forever made new. Like the Samaritan woman, we must come with an empty bucket.

In Psalm 51:16-17, David writes, “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” The amazing part about this passage is that David wrote it after the prophet Nathan confronted him for his sin of adultery. David cries out in remorse because he realizes there is absolutely nothing he can do to make up for his sin. He has reached the end of himself and is humbled by his own poverty. This is the moment when David, along with the rest of us, sees the grace of the Lord. It is a grace so amazing it turns broken-down beggars into children of the Most High God. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

Any attempts to gain righteousness in our own strength will end only in disillusionment. In Revelation 3:17-18, John is instructed to write to the church in Laodicea: “‘“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.”’”  I’ve often heard people say, “the ground is level at the foot of the cross.” We who are brand new, saved by grace, transformed and redeemed children of God have absolutely nothing to brag about. The righteousness we may have imagined we possessed means nothing in the face of God’s holiness. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-29, “‘Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’” How can I even describe such goodness, such grace, such compassion and love? It silences my every excuse and fills me with overwhelming gratitude. Our God is the God of the poor, the needy, the heartbroken, the undeserving, and the weak. When we admit our own emptiness and turn to Him, Christ’s transforming power grants us riches, fulfillment, comfort, worth, and strength. He has offered you the kingdom of heaven—what will you do with it?

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of the guilt within

Upward I look and see Him there

Who made an end to all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died

My sinful soul is counted free

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.

Charitie L. Bancroft