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Poor in Spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Mat 5:3)

These "Be Attitudes" of Christ are really Christ's commentary on the Law of God. So we have a unique view of all the teachings of the Law in this very famous sermon of Jesus.

The first "B" is "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Most people would at least hesitate at such a teaching. After all, who really wants to be poor? Yet, Jesus isn't talking about physical poverty here, He's talking about spiritual poverty. By this I'm not talking about spiritual depravity, but a humbleness of one's spirit. Let us examine this a bit.

Those who are rich in spirit are proud. They are, "full of themselves" as we say. The problem with a rich spirit is that there isn't any room for God or the many blessings He wished to give us. When we humble ourselves before God, then we become poor in spirit. We create a place for God and His blessings.

There's a song where a person is wondering why they aren't receiving any blessings. Then after some struggles he realizes, "You could not fill hands that were already filled." I had a discussion with my son when he was little that was simply amazing. We were drinking a couple of cokes and I decided he was old enough to learn how to look at things in a positive light. You probably all have heard how a glass can be seen as half empty or half full. It's the way we view this that either brings us under depression or makes us victorious. We'll as I'm explaining this to my son, I'm also drinking my coke. Finally, just as I make my last comments, I set down the empty glass. My son not only understood what I was saying, but took it to another level. "Look Daddy!" he said. "Your glass is full all the way to the bottom." I was stunned. He had spoken truth in a way that I hadn't even seen. I learned from my son that day, as it is written, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger." (Ps. 8:2)

Look around you. The world is in a mess. Why? Because we have turned away from God. We are full of ourselves. We have no room for God, but even little children who don't live in Christian homes are more pure in heart than most adults. They, being poor in spirit, are rich in God. We also read in Rev. 2:9a "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)". This was to written to the church at Smyrna. Compare this with this passage, "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:" (Rev. 3:17)

So where do you stand? Are you poor in spirit? Have you divested yourself of your own desires so that God may fill you with His riches? Or are you clinging to those fleshly desires to the point of your own dissatisfaction? God wants to bless you, but the choice He leaves up to you.

David Brollier

You Will Not Covet

This is the last of the Ten Commandments, but it's pretty inclusive. The word covet means "to want ardently (esp., something that another person has); long for with envy," and has synonyms of, "desire, envy, wish for; see envy, want." What's more, covet is a verb, not a noun or an adjective. It mean you are actually doing something. When the word "covet" is used, I think it is all too often vague for most of us, but when we change it to "desire" or "want" this commandment takes on a life. It seems like a strong hand strangling the very life out of you. For who doesn't have wants, desires, goals, ambitions? How many of us have wanted something simply because someone else had one?

Parents, here is a good teaching tool, but you must learn to live the truth of it as well. When a child says, "Aw, come on. All the other kids have one," tell them that they are guilty, already, before God for coveting something that is not their's. "All the other kids get to go to dances!" young Mary whines. "Oh, so you would covet this before God? You would give away the treasures He has to have what they have?" Now, you know they're going to bristle at this. So be gentle with the way you use it. The Law isn't meant to clobber people and beat them down. It is meant to train and teach. And if they must make mistakes to learn, do you, as parents love them any less? So it is with God. We will be looking at this in future posts. For now, teach, train, guide your children, and yes, yourself, so that you don't want something because someone else has it.

Confession time! I remember back when everyone had CB radios. My dad had one, of course he is an amateur radio operator to begin with. Then my brother got one. I felt I NEEDED one. I've actually had two or three. They were mildly amusing and helped time go by on long trips. But did I really need it? No, I got it because others had it. I coveted what my dad and my brother, and what seemed like everyone else had. If you must covet something, covet this, a closer walk with God, a love from Him that controls the way you think about yourself and others, and moves you to reach out and give. Covet this and you will do well. Covet the things of people and you will always, always, find yourself ensnared by them to one degree or another.

You Will Not Bear False Witness

In Exodus 20:16 we have a commandment which people have translated to mean the same as "Thou shalt not lie!" Now, while I agree that lying is a sin, bearing false witness is specific kind of lie. In the legal profession, it is called perjury, a prosecutable offense even in our courts.

Some of you may be breathing a sigh of relief, thinking I've finally come across a sin that you are not guilty of. Do you ever judge a person? Have you ever said, "Why doesn't that idiot get in the other lane if he wants to drive so slow?" or "Ms. Jones is a real pain in the neck as a teacher"? These are judgments which we have no right or authority to make. When we say things like this we often know they are lies or at the very least, exaggerations. Either way we have perjured ourselves before a Holy God, who alone is Righteous, having the authority to be Judge over all.

Perjury o being a false witness is the same as being a hypocrite, isn't it? It is a direct attack on someone else, using the weapon of the tongue. When we attack another we might just as well attack Jesus, for He who answered them, "When saw we thee an hungered and fed thee? or thirsty and gave thee to drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took the in? or naked and clothed thee? or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee?" to which Jesus replied, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Likewise He says to those who reused any such help, "Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto me."

We know that there are no levels of sin, for sin is disobedience to God. Yet this disobedience is an attack on God. Watch, therefore, what comes out of your mouth, for it will reveal what is in your heart. Better you should fill up your heart with good things, feasting on the Word of God, and spending times of fellowship with Him who is love. Then when you do open your mouth, good will come out, not evil. You will not perjure yourself before your God.

You Will Not Steal

This is another of those commandments that, on the surface, you will either feel shame because you have or are stealing, or reassurance because you are not. That's the surface, however. When you look more deeply into it things get a little more harsh. Our perceptions of right and wrong are usually wrong to one degree or another. They have become dulled over the centuries so that a statement like, “Thou shalt not steal” means only one thing. I mean, it's obvious, right? It deals with stealing. The problem is that we tend to feel that if we only take some paper or pencils from the office, that's really not stealing. We put a value on the word. We also limit the word to just taking material objects, when it can be applied to so much more.

Stealing is taking something, anything, regardless of size or value, from another. When we view this commandment with this definition we realize that all of us have broken the Law. Now there will be a few hold-outs. Some who, in the righteousness of their own understanding, will say, “Nope, I'm not even guilty of that.” Well, let's see if I can refresh your memory. Can you account for all of your time? Have you spent time with your spouse, children, or parents the way you should, or have you been lazy or selfish, doing mostly what pleases you? I don't know of anyone who has been so perfect in handling their time that they have not stolen time from their families. How often we watch a movie where a child or parent watches the other die and grieve deeply because they never got to say, “I'm sorry,” or “I love you.” Money you can pay back. Items stolen you can replace. Time, however is a thief of all of us. It robs us and we cannot get that time back, nor can we get time back to make things right when we waste our time and rob time from our friends and families. What about the time we spend with God? Even if we get to Heaven, by the mercy of Jesus Christ, and His blood, and have eternity to praise God, we cannot get back that time that we should have had with Him. We cannot find those quiet hours of prayer we desperately needed in this life. We cannot possibly praise God enough, even if we were to start now and praise Him throughout eternity.

There is another, perhaps more practical aspect of our time stealing from God, which God Himself had His servants write in His Word. In Malachi 3:8 we read, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings.” What we have, all of it, is a blessing from God to be used to bless others as He has blessed us. Not to recognize that is an insult to God. Not to tithe is robbing, not just God, as it says here, but all the people of God. Not being open to hear His voice and give beyond that ten per cent, which is what an offering really is, is to rob Him of His chance to bless us, and our chance to bless Him.

With each commandment we find yet another way in which we have sinned, another reason for God to condemn us. Yet God, who is rich in mercy, says to those who receive His Son, “Blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” (Col. 2:14) Let us therefore live a life of service to Him in all gratitude, praise, worship and thanksgiving, not out of command, but out of love for Him who so greatly loved us.

You Will Not Commit Adultery

Those words are from Exodus 20:14. Jesus quotes from this in the Sermon on the Mount, saying, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:27,28) He equates sexual lust with the act of adultery itself. As I've been trying to point out, the keeping of the Law is something that must be kept in the heart.

To understand how relevant these words are today, think of all those, men and women, who are caught up in pornography. They may never go out and actually have sexual intercourse with someone, but according to Jesus, they are guilty, just as if they had. A lot of guys will say something to the affect of, "It's just natural to lust after a naked woman." Really? Is it really natural to go out and find places where you can look at a naked woman? Because in order to lust after her, you'd have to look at her. Unfortunately, the Internet has become the place to find pornography of every possible description and perversion. Women get caught up in this on two fronts; there are those who enjoy looking at pictures of naked men, and there are those who like to pose naked for men. Think of all those "Cam" sites where you can call a woman on the Internet and she will do all kinds of things so you can see her on your computer.

And it's not just limit to pornography either. Today's fashions are ridiculously obscene. Men are getting to see a whole lot more than I could have imagined when I was a kid. Some women are blissfully unaware of how tempting they look. It almost seems as if current fashion trends were set by hookers downtown.

Is Jesus really serious about this command then, seeing we are practically bathed in naked and near naked people? Consider the words following two verses, "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." (Matthew 5:29,30) Now I don't see anyone gouging their eyes out because it "offends" them, or cutting off their right hand, for that matter. That doesn't mean Jesus wasn't being extremely literal in what He was saying. If pornography has become such an addiction that the only way to free yourself from it is to gouge out your eyes, Jesus is saying, "Do it! Better that then have your whole body thrown into hell."

Being practical about this, however, we would have to admit that we are all guilty of committing adultery in some manner or another. Gouging out our eyes would only leave everyone blind. Jesus provides another solution. In the book of Romans we read, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:1,2) In otherwords, instead of gouging out your eyes, take your whole body and offer it up to God as a living sacrifice. Let Him take care of it, transforming you into the image of His Son. You do this by the constant renewing of your mind. Again, as Paul writes by the power of the Holy Spirit, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5)

Okay. Makes sense, at least more sense than cutting my eyes out, but how do I do this? By doing three things; First you must establish a relationship with God through His Son, then you are counted as family. The Father in Heaven no longer sees your sins, but His Son's righteousness. Second, you spend time with Him in prayer, for it is in prayer that you get to know God. You get to know His mind, that the way He thinks may become the way you think. Third, you spend time in the prayerful study of His Word. Many Christians fail at one or both of these last points. When this happens, it is like going into battle naked. You are without protection against the enemy, but worse, you have cut off communication from headquarters.

Therefore, let Jesus become your Commander in Chief, the Captain of the Hosts of Heaven, not just some vague "savior" figure. Spend time with Him, so as a soldier in His army He can train you, teach you and cloth you in His armor. Then open up that precious Bible and let the living waters of God wash over you, as it is written, "That he might sanctify and cleanse it (your mind) with the washing of water by the word." (Ephesians 5:26 emphasis mine)

We have committed grievous crimes against the God of Heaven, yet in a mercy and a love that cannot be measured, He extends forgiveness of all these sins. He took them upon His own body, that is upon Jesus, and nailed them to the cross. Let us leave them there and follow Him. Let us rejoice that the Father no longer sees us in our fallen state, but in the purity and perfection of Christ. Our best form of worship to Him then is to obey the Law, no longer because God commands us, but because we know that doing so will please Him. Let our love grow that this might be accomplished by the working of His Holy Spirit in us. - David Brollier

Meet Stephen Todd Jones

As part of a "Blessing Tour" Disturbing Reviews has asked many of us to make posts for Stephen Todd Jones. There are many like him, so I am hoping that this will not be confined to just Stephen, but any Christians out there who are facing hardships will find encouragement in these posts. - David Brollier

Stephen Todd Jones is a writer and poet from Virginia Beach, Virginia.

While a sophomore at Liberty University, he sustained injuries in a car crash that left him in a wheelchair, and this perspective forms the basis for much of his writing. Through his poetry, he gives us a window into his world and his faith.

Why Not Internally?
By Stephen Todd Jones

Why do you not peer inside yourself,
Revealing what you see in review
As relates to the simple, yet complex
Matter that indeed is you;
Why do you not evaluate your own self
In light of that true indeed here
In order to best prognosticate what
Lies in an eventual year?
You may not like what you see inside,
Turning your gaze that way.
Oh, is that the reason behind avoidance
Of looking inside? Okay...
I see your reasoning though avoiding
That makes no less sure
The demons and devils, residing within,
As more than conjecture.

This unique poem points to a problem that a lot of us have. We can find the faults in others easily, but within ourselves, well that's something we aren't ready to deal with. The problem is what faults we find in others are usually those we have in ourselves, so we don't help matters, but make them worse. Plus, we avoid dealing with the problems (demons and devils as he puts it) in our own lives. Let's start to look inside, at our own hearts before we go about judging others.

In keeping with this poem I'd like each of us to wrestle with our own salvation, in fear and trembling, so that God may hear our broken heart and bring healing to our spirit, soul and body. I offer the following for Stephen, and all the other “Stephens” out there:

One step at a time,
I keep on walking.
One step at a time,
the road is long,
but I'll keep on walking,
one step at a time,
and it won't be long,
'til I find my way home.

This chorus to a song I wrote encourages us to walk in a victory we neither see nor feel, but one which we must struggle to maintain. I could give all these Bible verses about how we are healed by the blood of Jesus, but chances are you already know that. What is commonly left out is that we have to wage our own war through these trials to see these things come to pass in our lives. In the meantime, I want him and all those also struggling to know that there are many people praying with and for you. For they are going through the same things. Yet, all who have chosen Him as our Fortress, shall one day find ourselves standing before Him in His perfection, made holy by His precious blood. Until then, we press on towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus.

David Brollier