Embrace the Within no. 198

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for the kingdom of heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:3 CSB).

Poor in spirit does not mean we have a spirit that is lacking in anything BUT arrogance. No one really explained that to me when I was growing up and that makes a lot of difference in reading this opening passage to the Sermon on the Mount. I mean how can someone be spiritually prosperous or blessed if their spirit is somehow lacking or impoverished? This opening line links back to this line in Isaiah, “For the high and exalted One He who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy says this, ‘I dwell on the high and holy place, But also with the contrite and humble in spirit In order to revive the spirit of the humble And to revive the heart of the contrite [overcome with sorrow for sin]’” (Isaiah 57:15 AMP). My sorrow over my sin makes my heart and spirit poor and contrite. I have to really feel bad about sinning. And not just from the starting point of being sorry that my sin is going to cause me eternal harm. I have to be sorry that my sin is messing up my relationship with Him. Being sorry means that I am going to do something to try and fix the problem.

People talk all the time about being sorry and then they continue to do the same wrong things. And that isn’t sorrow. That isn’t repentance. And that isn’t changing. That is not going to get my relationship with God into a better place so that He can revive my heart. A lot of the time the problem with my walk with the Lord is my heart. I let my heart and my feelings and what I want and how I want things to get in the way of my relationships with not only others BUT with Him as well.

And that makes it difficult for me to love and truly difficult to be loved. And here it is right at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. I need to have a spirit of service. I need to have a spirit that wants to be reconciled. I need to have a spirit that wants to be better. Not just a spirit that is sorry.

God promises to comfort me if I have a spirit of reconciliation. Again, in Isaiah God promises, “'For all these things My hand has made, So all these things came into being [by and for Me],’ declares the Lord . ‘But to this one I will look [graciously], To him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who [reverently] trembles at My word and honors My commands’” (Isaiah 66:2 AMP). He will look graciously on those with contrite spirit that tremble at His word and honor His commands. So, here is the spirit of reconciliation shown as someone that respects the authority of God and trembles with the humility and reverence that God deserves and follows obediently His commands.

And Jesus lays out simply the commands later on, “He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands’” (Matthew 22:37-40 CSB). And how do I do those things? Well, again Jesus lays that out in simple terms, “'Then he said to them all, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it’” (Luke 9:23-24 CSB).

I pray that I have a contrite spirit today that trembles in obedience. I pray that my spirit seeks to reconcile my sorrow in obedience. I pray that my actions show a spirit that is seeking reconciliation and relationship with Him. I pray that through this spirit I can show my love to God and others and that this spirit transforms me into someone that can be more easily loved as well.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 197

“For those who are living according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh [which gratify the body], but those who are living according to the Spirit, [set their minds on] the things of the Spirit [His will and purpose]” (Romans 8:5).

From where I left off yesterday, Paul writes a lot about dying to the old self and becoming something new in Jesus that the old covenant of the Law could not accomplish. And I find that this verse highlights the solution to the very human problem of being rule followers and living lives governed by lists that we can check off to show that we are accomplishing our goals.

My youngest son is big on making lists like me. Making a list lets me understand what I need to accomplish, what I need to bring to work, what I need to get when shopping, what tasks I need to complete in the garden and around the house. Lists are helpful in all types of things in life. BUT a checklist is never going to govern my relationship with folks if the relationship is going to be real. A list will only hinder my authenticity in a relationship.

And that is why lists are of little use in Christianity. I cannot go down a list and check off what I am doing that makes me a Christian. It just doesn’t work that way. And missing things on my or someone else’s list doesn’t make me a heretic or a backslider. What does?

Action makes me a Christian. I live according to His Way. I set my mind on His Way. I act according to His Way. And that always means denying self, taking up His cross, and following Him obediently. It isn’t going to be a list of things I have to accomplish. It isn’t going to be a list of things I need to have. It isn’t going to be a list of things I need to do daily. It’s Him. My relationship with Him should be evident. Folks should notice. If they aren’t noticing, then what am I doing wrong?

A few months back I was having a conversation with my cousin that always ends up getting heated because he is a rather angry fellow that spends a lot of time “owning libtards”. And I mentioned in that conversation that I had been listening to him yell for almost a decade and had no idea he considered himself a Christian. How can I have a relationship with Christ and that relationship not be evident?

It would be the same for me to discover that he was married. I had no clue that what he professed was true because there was no external evidence that he was in a relationship with Christ. I talk about my wife to folks. I talk about my children with folks. I talk about my family with folks. I talk about my friends with folks. And I definitely talk about my King with folks. How can I be in a relationship with someone and not talk about them?

I need folks to know what is important in my life if I want to make new relationships. That is how genuine relationships work. I can’t hide my relationship or have no evidence of that relationship in my life. Relationships that are important are evident.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH