Blessed Are the Poor in spirit.....

This past week I was thinking about these simple, yet extremely complex words that Jesus said in the beginning of His teaching that we refer to as the "Sermon on the Mount". Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (or God -depending upon which gospel book it is taken from). What does this mean?
I spent quite a long time one night thinking about this statement that Jesus said so boldly and with such authority. And then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was rereading about Jonathan Edward's spiritual disciplines, and he emphasized meditation upon Scripture, so God allowed me to wrestle through this statement of Jesus.
As I was thinking about the people here in Montréal, I was trying to place them in the category of poor in spirit, because they are so lost. They all have some sort of faith or belief, but with most of them, their source of truth comes from within themselves. So, their faith is in themselves and they truly believe that they are spiritual and that they are far from being impoverished and without depth in their soul. The poor in spirit seem to be the people that are really at the "end of their rope" as Eugene Peterson translates in his Message Remix version. I think there is some real wisdom in that translation.
How does one come to be poor in spirit?
I can't answer this question for everyone, but I believe that the poor in spirit are developed because of a search for meaning or fulfillment - and they feel like they are hopeless in this task, and there seems to be no answer. They have nothing left to turn to, and being at the end of a rope, a person has a few options. One, they hold on to the rope and just keep hoping that somehow the rope extends further and they can keep going. Two, a person could just let go and end the whole "rope walk" known as life; or three, they can let go of this rope that has no hope and allow themselves to surrender to grab onto the rope of Him that will never allow an end - and promises eternal life.
I meet many people that believe that they are doing very well and that they don't need some answer that I have to give them. So, lately I've been talking to people that believe that they have it all together about crisis. Why would anyone need hope when they have a beautiful girl, a sexy car, million dollar house, steady job? They've got it all! So, I've been talking with people about what happens if these things all are gone. What happens when we have nothing material to hang on to? What happens when the only thing we have left is our spirit, and we are bums and beggars in that too? Only when we understand that we are poor in spirit, when we understand that we are unable to produce for ourselves a lasting hope beyond the grave, are we able to understand that there is hope - ONLY in Jesus. Then can we be blessed - because God has provided His Son to give His life so that we can have real, abundant, eternal life.

This past weekend:
We had a group from western Canada here that went to talk to people about the One that has promised to save us if we will surrender to Him. What a group they were!!!! It was so amazing to get to see their heart for Jesus! They flew in on Thursday, and that night only about an hour after they arrived, we were out on the streets. Praise be to God for giving us all the energy that was needed! Friday afternoon we couldn't even do a sketchboard because there were too many conversations going on - and a guy named Jean-Francois accepted Jesus that day. And last night during the Sunday evening service, he was at church!!! Praise God!
Friday night was a good night as well on the streets. Lots of seeds planted, but please pray that God would bring the poor in spirit, the ones that find no hope, so that we may share with them the answer. Many people believe that they have the answer, but my heart breaks for them because they can't see any other way.
Saturday - We went to Magog, which is a little under 2 hours outside of Montreal. We preached on the streets for the first time ever - in terms of doing a sketchboard. The response was very cold from the people, but a man named Daniel made a profession of faith, and as I was talking with him, I spoke very slowly and very simply, and he seemed to really grasp what I was sharing with him about God's promise for him. And he was so excited after he prayed to God... So, pray for Daniel, that God would truly infest his life in such a beautiful way.
Yesterday - was yesterday.... not too much to talk about.
So, sorry for the lengthened thought, that I feel still isn't complete, but I was thinking about it, so I put down what came to mind - I hope that it makes some sense. I encourage you to meditate on a little piece of God's Word today, and just think and think and pray and pray about it. It's amazing to hear God whispering the same thing in our ear and allowing us to understand a piece of His Word in a deeper way - that I'm sure even years from now will seem shallow because He will let us see it deeper and deeper.
Okay - today I must start to prepare a sermon for next week.
I love Jesus.

Loved and loving - because of Him.
Dwight