Matthew 5:3 tells us that the Kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit. Have you ever thought about what this means to you? It is easy for us to walk in our own strength, means, ability, and beauty. But the Lord calls us to lay it all down, give up our own way, our agenda and our ideas of what His will is for our lives, to pick up our cross daily, and follow him.
I am blessed in my poverty. That is the area where I recognize I can offer God nothing. When we can take no credit, where we have no strength of our own, it is through this poverty that we enter the Kingdom. When we recognize that we are indeed poor, and willingly empty ourselves of ourselves, this is where I end and He begins, and accomplishes through our weaknesses the things we nor anyone else could ever do.
Learning through physical dependence how to be spiritually dependent is a hard thing unless we are willing to embrace it. That is the moment the heal marks in the dirt behind us turn into foot prints. Our cross is our burden, but he is more than willing to carry it for us if we yield to him.
I love how The Message bible frames Matthew 16:24-26:
“Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?”
Lose yourself in the things of this world and you have lost everything, even your soul. To lose yourself in Him, however, is to find yourself. Will identified, purpose lived, destiny fulfilled.
Alabastersky 