|
Post by kencoolidge on Mar 31, 2010 4:55:15 GMT -5
robertwells.tripod.com/Beatitudes.htmlThe First Beatitude Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The meaning of the word "poor" in Greek means one who has nothing and is completely empty. Was Jesus saying the economically poor are blessed? No, for there is no spirituality in poverty. Poverty in itself is not blessed, because the poor can be as arrogant and as ungodly and as lost as the rich. So what does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means that the poor are those who realize that they can never achieve salvation on their own and instead put their complete faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The poor in spirit are those who are not self-assertive, self-reliant, self-confident, self-centered, or self-sufficient. The poor in spirit are not baptized in the waters of self-esteem. They do not boast in their God given characteristics such as their birth, their family, their nationality, their education, their physical looks, their race, their wealth, or their culture. None of that matters. The poor in spirit are those who are conscious of their sins and know in their hearts that they are completely unworthy of the grace that a most holy and loving God pours down upon them. They realize that all their righteousness is, as Isaiah said, like filthy rags before a holy God. So poor in spirit means that we come to God, conscious of our sins and our utter lack of righteousness. It means that we profess that we are totally unqualified to commune with, and have fellowship with God, and that we do not deserve any of the gifts that God is trying to bestow upon us. The poor in spirit realize that all our assets are actually liabilities before God, and that we should view these assets as Paul viewed them--as loss, as garbage, as rubbish. It means that we have absolutely no hope of salvation without Jesus Christ. It means to realize that we are full of sin and in desperate need of God's grace and righteousness, and the poor in spirit realize that these can only be obtained by faith in Jesus Christ. In Luke 15 we see how the prodigal son became poor in spirit. In his pride and arrogance he left his father's house, wasted his inheritance and fell into great need in some far away country. During a severe famine, this son had no job and nothing to eat. At that point, the text says, he came to himself. He went back to his father and said, "I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21). That is being poor in spirit. We also see an example of being poor in spirit illustrated again in Luke 18 in the account of the Pharisee and the tax collector. It is the story of a man who was confident of his own righteousness and who looked down on everybody else. Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed this about himself: God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of what I get. The tax collector stood at a distance. He felt he wasn't even worthy to look up to heaven, so keeping his eyes on the floor he said, "God, please have mercy on me, for I am nothing but a lowly sinner." (Luke 18:9-14). That is being poor in spirit. What was the result of the prayers of these men? The Pharisee went home condemned, while the tax collector went home justified. Only the poor in spirit will enter into the kingdom of God. Why? Because they come to God having full knowledge of their own lostness and their own sinfulness. They readily confess that they are full of guilt and are totally unqualified to enter into the kingdom of God. The poor in spirit are the ones who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
|
|
|
Post by snow on Mar 31, 2010 10:20:54 GMT -5
This makes no sense to me. Why would a creator god that loves us want his creation to thing they were worthless?
|
|
|
Post by Annan on Mar 31, 2010 15:49:43 GMT -5
This makes no sense to me. Why would a creator god that loves us want his creation to thing they were worthless? It's called the victim-perpetrator bond. The sin doctrine does not give its adherents a chance to fail: it convinces them that they have already failed, even before they try. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Moreover, the sense of having failed God plays directly into the victim syndrome, disposing believers to imagine the abuse and harm that befall them is due to their moral flaws. If they are hurt they must deserve it. It is their fault, for through God’s will they are made to suffer, punished for their own good. Punishment for failing to follow God’s plan is inflicted on some people (the victims) by other people (the perpetrators) who righteously uphold the plan. As long as the idealogy of redemption goes unchallanged, the victim-perpetrator pathology can thrive and remain concealed, using salvationist beliefs as cover.dillsnapcogitation.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/the-religious-victim-perpetrator-bond-and-mass-psychosis/
|
|
|
Post by snow on Mar 31, 2010 16:40:33 GMT -5
This makes no sense to me. Why would a creator god that loves us want his creation to thing they were worthless? It's called the victim-perpetrator bond. The sin doctrine does not give its adherents a chance to fail: it convinces them that they have already failed, even before they try. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Moreover, the sense of having failed God plays directly into the victim syndrome, disposing believers to imagine the abuse and harm that befall them is due to their moral flaws. If they are hurt they must deserve it. It is their fault, for through God’s will they are made to suffer, punished for their own good. Punishment for failing to follow God’s plan is inflicted on some people (the victims) by other people (the perpetrators) who righteously uphold the plan. As long as the idealogy of redemption goes unchallanged, the victim-perpetrator pathology can thrive and remain concealed, using salvationist beliefs as cover.dillsnapcogitation.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/the-religious-victim-perpetrator-bond-and-mass-psychosis/The victim mentality that attacks self esteem is depressing to witness imo.
|
|
shushy
Royal Member
Warning
50%
Posts: 8,009
|
Post by shushy on Mar 31, 2010 17:08:35 GMT -5
A person with a broken heart would be poor in spirit because they are vulnerable and low and I think God reaches out to those people with compassion. I think its about encouragement for people like that. Its like a type of. I dont think it means attack their self esteem but rather that he cares about those people who feel so low, he reaches out in love to them and is saying he cares and accepts them. When I see poor people they look depressed, give them some food and clothes and shelter and they receive hope and look more positive. They were victims but now they know people care. They have hope and some confidence
|
|
|
Post by sharonw on Mar 31, 2010 19:34:33 GMT -5
A person with a broken heart would be poor in spirit because they are vulnerable and low and I think God reaches out to those people with compassion. I think its about encouragement for people like that. Its like a type of. I dont think it means attack their self esteem but rather that he cares about those people who feel so low, he reaches out in love to them and is saying he cares and accepts them. When I see poor people they look depressed, give them some food and clothes and shelter and they receive hope and look more positive. They were victims but now they know people care. They have hope and some confidence A good thought, shushy! When one thinks the reward is getting the kingdom of heaven.....and being poor in spirit...I think Lazarus the begger is a prime example.
|
|
|
Post by snow on Mar 31, 2010 20:24:12 GMT -5
A person with a broken heart would be poor in spirit because they are vulnerable and low and I think God reaches out to those people with compassion. I think its about encouragement for people like that. Its like a type of. I dont think it means attack their self esteem but rather that he cares about those people who feel so low, he reaches out in love to them and is saying he cares and accepts them. When I see poor people they look depressed, give them some food and clothes and shelter and they receive hope and look more positive. They were victims but now they know people care. They have hope and some confidence Well possibly that's what it means, but I didn't get that from this paragraph. "Only the poor in spirit will enter into the kingdom of God. Why? Because they come to God having full knowledge of their own lostness and their own sinfulness. They readily confess that they are full of guilt and are totally unqualified to enter into the kingdom of God. The poor in spirit are the ones who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ." This sounds to me like you have to be full of guilt and totally unqualified to enter the kingdom of god. That can't possibly be a healthy way to think. Why would god want his creation to be down on themselves? How it that honoring the creator?
|
|
shushy
Royal Member
Warning
50%
Posts: 8,009
|
Post by shushy on Mar 31, 2010 20:27:40 GMT -5
A person with a broken heart would be poor in spirit because they are vulnerable and low and I think God reaches out to those people with compassion. I think its about encouragement for people like that. Its like a type of. I dont think it means attack their self esteem but rather that he cares about those people who feel so low, he reaches out in love to them and is saying he cares and accepts them. When I see poor people they look depressed, give them some food and clothes and shelter and they receive hope and look more positive. They were victims but now they know people care. They have hope and some confidence Well possibly that's what it means, but I didn't get that from this paragraph. "Only the poor in spirit will enter into the kingdom of God. Why? Because they come to God having full knowledge of their own lostness and their own sinfulness. They readily confess that they are full of guilt and are totally unqualified to enter into the kingdom of God. The poor in spirit are the ones who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ." This sounds to me like you have to be full of guilt and totally unqualified to enter the kingdom of god. That can't possibly be a healthy way to think. Why would god want his creation to be down on themselves? How it that honoring the creator? Snow Hi there. They werent my words. I wrote mine.
|
|
|
Post by snow on Mar 31, 2010 20:38:35 GMT -5
Well possibly that's what it means, but I didn't get that from this paragraph. "Only the poor in spirit will enter into the kingdom of God. Why? Because they come to God having full knowledge of their own lostness and their own sinfulness. They readily confess that they are full of guilt and are totally unqualified to enter into the kingdom of God. The poor in spirit are the ones who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ." This sounds to me like you have to be full of guilt and totally unqualified to enter the kingdom of god. That can't possibly be a healthy way to think. Why would god want his creation to be down on themselves? How it that honoring the creator? Snow Hi there. They werent my words. I wrote mine. The paragraph I quoted within my post was from the 1st post, last paragraph and that was what I was referring to when I was answering your post.
|
|
shushy
Royal Member
Warning
50%
Posts: 8,009
|
Post by shushy on Mar 31, 2010 20:43:47 GMT -5
When I am in the presence of God with a prayful attitude, sometimes I begin to weap and repent of things the holy spirit convicts me of. Only if he convicts me. It turns into something beautiful because it brings change. God does not want us to think we are worthless quite the opposite. We are precious in his eyes.
|
|
|
Post by snow on Mar 31, 2010 20:56:54 GMT -5
When I am in the presence of God with a prayful attitude, sometimes I begin to weap and repent of things the holy spirit convicts me of. Only if he convicts me. It turns into something beautiful because it brings change. God does not want us to think we are worthless quite the opposite. We are precious in his eyes. Okay, I'm glad you see it that way, that you think god thinks you're precious that is.
|
|
|
Post by kencoolidge on Apr 1, 2010 5:56:07 GMT -5
I think for me at least this paragraph sums it up . The results of which is in essence is to posses the kingdom in their walk. Another summary of the thought I believe is found in the words of the Hymn WHEN I SURVEY
The poor in spirit are those who are not self-assertive, self-reliant, self-confident, self-centered, or self-sufficient. The poor in spirit are not baptized in the waters of self-esteem. They do not boast in their God given characteristics such as their birth, their family, their nationality, their education, their physical looks, their race, their wealth, or their culture. None of that matters. The poor in spirit are those who are conscious of their sins and know in their hearts that they are completely unworthy of the grace that a most holy and loving God pours down upon them. They realize that all their righteousness is, as Isaiah said, like filthy rags before a holy God.
|
|
|
Post by sharonw on Apr 1, 2010 7:27:18 GMT -5
I think for me at least this paragraph sums it up . The results of which is in essence is to posses the kingdom in their walk. Another summary of the thought I believe is found in the words of the Hymn WHEN I SURVEY The poor in spirit are those who are not self-assertive, self-reliant, self-confident, self-centered, or self-sufficient. The poor in spirit are not baptized in the waters of self-esteem. They do not boast in their God given characteristics such as their birth, their family, their nationality, their education, their physical looks, their race, their wealth, or their culture. None of that matters. The poor in spirit are those who are conscious of their sins and know in their hearts that they are completely unworthy of the grace that a most holy and loving God pours down upon them. They realize that all their righteousness is, as Isaiah said, like filthy rags before a holy God. I wish he'd expounded a bit more about what the poor in spirit do feel....the "joy" of the grace of God...it is one of the most amazing feelings, to be rid of "self" feelings and just rejoice in what the Lord has done for us.
|
|
|
Post by Annan on Apr 1, 2010 8:18:06 GMT -5
I can't find the post I thought I posted here last night. Obviously I didn't hit the right button when I was done typing. Here goes again...
This from one of my journals...
The Beatitudes are not blessings pronounced on different types of people, but stages of Christian growth.
Blessed are the poor in spirit is an awakening to the spiritual poverty of the soul.
Blessed are those who mourn is our grieving because of spiritual poverty to the point of wanting/desiring change.
Blessed are the meek is our complete surrender to God's will. Our new birth in Christ.
Don't know why I didn't have any more notes to the other Beatitudes...?
|
|
|
Post by kencoolidge on Apr 1, 2010 13:40:13 GMT -5
I can't find the post I thought I posted here last night. Obviously I didn't hit the right button when I was done typing. Here goes again... This from one of my journals... The Beatitudes are not blessings pronounced on different types of people, but stages of Christian growth.
Blessed are the poor in spirit is an awakening to the spiritual poverty of the soul.
Blessed are those who mourn is our grieving because of spiritual poverty to the point of wanting/desiring change.
Blessed are the meek is our complete surrender to God's will. Our new birth in Christ.Don't know why I didn't have any more notes to the other Beatitudes...? Annan Right on. Thanks for posting it the second time ken
|
|