Title: Matthew 5:3/Happiness of the poor
Content Matthew 5:3 / The poor man's happiness
Most of the modern people will make it their greatest goal to be wealthy. So there is a fierce competition for possession of the material. The members of the church are also longing for material blessings. And they think and say that they are happy if they are rich.
However, there are not many people who live rich and are happy. We hope that we can learn from Jesus how to live in poverty through the text. [The Poor Man's Happiness]
Even those who are materially successful, those who have not learned the poverty of Jesus will feel empty in their hearts without being satisfied.
The gospel of 5: is often called the Beatitudes, but do you know who it is addressed to?
It looks like he was speaking to a large crowd, but in reality he was speaking to a few disciples. Even now, the only people who can enjoy this blessing are the disciples.
The first thing he said when he went up the mountain was, "Blessed are you." Why did you say this?
These words did not suit the crowd or the disciples at the time.
Because they are colonists who suffer from exploitation by the Roman Empire.
They weren't the lucky ones at all.
As colonial people, they were very poor, and they wore shabby clothes and lived like beggars. But Jesus made it clear. "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." It may seem like a word that doesn't fit the times. However, it is a lesson for those of us living in the modern world.
In order to be truly blessed....
First, you must have a poor heart.
Here, 'poverty: Ptokos' means absolute poverty. In other words, it refers to a state of poverty in which one has to kneel. Therefore, it means a person who has nothing in the world and is dependent only on God. "The poor in spirit" means 'blessed are those who know their incompetence and rely entirely on God'.
That's right. We must be poor before God. You must be a beggar before God. The poorer you are with God, the richer you will be in the world.
Also, the poor in the text refers to spiritual poverty. Just as a hungry person seeks food, he seeks God. He is a man who is completely dependent on God. Without the help of the Lord, we are in a state of starvation to death. That is why he is a person who trusts in the Lord and prays every day.
The poor in spirit long to fill that void with the grace of God.
The poor in spirit know that they are sinners and put on the Lord's garments to cover up their shameful appearance. A poor spirit comes to the temple saying that one day in the Lord's court is better than a thousand days in other places because living in any tent in this world is not satisfactory.
Be poor in spirit!
God opens the door of heaven to that poor heart and fills it with overflowing abundance.
Second, you must empty your mind.
A poor spirit leads to a complete separation from the things of the world. Because nothing in the world can bring you true happiness and peace.
I have to let go of greed in my heart.
If spiritual poverty is poverty toward God, poverty of heart is poverty toward people. Poverty of starvation is now gone for us. Just like everyone else, let's not lament even if we don't have nice clothes, a nice house, and a nice car.
Don't try to be satisfied with having many things, but let's crucify passion and slander.
Do you enjoy the animal world?
If you look at Korean TV rules, there is a program that takes quizzes about strange and interesting animal cases with the title of "Mysterious Quiz Exploration" conducted by a young announcer named Beom-soo Son. It's really interesting and fun... One thing I've learned is that there's no greed in the animal world.
Any bird is satisfied and happy with one nest. Even foxes make and live in a cave where they can sleep and breathe.
However, human beings are greedy and have nothing to take with them, as if they could not live for a hundred years and live forever, but they live worryingly and hard while saving.
However, we Christians are training to throw away our greed. That is the true life. There is one thing to keep in mind while traveling. do you know
It is to lighten the load. You can't travel well with heavy luggage. It's not a trip, it's a struggle Isn't it?
We are all travelers to heaven. Don't struggle with carrying more than you need. They only suffer because of heavy greed.
An eagle was flying over the lake above Niagara Falls, looking for food. The eagle's eyes saw a dead sheep floating around. At that moment, the eagle descended swiftly, gripped the corpse of the sheep with its sharp claws, and began to devour the meat.
The dead sheep were slowly descending towards the waterfall. Still, the eagle was not concerned at all and was just preoccupied with eating meat. Perhaps he had this thought in his mind. "I have wings so I can fly, so it doesn't matter if I fall into a waterfall"...
In the meantime, the dead sheep started to trickle down to Niagara Falls and fall at a high speed with the stream. Only then did the eagle stop eating and force its wings to fly upward.
Isn't that what we look like?
No matter how much we hold onto the powers, material things, and honor of the world like a rotten invoice, it is of no use to us. It just drives us to death. What should be thrown away must be thrown away.
Let's empty our hearts and be poor. At one time, it became a buzzword.
'Let's empty our mind' means not an empty heart without a master, but a heart ready to accept something. A person whose heart is filled with the riches of the world cannot appreciate the beauty of faith.
I read one of Tolstoy's works when I was in middle school, and I don't remember the title very well.... "How can a person who doesn't know hunger know the gratitude of a bowl of cold rice" and "How can a person who doesn't know the cold know the gratitude of a warm hearth" for many years. Even now, this past will not be forgotten.
Just as food is delicious when you are hungry, it means that a person who is full of other things in the world has no place to feel spiritual hunger.
Dear brothers and sisters, have you ever felt hunger in your soul?
If you haven't, try it today.
It is said that the poor in spirit and the non-naive are blessed.
A person who possesses this true blessing has the power of joy that nothing in the world can take away from him, even if he is vaguely ridiculed or afflicted.
The psalmist referred to this spirit and sang, "As a young woman thirsts for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God."
How are our hearts now?
Third, you must have a humble heart.
Like the Pharisees and Sadducees, it is not a person who lives proudly because of his religious, intellectual, or positional possessions, but rather a person who thinks of himself as worthless and has a humble heart and has a heart to depend on God.
Because the proud heart is not emptied, it prides itself on saying, "I lack nothing." A proud heart is a heart that is not thirsty. This leads to complacency and laziness.
If you go to Israel, there is the Church of the Nativity, it is said that the inside is wide but the entrance is small and very narrow. It is said that it was made in the sense that anyone who wants to meet Jesus Christ must come in with their heads bowed and worshiping.
Matthew 7:14 says, ?쏯arrow is the gate and strait is the way that leads to life.??There are two paths open in front of our lives. Which road am I walking?
Those who walk the narrow path must be humble.
The Bible says that only those who have this kind of heart can 'have the kingdom of heaven'.