Scripture of the week:
Matthew 5:3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Thoughts on an Action Plan:
1) Think and research out what the term "poor in spirit" means. If anyone can enlighten us on the meaning, it will be very much welcomed.
2) Read all I can about this verse.
3) Pray to become poor in spirit.
4) Blog about any findings or experiences this week regarding being poor in spirit.
What are your your action plans to incorporate the scripture of the week?- let us know.....
Matthew 5:3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Thoughts on an Action Plan:
1) Think and research out what the term "poor in spirit" means. If anyone can enlighten us on the meaning, it will be very much welcomed.
2) Read all I can about this verse.
3) Pray to become poor in spirit.
4) Blog about any findings or experiences this week regarding being poor in spirit.
What are your your action plans to incorporate the scripture of the week?- let us know.....
posted by Card Artisan at 1:24 PM
2 Comments:
Here are some definitions of what the meaning of poor in spirit is floating around the internet;
"Poor in Spirit means acknowledging God's ownership of everything and that we are responsible to be good stewards of those things with which we have be blessed."
"To be poor in spirit is to recognize that all we have is God’s gift: our very existence, our families, our health, our talents, our situations in life."
"What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Even if your mind does not have a ready definition, your heart knows. To be poor in spirit is to be empty inside; to know the anguish and heartache of not having what seems to be necessary for spiritual survival; to feel keenly the bankruptcy of our answers and our adequacy; to feel helpless before the wrong in our world and in our heart."
"To be poor in spirit means that we see our total spiritual poverty before God and our utter dependence upon Him."
I also read that the Greek word for poor in the original translation is PTOCHOS, which means poor, but some people have said in my reading that this could mean a dependent kind of poor, more like a child is dependent upon the parent for everything.
It seems to me that a common theme of what is means to be "poor in spirit" is a coming to a realization that we are dependant upon God for everything we are, and have, and that we are completely dependent upon him for everything.
Here are some impressions that I had regarding being "poor in spirit"
I certainly know what it is like to be poor financially. I had to file bankruptcy and lost my home. After a divorce, my brother took me into his home to stay. The feeling I had at that point in my life was one of complete dependence on my brother. At the same time, I felt very greatful that I had such a wonderful brother, that gave me a place to stay (as long as I wanted), and even fed me every meal during that transition period. I can see the parallel in this to being poor in spirit.
I am also thinking about a couple of other things in relation to this realizing we are dependant or being poor in spirit. Remember that story of the star fish? If not, I found a link to it : http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~fulmer/starfish.htm The one little star fish was completely dependent on the man throwing him back in the ocean, and you could imagine the greatfulness of that starfish(if they can be greatful) back to that man.
I was following my action plan for researching and learning about what the meaning of "poor in spirit" means and I came accross this. I thought I would share it with you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kros/131821729/
What a wonderful photo and story. Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words. When I look at what the artist has done to me it describes poor in spirit as it is titled, and the story somes it up. That humbleness in knowing you are dependent on God to make things happen.
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