Are You Poor?

Matthew 5:3 
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Are we poor or rich? It is a great tragedy for the poor, but thinks they are rich. This is often the case among Christians, especially in the present generation.

Many Christians are poor but think they are rich. But because they think they are rich, they have lost the blessing of God. Because you not only have to be poor, but you should also know that you are poor. This is very important. Otherwise you think you are rich and you do not rank yourself among the poor. Revelation 3:17 speaks of the church at Laodicea. Revelation 3:17: "Because thou sayest: I am rich and I have enriched myself (that is what we want to happen to ourselves) and I lack nothing, and because thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and poor, poor , blind and naked."
'Do not know' means they think they are rich and lack nothing; but they do not know their misfortune and poverty.

There is nothing worse than being poor and not knowing that you are poor, like being sick and not knowing that you are sick. The Pharisees at John. 9: 40-41, "Does that mean we are also blind? We are not blind. "Jesus said to them," Because you say you are not blind while in fact you are blind, then keep your sins. "Be blind and not knowing that you are blind; being poor and not knowing that you are poor, this is a self-deception. It is very sad.

Some people think they are healthy while they are sick. Maybe they feel healthy, but right now, inside some people, there may already be deadly cancer seeds, but they feel healthy.

So, do you know whether you are poor or not? You may feel that you are not poor, and because you do not feel yourself poor, then you feel that Jesus' words are not related to you. "Blessed are the poor" and you say, "I'm not poor." So you can just turn away. Who needs to hear that? Who needs to hear the Sermon on the Mount? This is a message for the poor. Given that you're rich, or you feel you're good enough, you do not need it.

Poor, but No Any Disadvantages.

With God as my witness, I want to say that I am nothing short of anything. God bears witness that for many years preaching the gospel, I am not saving a penny. Not a cent! I do not keep a penny from my preaching earnings. God is my witness to that. I have no surplus. I do not have anything I've saved or reserved for the coming year. I never collect wealth from my ministry. But I do not say this so you feel sorry for me. But I would say that although I have preached the Gospel for many years and have spoken in various churches, yet I have not saved a cent from my earnings through the gospel. "Do not gather the treasures of the earth." I did not become rich because I preached the gospel.

I say this because it is important for a preacher to not only speak but through his life he bears witness to what he preaches. I am not preaching just using my brain, and based on theology lessons. If I can not make this life happen, then I do not want to preach about it. Jesus said, "Do not collect for you ...". I say again, with God as my witness, that I am not collecting anything.

We are called to be poor before God. Poverty does not mean you have no food, poverty means only that you have no surplus, or you do not collect or keep a surplus.In the Sermon on the Mount, we are called to believe in God to meet our needs we.

For years I have practiced it, without salary and source of income. When I was a YWAM student, I just looked at God; there is nothing I can hope for except God. And He never disappoints me. "Blessed are the poor because they are the kingdom of heaven."

I am familiar with poverty. For three years in the city of Batam, I know what it means to feel hungry in the stomach. But God never disappoints me. He said, Seek first His Kingdom then it will be added to you too. I promise that if you follow me unconditionally - you seek my kingdom first - then I guarantee that you will not lack anything. I have never lacked anything. God is so good. Although I do not store anything that can be used when necessary, I do not lack anything.

So there is a close relationship between material poverty and spiritual poverty. This point needs to be taken careful. In relation to the rich young man, Jesus does not allow him to be a disciple unless he goes and sells everything. But today the church softens the message; however, most churches are upper middle class. We soften the message. "Oh, it is okay. Do not think about it." Right, do not think about it, but the result is, you are not poor, and therefore you are not poor in spirit either. If so, is the kingdom of heaven yours?

How to become Poor in the sight of God?

The only way that man can become poor in spirit is through repentance and a new creation. The psalmist has described it perfectly in Ps. 51. Salvation has been clearly taught in the Old Testament. If you ask how you can be poor in God's sight, you must start with Ps. 51:1 : "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; Abolish my transgressions according to Your great mercy! Wash me completely from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."

That is repentance. You become poor in spirit and acknowledge your poverty before God if you admit that you are a sinner, and you say, "Have mercy on me, O God. according to Your great grace, wipe away my sin." That is repentance. Repentance is well known in the Old Testament and is not a new discovery in the New Testament. The pious people of the Old Testament are also saved with glory. They can teach us a lot about safety.

The next part is to be a new man. "Make my heart clean, O God, and renew my inner spirit with a firm spirit!" [Ps. 51:12] A new creation! Yes, the psalmist has understood it perfectly. You need to repent; and you need to let God make you a new man. I repeat once more: the pious people of the Old Testament, have been saved with glory. They know what it means to be poor in spirit. That is why when you are made new, you become a new human being. So it's not what you believe, not what you do; but who you are by the power of God that makes you a new man. We can not possibly inherit the kingdom of God except by becoming a new man.

This is what is meant by John. 3: 5, the famous verse: "If a man is not born of water and the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." This is the same doctrine is only said in different words so we understand what faith means. Faith means 'believe'. Trust in such a way that God can recreate you, that you may be born again of water and the Spirit. It is not your faith that saves you; God who saved you by making you poor before Him. There is nothing magical about faith. God is the Doer of miracles, who created a new man.

In John 3, 'inheriting the kingdom' means to inherit eternal life. "They are the kingdom of heaven", that is, God will give them a kingdom; God will give them eternal life. You do not have that eternal life without receiving the king sent by God. The kingdom is meaningless without a king. When you receive the kingdom, you will not receive a package called 'KINGDOM'. You receive kings and make Christ, Lord of your life. The eternal life is to have the life of the resurrected Christ. Outside of Christ, you will not get it. The only way to gain eternal life is to make Jesus your Master and Lord. He is the king in your life. Eternal life is a consequence of Jesus' sovereignty as king in your life.

The rich do not like to have Jesus as king. Because Jesus might say to you, as he said to a rich young man: "Sell all yours." "Ah, I do not want to hear this! I do not want to hear! I love what the pastor said, 'Just believe in Jesus, and you will have eternal life. There are no conditions. 'However,' Sell all yours'? No, no, no. It only applies to the rich young man. That does not apply to me. One law for a rich young man and another for me. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! How good God is. "Do not cheat yourself. The same principle that applies to the rich young man also applies to all of us. Rich young people do not belong to certain special categories. Do you think that he loves money more than you and me? Let us not cheat ourselves! Absolutely not. There is only one law for everyone. There are no two laws for different people: one law for the rich young man and one law for me. Not so.

It is the poor who accept Jesus as king. By accepting Jesus as king, you have received the kingdom of God. Because Jesus is the Way that leads us to God. The Kingdom means the power and government of the King. By accepting Jesus, you too have received life because God through Jesus has given you that life. "His power shall not fail" (Isaiah 9:6] He brings eternal life into your soul through His Messiah.

Ponder this question again: Are you poor? Are you poor in spirit? Did you know you are poor? Are you open and ready to accept this truth? Do you have faith to believe in God to meet your spiritual and material needs? Do you have faith to believe in God as your advocate when you are persecuted? Do you have faith to believe that God will always help you? Do you accept Jesus who has been sent by God as king?