The Kingdom Is Theirs
Open Your Bible
Matthew 5:1-16, Psalm 69:29-33, Isaiah 49:6, Mark 10:32-45, Colossians 4:2-6
BY Kaitie Stoddard
The upside-down nature of the kingdom reframes our understanding of human struggles.
Search “#blessed” on social media and you’ll find countless photos of tropical vacations, elaborate meals, and designer clothes. Apparently, success, health, and material wealth are the things our western world has declared a blessing.
Yet, Jesus had an entirely different definition for the word “blessing.” Early in Christ’s ministry at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave His disciples a glimpse of the upside-down nature of His Father’s kingdom, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:3). He went on to say that those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and those who are persecuted because of righteousness are the truly blessed (vv.4,6,10).
Even as Christ’s followers, we might be scratching our heads wondering how poverty, sadness, and suffering can be anything but bad. But God often takes what the world sees as “bad” and declares it “blessed.” But what could be so good—so #blessed—about being “poor in spirit”?
To be “poor in spirit” does not mean to be financially impoverished, but as the great evangelist Billy Graham said, think of it as being “humble” in spirit. We must have the humility to recognize that we are nothing without God. The proud cannot admit that they need God, and so they cannot take the steps of repentance and belief. This is why only the “poor in spirit” will inherit the kingdom of God. Only the humble can acknowledge their spiritual lack and profess a life-saving faith in Jesus.
I’m guessing we’d all love to be heirs to the kingdom of God, but how do we become “poor in spirit”? Look at the example of James and John, two beloved disciples of Christ who struggled with pride. They wanted to be the greatest of Jesus’s followers and sit next to Him in heaven. They even had the audacity to ask Him for exactly that, through their mother, that is (Matthew 20:20–21). Christ’s question to James and John in return can be asked of us too: “Are you able to drink the cup I drink?” (v.22).
We know that “the cup” Jesus referred to came with a cost. The Father called His own Son to a painful death, before raising Him up again into the forever kingdom. If we want to be resurrected with Jesus, we must first be crucified with Him.
As citizens of God’s kingdom, we can see through the lies of this world. Superficial comforts are not signs of the Lord’s blessing, and a lack of wealth and health are not signs of God’s judgment. Rather, the one who grows in humility and hunger for God, often through trials, is the one who is truly blessed.
64 thoughts on "The Kingdom Is Theirs"
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Our sermon on Sunday was on blessed are the poor in spirit. The pastor explained, just as in the devotional, that God desires a spirit in need. A spirit that realizes there is only one thing to fill the God shaped void in our life. And not a need that can be cured once and is forever satisfied, but a need that continues coming back to God in everything. Putting aside our pride, especially within the confines of our faith seems foreign at times. Being in need is not a state we enjoy being in. Self-sufficiency is what many of us view as success. But God isn’t interested in us pulling ourselves up from our boot straps. He never says He helps those who helps themselves. God’s desire for us is complete dependence on Him. To admit our need daily, every moment in fact, and humble ourselves to accept our insufficiency so we can embrace the sufficiency of Christ Jesus.
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If we encounter hostility towards our faith, we are indeed blessed. The hostile person must see Jesus in us (blessed indeed!) for them to be angry about our allegiance to Him. We are to imitate Jesus, share His light and courageously be salt in this world. The Holy Spirit will give us the power, the conviction and the words to be both salt and light.
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Working with the students I do can cause some worldly attitudes to flare up in me. How do I show them Jesus? Teach me, Holy Spirit, that my words and actions will bring Your Truth and Light into the school to all the students and my co-workers.
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I am so blessed as each trial I have been through I grow, grow in wisdom and knowledge. Be it cancer, near homelessness, loss etc. I always know I am blessed through our Lord Jesus.
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I see so much “attitude” in these scriptures this morning. Not attitude like the world refers to, but the attitudes, thoughts, emotions, responses we are to have that are like Jesus and usher us into His kingdom blessings. Humility, goodness, purity, grace.
When will people taste the saltiness and see the light in us? When our responses and attitudes are like Jesus and unlike the world.
The Matthew verses start with, Jesus seeing the crowds and going up the mountain and teaching them. (They needed Him and He was there, in the moment – not thinking ahead to what He would face or of himself.)
In the Mark verses the disciples are astonished and the people afraid. Jesus tells them of His pending death for a 3rd time. What happens next? James and John (or their mom) starts working for placement. Jesus just told them He would die and they are worried about how it will effect them. (Kind of makes me think of a child who is only interested in the inheritance when the parents die.) They were not in the moment, they were preparing for their future, they thought.
Yet, Jesus’ response is not to reprimand, or take offense, He just keeps teaching. He keeps guiding and offering care. He keeps being Salt and Light.
I long to live in the moment, in the attitudes of Jesus Christ, as salt and light. I thank God that He loves me, in every moment, and sees me as I am in Him. May my response in this world be prayer, wise action, and humility of attitude and word, in Jesus. -
Col.4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.
This is my prayer today for myself aa well as for God’s people so that we can be peacemakers.
STRUGGLING – Psalm 69:29–33
But as for me—poor and in pain—
let your salvation protect me, God.
I will praise God’s name with song and exalt him with thanksgiving.
That will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.
The humble will see it and rejoice.
You who seek God, take heart!
For the LORD listens to the needy and does not despise his own who are prisoners. -
It is so easy to fall into the temptations of what the world calls “good”. It’s a daily struggle and fight. I must remember that what the world calls good isn’t my goal. I must strive and reach for what Christ calls good so that others see Him instead of me.
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Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all of its righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Let us look at blessing with Christ like eyes so that we can see God’s constant blessing on our lives. This reading today has opened my eyes to the blessings of God in my life so even when I don’t have things that this world deems as “blessed”, I know that I am truly blessed from above.
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