Poverty of Spirit - Or Poor In Spirit?
March 28, 2009
What is poverty of spirit? Is it the poor lottery winner who loses all their earnings in less than 5 years and winds up worse off than before, because their inside doesn’t match their outside? Is it a rich guy like Flavor Flav who despite his fortune and fame seems to desire the lifestyle and mindset he grew up in? Is it possible for us Christians or only the unsaved to have an impoverished spirit? How about the Christian who lives a lukewarm existence?
Revelation 3: 15 – 17; 19 says, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked -… V19 as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
The church of Laodicea was lukewarm. God challenged them to be zealous and repent. There is nothing worse than a lukewarm Christian who has one foot in the world and one foot in the church. He/she is totally miserable. They can’t enjoy the peace and joy of God’s kingdom, because they feel guilty about sin. They can’t have a “good time” sinning, because they knows that it’s wrong. Such “Christians” are useless spiritually. Jesus tells them to choose whom they are going to serve and to quit playing games. One definition of poverty is the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. The degradation of women in ‘Flava of Love,’ blowing millions without counting the cost, and living a life beneath your Christian privilege and heritage all reek of inferiority and insufficiency…
What does it mean to be poor? Afflicted, needy; lowly, humble; low in status. It can refer to the person whose outward condition makes him afflicted or depressed. Psalm 140: 12 states that God is on the side of the afflicted. Isaiah 61: 1 says the Messiah would preach the good news to the poor. The poor can be those who actually live in poverty or slum area, but it can also refer to people who live in the inward ghetto of the soul. (mind, volition & emotions)
When David wrote, “But I am poor and needy” in Psalm 40: 17 he was not referring to being broke. He was talking about humbling himself in the presence of Almighty God! and as you know, David was himself a king! Yet even with his status he, like we, could see and respond to the fact that there was a deprivation - an insufficiency inside of him that alone he could not satisfy. He needed to cry out to God to meet his need. Though he ruled the kingdom of Israel, he understood that there was a greater realm to desire. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who humbly acknowledge this poverty of spirit. Matthew 5:3
To Emote or Not To Emote…that is the Question
March 23, 2009
Why is it so difficult for men to understand…no accept their emotions? We can’t understand something we don’t yet accept. Has society done such a number on us that we would rather be stuck in denial while at the same time frustrated in relationships that don’t seem to meet our needs? You know some of the sayings, “Real men don’t cry, “ or “Never let ‘em see you sweat…” In the movie, “A League of their Own,” an exasperated Tom Hanks exclaimed, “There’s no crying in baseball!” to his all female team. He was mortified that these women did not have the same disposition as men when engaging America’s past time.
We salute the images of “Dirty Harry,” “Rambo,” and John McClain in “Die Hard”, ok so I’m dating myself. How about “The Transporter” or Ethan Hunt in “Mission Impossible,” Jason Bourne in “The Bourne Identity,” or the latest 007, James Bond, in “Quantum of Solace?” Are they what it means to be a real man? What is so hard about putting feelings to words and sharing them?
Well, #1) I don’t have a vast feeling word vocabulary, #2) I’ve learned it’s not very masculine to describe my feelings about my wife’s need to go dancing or quiet walks in the park, while sitting with the guys watching March Madness. I might share a thought but feelings words or my intentions! #3) a game, or some other recreational activity, is really the only time I get together with guys, and then we’re trying to be the best guys we can be!
My feeling words consist largely of good, fine and angry. I broke down one year and went to training at Equipping Ministries on becoming a better listener and I was amazed at the number of feeling words to describe being mad. When I’m mad, I’m mad. I’m not trying to break it down to levels like I’m bothered, ruffled, irritated, displeased, annoyed, steamed, irked, perturbed, frustrated etc. you get my drift. However I find that it does bring a bit more clarity…
Why do we find sitting down with our wives/girl friends listening to their heart felt desires is like nails shrieking down a chalkboard? What is it about our dysfunction that says, “Just get to the point, please?”
Perhaps it is our fixer mentality. We want to solve a problem not dissect it. Especially if we think we already have the answer. We want the sense of accomplishment. Besides, most of the time we process internally in silent mode. Women seem to process outwardly (by talking and talking to us, their mothers, their girlfriends…the stranger on the bus!) while coming to terms along the way to a conclusion. They often need to process and feel as invigorated by detailed analysis as we do by coming to a conclusion and providing our damsel in distress with the right solution.
Travail
March 15, 2009
A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. John 16:21
Giving birth is like taking your lower lip and forcing it over your head. - Carol Burnett
Travail: painful or laborious effort; labor pains. Labor: work, especially hard physical work; the process of childbirth,the period of the start of uterine contractions to delivery. Bringing new life of any kind into the world is painful and takes effort. Even the dullest imagination can see that the concept of straining something through a hole that is 100 times smaller than the object is going to hurt! Badly.
Pregnant women are beautiful. Their skin glows, their hair grows, everyone wants to touch their rounding bellies. There is excitement and anticipation: though God also graciously allows feet swelling, back pain and mood swings so that no one is deceived into a false sense that work and pain is going to be avoided. Water breaks and contractions begin.
Contractions: the periodic tightening and relaxing of the uterine muscle. The cervix and lower part of the uterus stretch and relax allowing the baby to pass from inside the uterus through the birth canal for delivery.
When our idea is conceived, it comes as a pleasant experience. We are elated that through intimacy with Him, God has graciously chosen us to carry His vision. We tell everybody. As the ‘baby’ develops we have the splendor, and momentum of a woman with child and only a few indications that the delivery might be a bit difficult.
The closer you get to delivery, the more intense the pain and effort, and the more frequent the contractions. There is stress, then relaxation because God knows you couldn’t handle only stress! Labor is when we want to give up, just stop the pain! but it’s too late to turn back - we are fully committed.
According to the Apostle John, when your hour really comes, just the anticipation of the labor it will take to get that baby out of you is very distressing. But we must labor to deliver our dream. Labor cannot be avoided, nor can it be accomplished through lip service. For the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words. Eccl. 5:3 (NASB)
Let’s push through the pain to delivery!
