MEMORISE:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3
READ: Psalm 42:1-2
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
MESSAGE
To be poor in Spirit does not mean to lack Spirituality as many people think. Being poor is a state of mind. When a person is poor in Spirit, the fellow is hungry for the Spirit of God. Our memory verse says:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
To be poor in Spirit means that no matter how much you have grown spiritually, you still pant and yearn for more of God’s Spirit in you. Some people attain certain spiritual heights and begin to call themselves spiritual giants. The moment you start feeling like a giant in the things of God, your decline begins. Once I prayed for thirty-six hours non-stop, taking only bathroom breaks. I was feeling very good, believing that I had attained a great height spiritually. The next week, God arranged for me to hear of someone who prayed for thirty-two days non-stop. I was humbled. No matter how much you have done, you must still see yourself as a spiritual baby. Only babies depend *on* their parents for food; once you are a spiritual adult, then you are telling God “Don’t worry, Lord, I can take care of myself” and He will leave you.
Those who are not poor in Spirit enter into the trap of the devil. I remember visiting a country once and my host told me about a great man of God who came to minister sometime in the past. He said the power of God manifested mightily at the crusade so much so that dead persons kilometers away from the programme venue were raised and the sick were healed. Unfortunately, this man of God relaxed and stopped recharging his spiritual batteries. His end was not good at all.
You should be panting for His word and presence more than ever before. If you are not growing, then you are dying. If you used to come early to Church but now go late, your hunger for Him has reduced. If you used to pray one hour every day when you became born again and you still do same now, where is your growth? You need to get hungry for God.
ACTION POINT:
Reflect deeply and write down ways in which your hunger for God has waned. Begin to make amends from today.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 40-42
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 20: NEARER MY GOD TO THEE.
Nearer my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee!
E'en tho' it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
Tho' like a wanderer,
The sun gone down, darkness be over me,
My rest a stone, yet in my dreams I'd be,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
Then let the way appear, steps up to heaven;
All that Thou sendest me,
In mercy given; angels to beckon me,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
Then, with my waking thoughts, bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs, Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
Or, if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer my God, to Thee,
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