Today, I am excited to launch a new series titled “The Keys to a Blessed Life” based on our Fall Bible study materials. In our Gospel reading, we can find its theme known as “The Beatitudes.” This word can be interpreted as “beautiful attitudes toward God.” Jesus taught eight divine principles as the first subject of the Sermon on the Mount to the crowds. These people came from various locations, such as Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordan, after hearing of Christ’s reputation regarding His preaching, teaching, and healing ministries. These characteristics and attributes are the ones recognized and blessed by God.

Did we notice that all these teachings begin with the simple word “Blessed” in this main sacred text? Is this word familiar to us as Bible readers? When we reflect on the scripture of God’s creation of human beings, we can discover God’s blessings upon us. After “God created mankind in His own image,” He blessed them by saying, “Be fruitful and increase in numbers; fill the earth and subdue it…” (Genesis 1:29). God’s blessings upon His people involve having fruitful lives while stewarding His creatures in a godly manner. Likewise, Christ gives us, as His followers, the opportunity to have fruitful lives while we follow His blessed instructions.

When we carefully review this beatitude passage, we can also find that the first and last blessings in Christ’s statements are related to the Kingdom of Heaven. If we were asked to provide a simple reason why we believe in God, follow Jesus Christ, and rely on the Holy Spirit every day, many of us would not hesitate to answer: “I want to go to Heaven!” This is not just our answer but also Jesus’ words. What is the first message Jesus preached? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4:17). After the resurrection of Christ, Jesus spoke to His disciples about “the Kingdom of God” over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3) and commanded them to be His witnesses to all the people in Jerusalem, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The Bible summarizes Chris’s main message in this famous Scripture: “God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” in other words, the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:16). Receiving the Reign of God in our daily walk with the Lord and entering the Kingdom of God when we are called to be with the Lord someday is one ultimate purpose of our sacred journey with Jesus Christ. His message on the Beatitudes helps us become the people in the City of God.

In the first section of the Beatitudes, Jesus introduces how to be blessed to us. He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5). This statement appears to be ironic at first, doesn’t it? We tend to think that we can be blessed when we have enough possessions. We have a tendency to believe that God’s Promised Land can provide an environment abundantly filled with all the things we need. Lacking something in life would not usually be considered as being blessed in this material world. Before we go any further, I want to briefly mention the term “blessed” in the Beatitudes. This word is translated from “Makarios” in Greek, and it relates to the concept of happiness, joyfulness, and pleasure in our faith journey. In this present time and situation, many people, including myself, would express this principle in the following statement: “Blessed are the rich, the abundant, the successful, the self-confident, and more.” So, what does Jesus mean by “being poor in spirit”? There are many interpretations of this phrase, so I would like to present one meaning of spiritual poverty that we have learned from the Fall Bible Study related to this beatitude topic. To be “poor in spirit” means “I humbly depend on God instead of myself. This morning, I want us to explore a couple of ways to express our total dependence on God, learn divine lessons from this observation and apply them into our daily lives.

Firstly, to be poor in spirit, in other words, to humbly depend on God, means to rely on God’s wisdom and strength, not my own. I would like to express this as: “Dependence on God’s Presence.” In our Old Testament reading for today, King Solomon sets a great example of this attitude. As the king of Israel, it would be reasonable to assume that Solomon leaned on his own military power and the insights of his own cabinet members. However, Solomon was wholeheartedly committed to trusting in the Lord and submitting to God’s guidance in all his endeavors. He did this because he recognized the limitations of his own wisdom and strength compared to God’s boundless and infinite attributes. This understand led Solomon to earnestly pray for “a discerning heart” to govern God’s people and to “discern between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:8-9). God was delighted with Solomon’s sincere request and blessed him not only with “a wise and discerning heart” but also with “wealth, honor and a long life” (1 Kings 3:10-14). What an incredible blessing Solomon received! Due to God’s blessings, Solomon became renowned as the wisest king and served his people well in his time.

Friends, do we rely on God’s wisdom and strength? One way we express our dependence on God is by acknowledging our helplessness before the Lord and placing our full trust in God’s supernatural presence. Please understand that I am not suggesting that we should diminish our self-esteem. God values each of us as the apple of His eye. God has given all of us His creative thoughts and powerful bodies. He desires us to use all our God-given talents and gifts for the Kingdom of Heaven. Once again, being poor in spirit means recognizing that we are not gods; rather, God is our Creator and Lord. The more I have followed the Lord, the more I have come to realize the following truths: “There are many things that God expects me to do the best of my ability in my faith journey. However, there are some things only God can do for me. God fulfills His part while I invent my effort and energy in situations that concern me.” Do we feel overwhelmed due to a lack of wisdom in the face of recent challenges? Do we feel weak due to a shortage of strength to confront the challenges of today? As we remember the presence of God, we should place our unwavering trust in the Lord with all our hearts instead of relying solely on our own understanding. God promises that this humble and honest attitude toward Him will “bring health to our bodies and nourishment to our bones” (Proverbs 3:8). Furthermore, God assures us that He will make every path straight and open doors for both ourselves and our loved ones, even when the way ahead seems to be rough and seemingly impassable.

Secondly, to sincerely rely on God means to absolutely depend on God’s defence, not mine. I would like to call this something like: “Depending on God’s Protection.” In our Psalm reading for this morning, King David introduces some characteristics of God to his readers. As a leader of the nation, David might have faced numerous attacks from its enemies. In the political world, he might have been falsely accused by members of opposing parties. They might have used inaccurate information about him or his loved ones to create misunderstanding among his people. David might have been wrongfully blamed on occasions. How did he deal with these types of accusations? David knelt before the Lord and poured out his heart to God, seeing Him as his Salvation, Rock, Fortress, Refuge, and Honor. David asked God to defend him from these criticisms, relied on God’s protection, and found peace in the Lord’s presence. Furthermore, David encouraged his people to always trust in the Lord and pour out their hearts to God because their hope and salvation came from the Lord, who was their protector.

Have we ever been misunderstood by the people around us? Handling these kinds of mistaken accusations can be challenging. Sometimes they hurt us deeply and leave lasting impressions. It can be hard to move past these painful experiences. I don’t know about you; however, when faced with misunderstandings or miscommunications, I tend to justify myself with explanations of why I did certain things. Since we are all imperfect, sometimes we mistakenly blame others or are wrongfully condemned by them. Jesus, the Son of God and perfect, also faced numerous false accusations. During His trials, Jesus often remained silent. Even when accused and sentenced to crucifixion, Jesus cried out to God only in prayer and rested in the Lord, saying: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 24:46). Jesus chose to not defend Himself against false accusations and entrusted them to God’s mighty hands. Once again, please understand that I am not suggesting that we should keep silent and be inactive during our trials. When one of the officials slapped Jesus during His trials, He firmly responded to the criticism by saying, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” (John 18:19-24). The lesson we can learn from the examples of King David and our Lord, Jesus Christ, is that like them, we need to trust God for His defence before taking any actions. Remember that sometimes, regardless of how much we defend ourselves with various pieces of evidence, some opponents may not be satisfied. Someone once said: “If we defend ourselves too much, there would not be any room left for God to defend us.” Whom do we want to protect our loved ones and us in potential dangerous situations? God Himself can and will fully defend us, even when we do not know how to defend ourselves and our loved ones. Who can defend better than God, the Wonderful Counsellor, against any false criticisms directed at us? When we rely on God’s protection alone, we can and will experience His heavenly peace in our troubled hearts.

Thirdly, to honestly depend on God means to totally trust in God’s wealth, not my own. I would like to describe this as something like: “Relying on God’s Provision.” In our Epistle for today, the Apostle Paul expressed his gratitude to the believers in Philippi for their generous gifts to support God’s ministry and blessed them with God’s abundant grace. Whether it was little or plenty, Paul was always content with God’s provision. He felt truly blessed because the Lord had met all his necessities. Like him, Paul encouraged his readers to depend on God’s resources and assured them that the Lord would “meet all their needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Have we ever felt a lack of something? Sometimes I have. One ironic thought I have had recently is that what we perceive as deficient may not truly be a shortfall of something but rather a desire for more. I believe that many of us have been provided with enough for our daily needs. However, at times, we may yearn for more or better things. There is nothing wrong with these desires. As I mentioned earlier, God blessed humanity with the sacred commandment: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth…” (Genesis 1:28). The question here is where and how we can receive these satisfactory provisions. We work diligently to improve our lives. Sometimes, we wonder why we do not seem to have enough, even when we are giving our best effort. We may complain this situation to running out of water because no water is coming through our home faucets. As we can imagine, the problem is not the lack of water source but rather the condition of the faucet channels. If those pipes are blocked, we may have little or no water flow. God possesses everything, and the Lord is the true provider for all our needs. The key is that if we do not ask God, we cannot receive from the Lord. One more time, please understand that I am not suggesting that we should not work hard and simply rely on God to provide everything. The Bible says, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). “Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise” (Proverbs 6:6). God’s nature, ants seem to work tirelessly even though they do not have no commander or overseer. What the Apostle Paul and others in the Bible are emphasizing is that God is the genuine provider. We need to work diligently while relying on God’s abundant resources. As we heard from Rev. Dr. John-Peter Smit in his anniversary sermon, God is the One who makes all the plants we care for grow, despite our effort in watering, fertilizing, pruning, and more. God provides the plants with what we cannot, such as proper light, wind, rain, and temperature. Without God’s perfect provision, we cannot bear fruit. Friends, do we lack anything? We need to depend on God’s wealth and ask Him to provide what we need while doing our best before the Lord. God can and will generously give us all we require and help us fulfill our God-given visions and dreams through Christ’s provision.

In conclusion, to be poor in spirit means to humbly depend on God instead of ourselves. When we place our complete trust in the Lord, God’s presence, protection, and provision will be upon us, making us blessed and allowing us to enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven on our sacred journey. If we ever feel a lack of anything, we must kneel before the Lord, examine our hearts to identity any barriers between God and us, repent of these hindrances, and commit our lives to God. Our Almighty God will continuously be with us as the Immanuel Lord, protect us from any danger as the True Defender, and provide us with everything we need as the Genuine Provider. When we strive to be poor in spirit, we can and will experience heavenly wisdom, strength, defence, and wealth in our bodies, souls, and minds. We can truly find contentment in all of God’s blessings in our precious present lives.

*In this sermon series, I have drawn inspiration from the teachings of Pastor Rick Warren and his staff, as well as various messages based on the following texts: Psalm 62:1-8; Proverbs 3:1-10; Matthew 5:1-10; Philippians 4:10-13,18-19.