The poor in spirit.

     He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
                                         Matt. 5:2, 3 (NASB).
     What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belonged to them, so I believe it is very important to grasp what it means to be poor in spirit.
     I think that we need to be brought to a place where we see the depth of our sin, like Paul who claimed in the seventh chapter of Romans that no good thing dwelled within his flesh. He had a willing mind to follow the law of God but found the law of sin working instead. He found evil present in his life instead of the good he wanted to do. At one time Paul thought he was doing quite well, until he discovered that coveting was wrong. From that point on He struggled in vain to overcome in his own strength. The Bible tells us that there is none righteous, all have sinned, all are dead in trespasses and sin, without God in the world, lost. As long as we think we have some good in and of ourselves, we will never truly look to Christ with eyes of faith.
     We also need to fully grasp that "Apart from Christ we can do nothing." (John 15:5). Jesus sets before us the concept of a vine with branches bearing fruit. In like fashion, we must remain attached to Christ through faith if we would bear spiritual fruit. Charles Finney once said that without the Holy Spirit no one would be saved, and without the Holy spirit, a believer would be unable to follow Jesus for one minute. The popular trend today is self sufficiency. Go into a bookstore and you can find a large selection of self help books on preaching, witnessing, christian living, etc. What marked the disciples and the early church however, was the power and filling of the Holy Ghost. They understood that it was impossible to rely on their own strength, and natural abilities. Something greater was required.
     We also need to let go of the material thing of this world. The rich young ruler went away sad because he had many possessions (Matt 19: 16-26). wealth and earthly posessions tend to draw our hearts away from the things of God. Two churches in Revelation, Smyrna was impoverished but rich in Christ (Rev 2:9), Laodecia was wealthy but spiritually bankrupt (Rev 3:17). Remember that all we have comes from God and belongs to God. Use it for His glory, and if it comes between you and God, get rid of it!
     God has given us all that we need for life and godliness ( 2 Peter 1:3), That is what really matters!