Do We Know How Poor We Are?

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 6:20-26 ESV

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor now,  
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who are hungry now,  
for you shall be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,  
for you shall laugh. 
22 Blessed are you when people hate you  
and when they exclude you and revile you  
and spurn your name as evil,  
on account of the Son of Man!
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy,  
for behold, your reward is great in heaven;
for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 But woe to you who are rich,  
for you have received your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are full now,  
for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,  
for you shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you, when all people speak well of you,
for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
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God has promised blessing to those who are His,
to those who walk in His ways,
to those who put their trust in Him.
He blesses those who believe.
They are blessed not because of their own merit,
or their own ability,
or their own perfection,
but because of their faith and trust in Him.

When pressed to answer, do we believe this to be true?
I think most of us would answer yes, of course.
However, what do our daily schedules tell us
or others of what we actually believe?
What do our actions, our purchase decisions, or our priorities say?
I sense underneath the surface, our underlying motives,
reveal that our flesh believes something quite different.
And without realizing it we subtly follow the flesh.

The flesh of some is convinced that
living in the right house on the right street,
in the hippest part of town will make them blessed.
The flesh of others is convinced that
the house out in the middle of the country,
with no traffic, no other houses in sight,
with plenty of land to grow their
own veggies would be the answer.

For others
it is education, the right job, the right friends,
the right clothes, well-behaved children, or no debt
that they think would make them happy or secure.
The list could go on and on.

Most Christians if asked think that they put their trust in
Jesus, but underlying this “belief” is the belief that
having Jesus plus the right whatever is what they really need.

How can we really hear what Jesus is saying and listen?
Take a moment to ask the Lord to reveal what you really believe.
Do you want to know?

Jesus says,
blessed are those who know their poverty, know their need,
and look to God for they will receive blessing.
Blessed are those who know that
they are absolutely destitute and desperate.

Ask Jesus to help you know and feel your poverty.
Ask Him to help you see that without Him
at the very center of your heart and life–
Him as your all and your everything–
that you have nothing.

TAKING GOD’S WORD TO HEART

It is a gift from the Lord when we feel powerless over our sin,
it is His mercy and grace that enables us
to stop trying to cover over our failings and faults and turn to him.
Those who are “poor” in spirit and turn to God
and cry out for His mercy are truly blessed.
They have been given eyes to see their need and their inadequacy.
In their desperation they run to God.

They pray with the psalmist:

Psalm 28:2, 6, 8
2  Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.

6 Blessed be the LORD!
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

8 To you, O LORD, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy…

And when they confess their sins to the Lord,
the Scripture says of them:

Romans 4:7-8
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom  
the Lord will not count his sin.”

And not just concerning sin.
Those who are “poor” in wealth, in talent, in physical ability,
in intellect, or in any way, who look to the Lord
and place their trust in Him are blessed.
For it is not by might, nor by power but by His Spirit.
Christian, are you feeling weak and impoverished?
Is your cupboard bare?
Are you unable to measure up?
Be blessed.
Acknowledge your finitude, your frailty,
your faults, your feebleness and look to God.
Rest in Him.

Trust Him and obey His Word.

MEDITATE or MEMORIZE

Write out the following passage from Luke 6 and recite it 3 times.
Take it with you throughout the day.

23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy,  
for behold, your reward is great in heaven;
for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 But woe to you who are rich,  
for you have received your consolation.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, show me my poverty.
And show me your riches of blessings
for those who will trust in you.

In His hands for His glory,

Laurie
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Make Every Effort

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 6:17-19 ESV

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place,
with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people
from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 
18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. 
And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 
19 And all the crowd sought to touch him,
for power came out from him and healed them all.
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Though it was many, many miles from Jerusalem
to the part of Galilee where Jesus was teaching,
and though there were many wise rabbis in Jerusalem,
still they came to hear Christ.

They came also from Tyre and Sidon.
Those who lived in these areas were generally men of business,
with busy days, much to do, and much on their mind.
Yet they made Jesus a priority.
They came to hear Jesus.

And Jesus preached to them.

We too need to be under godly, biblical,
and doctrinally sound teaching.
Teaching that exalts God and His Word.
We need to have teaching that feeds us, that challenges us,
that focuses our minds and our hearts,
not on man’s ways, but on God’s ways.
We need to have teaching that addresses our sin,
calls us to die to self and pick up our cross and follow Him.
We need to go out of our way to hear the Word of God.

TAKING GOD’S WORD TO HEART

Each and every day we want to make every effort–
to do whatever we need to do–
so that we can be in the Word of God.
Listening to God’s Word.
Learning from God’s Word.
And submitting to God’s Word.
Not to the ways of the world,
the ways of our flesh,
or the ways of the devil.
We need to do all that we can do and look to God to
do what only He can do.
Thankfully, you don’t have to travel from Tyre or Sidon.
You have been given the Holy Spirit,
the mind and heart of Christ within,
if in fact you are in Christ.

So, spend time with Him.
Submit to His Word.
And Serve Him.

MEDITATE or MEMORIZE

Write out the following passage from Luke 6 and recite it 3 times.
Take it with you throughout the day.

18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. 
And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 
19 And all the crowd sought to touch him,
for power came out from him and healed them all.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to make every effort
to be in your Word.
Show me the importance of the Scriptures
for my life.

In His hands for His glory,

Laurie
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Nothing Matters More

by Susan Sampson

“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  I sing it, but do I believe it?  Laurie said in a recent Falling in Love Again with Your Lord lecture: “Our understanding of God’s love for us and our ability to receive that love according to His Word is absolutely pivotal to our ability to love others.”  This is an incredibly profound statement isn’t it?  Nothing matters more than believing God’s love for us!  I want to scream this to my soul!  I do believe.  Lord, help my unbelief.

God’s lovingkindness is real!  It is true!  It is for each one of us!  We can believe it in spite of our feelings that scream, “There’s no way,” or, “You’re not good enough,” or, “You’re not even a Christian”!  We must believe it.  For it is the truth that sets us free.  Jesus Himself tells us in His Word, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).  Yes, He spoke these words to those living over 2000 years ago, but they are for us as well.  In another place, Jesus said that He wasn’t just praying for His disciples, but for us too: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word” (John 17:20).  Jesus prayed that we would know that God the Father sent Him and that the Father loves us even as He loved Christ (John 17:23).  John says that the purpose of writing his gospel was so that we would believe: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

How else can we know God’s love for us in Christ apart from His Word?  God Almighty recorded His Word for His people.  It is His voice.  It is in His Word that we hear His voice.  In His Word we hear Him say, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).  I have prayed for years that I would know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge and be filled with all the fullness of God (cf. Eph. 3:19).  I want to know this Love!  But what do my actions say?  I want to know the love of Christ but do I run to Him in His Word?  The Lord continues to show me that more than I want to know the love of Christ, I want to feel good about myself.  So I run.  I run to my iphone, email, to-do list, my bed.  Laurie was so right when she pointed out that we run every which way when standing right before us is the Prince of Peace.  Love Himself.  She said, “He has given us His Word and promised us He would meet us in His Word to speak to our hearts, and yet we run.”

Oh my soul, stop it!  Lord, give us grace to stop it.  Stop running to every earthly thing — to the phone, t.v., mall, exercise, refrigerator, magazine, movie theater, car, radio, Instagram, Facebook, bed.  Give us grace to run to you as you ran to us.  Give us grace to believe for real the great love with which you loved us.  Enable us to meditate on the visible demonstration of your love, the undeniable proof of your love — the cross.  “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). 

The Father ran.  It is a poignant picture of the amazing depths of the love of God.  “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).  It was considered highly undignified for a middle eastern man to run.  But the father of the prodigal son didn’t care what others thought.  He loved His son and so he threw propriety out the window!  He ran.  And He continues to run to us.

God’s love is real.  He loves each one of us personally and perfectly.  And nothing can ever separate us from this love.  Not our sin nor our circumstances.

Precious sisters, let us, by grace, through faith, put our doubts and unbelief to death.  Let’s work to believe. “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29).  Let’s stop running to earthly things and run to Christ in His Word.  Let’s meditate and soak in the lovingkindness of God our Savior — His steadfast, unfailing love, a love that is never ending, without condition, with fullness of mercy and compassion.  As Peter came to know, only Jesus has the words of eternal life (John 6:68-69).  Only Jesus is the true bread of life.  Let us feast on His Word and believe His great love for us.  And may His eternal Word help us understand, believe, and receive the love of God.  There is nothing more important.

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