Green Darner Posted December 10, 2003 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 18 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 144 Content Per Day: 0.02 Reputation: 2 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/05/2003 Status: Offline Share Posted December 10, 2003 In the Amplified Version: Matthew 5:3 Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! I was just thinking that even in everyday conversation we use the word "poor" to mean "pitiable or pitiful" as in "you poor thing." The recent issue of Discipleship Journal had a feature section on the Beatitudes. It seems lately that I keep "bumping into" the Beatitudes everywhere. Perhaps, the Lord is trying to get me to pay attention and listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo's hope is HIM Posted May 10, 2004 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 111 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 775 Content Per Day: 0.10 Reputation: 21 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/18/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/12/1987 Share Posted May 10, 2004 Was that all you were gonna cover??? If you are done discussing the poor in spirit, could you skip to the pure in heart??? Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller Posted May 10, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 827 Topics Per Day: 0.10 Content Count: 12,101 Content Per Day: 1.50 Reputation: 249 Days Won: 3 Joined: 04/01/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted May 10, 2004 Beth - let me ask you a question. What do you think is meant by "pure in heart?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo's hope is HIM Posted May 11, 2004 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 111 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 775 Content Per Day: 0.10 Reputation: 21 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/18/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/12/1987 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Arghh Trav. You coulda asked me another question :x: :suspect: This is something I have been curious about. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. well I guess I'd have to start with what pure is. Free from impurities Free of dirt, defilement, or pollution Free of foreign elements. Containing nothing inappropriate or extraneous Complete; utter: pure folly. Having no faults; sinless Chaste; virgin. Free from moral defilement or quilt; hence, innocent; guileless; chaste; -- applied to persons. ``Keep thyself pure.'' --1 Tim. v. 22. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience. --1 Tim. i. 5. so. Christ's blood washes us. makes us as white as snow. Our hearts, if not cleansed by God, and if we do not confess our sin, becomes dirty; defiled; unpure. God cannot be in the presence of sin, in unholiness. Which is why the pure see Him. So what does it mean to be pure in heart? IMHO it means getting God's word in your heart. It means as soon as you comitt a sin, you confess it and repent. it means not doing acts that would defile you, and make you think unholy things (i.e. sex, porn, drugs, gossip) I think another part is that God looks at us through Jesus, so in His eyes, we are pure. Which IMO is unfathomable. I dunno if any of that made any sense. I hope that I haven't totally missed the point yet again............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yod Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 I have always been a little puzzled by the "poor in spirit". It seems that those who recieve Jesus are quite rich in spirit. To me being rich in spirit is being filled with faith, love, generosity, the fruits of the Spirit, whereas to be poor in spirit is to be lacking in such things. I think of the poor as those lacking in material possessions, though they might be rich in spirit. The only way to make this passage make sense is to make the word poor mean humble or contrite. Poor in spirit speaks of humility...it means that we are have not grown "fat" in our ways. I have written a song about the Beatitudes It's called "Redemption Draweth Nigh" and it's here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller Posted May 11, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 827 Topics Per Day: 0.10 Content Count: 12,101 Content Per Day: 1.50 Reputation: 249 Days Won: 3 Joined: 04/01/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted May 11, 2004 Arghh Trav. You coulda asked me another question :x: :suspect: This is something I have been curious about. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. well I guess I'd have to start with what pure is. Free from impurities Free of dirt, defilement, or pollution Free of foreign elements. Containing nothing inappropriate or extraneous Complete; utter: pure folly. Having no faults; sinless Chaste; virgin. Free from moral defilement or quilt; hence, innocent; guileless; chaste; -- applied to persons. ``Keep thyself pure.'' --1 Tim. v. 22. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience. --1 Tim. i. 5. so. Christ's blood washes us. makes us as white as snow. Our hearts, if not cleansed by God, and if we do not confess our sin, becomes dirty; defiled; unpure. God cannot be in the presence of sin, in unholiness. Which is why the pure see Him. So what does it mean to be pure in heart? IMHO it means getting God's word in your heart. It means as soon as you comitt a sin, you confess it and repent. it means not doing acts that would defile you, and make you think unholy things (i.e. sex, porn, drugs, gossip) I think another part is that God looks at us through Jesus, so in His eyes, we are pure. Which IMO is unfathomable. I dunno if any of that made any sense. I hope that I haven't totally missed the point yet again............ But Beth, you handled this question so well. I do think you have a handle on a pure heart. Look at this: What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart... For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man. Matthew 15:18-19. Create in me a clean heart, O God (Psalm 51:10) Beth, look at Psalm 24:3-4. Now, What do you think it means "to see God?" I don't have any time right now, but I will be back to this thread sometime today. You're doing greath Beth, keep studying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller Posted May 11, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 827 Topics Per Day: 0.10 Content Count: 12,101 Content Per Day: 1.50 Reputation: 249 Days Won: 3 Joined: 04/01/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted May 11, 2004 Sometimes I express my ideas better with stories, and some of my favorites are concerning King David and his mighty men. So, picture this: David had a mighty army that grew from almost nothing. The men started out as outcasts, untrained and unruly. Once under the command of David, they not only found a home, but a mission. They grew in strength and skill. They excelled in weaponry and tactics. And, above all, they loved David. In his vast army there were thirty men that were over and above the others in performance and abilities. And, above those thirty, were three. These three did mighty deeds and were legends in their own time. Now, these men lived to serve David. They were his personal body guard, and they willingly and avidly risked their own lives to protect him. They did this partly out of duty but mostly they did this out of loyalty and love. They went above and beyond to please him. Remember the story of when they went behind enemy lines to get water for David, simply because he had commented on how pleasant it would be to drink from that particular source? And when David saw the devotion and love that was behind that act, he poured the water on the ground. He said that he was not worthy to enjoy the gain that was acquired by the risk involved. Instead of gloating by saying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Unworthy Servant Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Greetings in the name of Christ our Lord to all of those who have comented upon this subject: I am blessed by what I have been reading here with regard to the Beatitudes, and my spirit is lifted by your words of wisdom. I would like to sugest something if I might that may bring a different light upon those things that Christ taught; that is in particular missed so much by todays churches. We strive to be correct in our doctrines and in our worship when it comes to building upon the foundations of our faith in Christ, and yet we rarely take the direct teachings of Christ to heart when dealing with that growth. I am often reminded of the teachings through the power of God's Spirit when we deal with scriptures that need clarification, but it seems the direct words of Christ would do so much more to clear away the gray areas of our worship and our witness to the world around us if we would just go to those things rather than cling to the stacks of doctrine that has been created by those around us to live by. While it is all good for reproof and correction it appears to me most important to take that which came as a teaching from God's own words to live by and to grow by in the Power of God's Spirit. In the smallest of things said if we could only wrap our minds around it we would find a great deal of difference in the ways we conduct our lives and our witness. As an example: The greatst commandment according to Christ was "To love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and then to love our neighbor as we love ourselves" yet if we really took it to heart the complete face of our worship and our emphisis in churches today would have been changed into something so different than we see today. The concepts that Christ taught Himself are the things whereby we can grow in the power and grace of God in ways that allow us to build without any error upon the foundations of our faith. Why then do we bypass these teachings for the sake of others teachings ; such as Pauls so often as reffered to? I believe that until we can come back to the teachings of Christ we will have difficulty in knowing the truth as it should be known. Some how the words of Christ are much more difficult to misinterpret, and much more powerful to the growth of any other teacher than we could have. Don't you think? May you richly bless God through your life in Him; The Unworthy Servant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annabelle Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 All I can say is Amen to all of this. AMEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adstar Posted July 20, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 12 Topic Count: 75 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 3,399 Content Per Day: 0.43 Reputation: 1,307 Days Won: 1 Joined: 09/01/2002 Status: Offline Share Posted July 20, 2004 The pure of heart to me are those that love the truth. That love the Love of the truth. Who are spiritually minded no carnally minded. They have the right spirit. I agree that the poor in spirit are those who are Meek enough to know they are not perfect jst like the one in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector in the temple The beatitudes is the greatest speech men have ever heard with their ears. All Praise The Ancient Of Days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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