The Plumbline

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (Matthew 5:3) Our spiritual emptiness (poverty) may come as a surprise to some of us, but to God, it is no surprise. The humble heart will recognize that poverty of spirit and will seek God's plan on how to fill that emptiness within. Those unwilling to admit their spiritual poverty will attempt to fill that void in many truly unsatisfactory ways. None of those 'other options' will ever make a man or woman any less 'poor', though. When we recognize our need for him, we aren't just asking for a 'temporary fill-up'. It isn't like our gas tank on our car where we go, fill up, then drive hard until the tank is almost empty again. The 'top off' of our spiritual 'tank' is continual, with his Spirit refilling us over and over again with each time we set aside a little time to be with Jesus. The car won't run with an empty tank and neither...

It is easy to steal from the poor, but don’t do it. And don’t take advantage of them in court.   The  Lord  is on their side. He supports the poor, and he will take from those who take from them. (Proverbs 22:22-23) W.C. Fields once quipped, "A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money." A poor man with money - imagine if you will the scenario of being 'rich' in all the ways a man can imagine, but poor in all the ways God sees. The richest of men can have the poorest of spirits and most burdened of souls!  We are not living to impress God - we are not earning his approval by our actions. We are 'approved' through the gift of his Son's blood at Calvary, but if we don't turn over the 'possession' of our life to Jesus Christ, we are poorer than the one with no funds, no property, and no means of obtaining either except to beg.  Why do you think Solomon started with this one instruction in his list of thirty instructions? Perhaps it is because ...