"Blessed are the
poor in spirit." Matthew 5:3
...The
preaching of today is apt to emphasize strength of will, beauty of
character -- the things that are easily noticed. The phrase we
hear so often, ‘Decide for Christ,’ is an emphasis on something Our
Lord never trusted. He never asks us to decide for Him, but
to yield to Him, a very different thing.
At the basis of
Jesus Christ’s Kingdom is the unaffected loveliness of the
commonplace. The thing I am blessed in is my poverty. If I know I
have no strength of will, no nobility of disposition,
then Jesus says -- Blessed are you, because it is through this
poverty that I enter His Kingdom. I cannot enter His Kingdom as a
good man or woman, I can only enter it as a complete pauper.
[Jesus said to
them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners, to repentance." Luke 5:31]
The true
character of the loveliness that tells for God is always
unconscious. ... If I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of
the Lord.
My utmost for his highest , August 21st
Make me a
captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life's alarms when by myself I stand.
Imprison me within Thine arms, and strong shall be my hand.
My will is not my own 'till Thou hast made it Thine.
If it would gain a monarch's throne, it must its crown resign.
It only stands unbent, amidst the clashing strife,
When on thy bosom it has lent, and found in thee its life.
By
George Matheson
Melody:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/mid/l/e/o/leominster.mid
See also
The Names of God
and
The
Test of Faith