Dearest Readers,

God adores you and there’s nothing you could do that would ever make Him stop loving you! Keep that on your heart this week. God is with you and will see you through anything that comes your way.

We’re eight weeks from the week of Ash Wednesday, so it’s a perfect time to talk about the Beatitudes, especially since we just finished celebrating Christmas and God becoming flesh. As a human, Jesus felt the same sadness and fear that we sometimes feel, but He also had joy and peace during hard times because He knew deep in His spirit that all things work together for good, and that He had God’s love and protection.

During Advent we celebrated the gifts that He brought to mankind, hope, peace, joy, and love. The Beatitudes are like Jesus’ “how-to-guide” for having those gifts in our everyday life.

Hope “Blessed are those who mourn” reassures us that God loves us unconditionally and will never leave us, even when we are less than perfect.

Peace “Blessed are the poor in spirit” gives us peace by teaching us to rely on God completely. We don’t have to face anything alone; God wants us to come to Him for help.

Joy “Blessed are the meek” is the quiet inner strength that trusts in God’s help. We can have joy even on our worst days when we let ourselves believe in His promises.

Love “Blessed are the merciful” encourages us to be compassionate and forgiving, reflecting God’s character of love.

Poor in Spirit
The first Beatitude Jesus taught is “poor in spirit,” and it’s a building block for understanding how much He is a part of our lives, and will help us. As humans, it’s sometimes hard to imagine how involved God is in our lives, or we tend to want to do things our way, but that can lead us to feel hurt or be afraid when we don’t have to. God is not far away and distant. He’s right here with us.

Matthew 5:3 (ICB)
“Those people who know they have great spiritual needs are happy. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”

What it Means
“Poor in spirit” means staying humble and recognizing that we need God. It’s knowing that we’re not doing things on our own and we need His help, and grace! It means leaning on God for guidance and support, admitting to Him when we make mistakes, and being open to doing things His way because He knows best!

What it Takes

• Letting Go: Understanding we’re not alone, God is with us, and He has good plans for our lives. He needs us to trust Him always, and do things His way rather than our way.
• Staying Humble: Not getting too full of ourselves and remembering that all good things come from God.
• Asking for Help: Leaning on God for advice and strength, rather than trying to handle things on our own.
• Accepting Grace: Accepting God’s love and forgiveness when we make mistakes, letting Him show us how to do better, and sharing that same grace with others.

Becoming poor in spirit is the first step in feeling how close God is to us in our daily lives. He’s always there, guiding us to the good things He has planned for us, so we need to let Him take the reins. His plans are ALWAYS better than our own! When you have a problem, do what you can, and trust God with the rest. “Let go, and let God.” The more we rely on Him, the easier it gets. You can start by just talking to Him, and asking Him to show you the ways He can help, and He will answer you.

A Personal Experience
Learning this myself took much longer than it should have. I would ask Him how to handle something but didn’t get an answer as quickly as I wanted, so I did things my way. But being poor in spirit also means having the trust and patience to wait for an answer, and that is what He was teaching me. The more I needed an answer “now,” the longer He made me wait. But over time, I began to recognize a thought crossing my mind, or a “gut feeling,” and I’d know it was God answering me. He made me wait to show me I didn’t have enough trust that He was there and that He could do it better than I could. I wasn’t yet poor in spirit!

Let Go, and Let God
This week, when something worries or upsets you, give it to God and let Him show you how He works. Tell Him you need Him and His help, then put it out of your mind and listen for His answer. Don’t keep thinking about it, or give Him suggestions on what He could do, because He could decide to step back and let you handle it on your own! Have patience, because it gets easier each time you try.

We’d Love to Hear from You
We’d love to hear your progress, so let us know in the comment section if this is hard for you, or how He answered you. We’re learning together, so we want to encourage you if you need it, and be inspired by your experiences! Wishing you a peaceful week ahead. Remember that God loves you, and we do too!

Bible Verses

Psalm 121:7-8 – “The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Philippians 4:6-7 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 121:1-2 – “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8 – “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Isaiah 41:10 – “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Matthew 6:25-27 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”