July 9th, 2025
by Jim Green
by Jim Green
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
Blessed are those who come to the table with nothing to offer. Nothing but emptiness.
Blessed are those whose hearts have been plundered and drained by the empty promises of this phony world. Blessed are those who have come to the end of themselves and can see in the rearview mirror all of their wasted efforts at peace and meaning.
Blessed are those who have learned the hard way, who have tasted the wares of the enemy and have seen them for what they are. So many of us have tried to fill our empty souls with chemicals only to learn that they fill nothing, they only enslave. They do not give, they only take.
So many have grabbed at love that was really only sex because they thought it would taste good. But it ends up tasting like dust and ashes, and smelling like sweat and shame. They have tried on so many people and have given away so many pieces of themselves that there is almost nothing left of them.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Blessed are those who have pursued religion, or mysticism, or philosophies, or politics, or ideologies only to find a pile of words, a trail of breadcrumbs that leads in circles and leaves you more lost than when you began. The devil spins a thousand tales to keep us from the one true story that we are.
Blessed are those who sit in movie theaters and weep. They weep because of the power of a story, or of a scene. They can feel truth and meaning coming off the screen and choking their heart and they want something, anything in their life to have that much meaning. Blessed are those who stand in the desert, or on a cliffside overlooking the sea, and are overwhelmed by majesty. They long for some intolerable beauty that they know is there, just beyond their reach. They don’t know what it is. They don’t where it is. They just know they do not have it.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Blessed are those who have poured themselves into self-improvement at every level but sense that, in the things that really matter, there has been no improvement. They have gone to the gym, and have learned another language, and have bought the most expensive mountain bike. They travel and eat like royalty of old, and they take wonderful pictures of it all. But after they polish their carefully curated social media presence, they look in the mirror and see a fraud. A pretender. They are an actor playing a part, and they are starting to forget their lines.
Blessed are those who have given up, who have stopped pretending. They have looked into their empty hearts and taken themselves out of the game. They have decided to sit down on a park bench and pray until God does something, says something. They need him to show up, to step out from behind his curtain and speak to them. They now know that they cannot fix themselves or fill themselves, and that meaning comes from without, not from within. They have realized that the awful emptiness that most people refuse to look at can never be filled by anything that has been created. They have seen that when it comes to significance, to meaning, to glory, they are impoverished. They have nothing. They need a miracle.
The miracle is becoming poor in spirit.
God only welcomes beggars. Everyone else is too proud.
Blessed are you when you finally learn that it is ok to stand naked and trembling before a burning holiness. It is a holiness who does not wish to consume you. He wants to love you, and adopt you, and fill you, and cleanse you. He wants to burn away the dross that clings to you. He wants to change you, and purge you, and raise you, and speak to you. He wants you to finally see what you have been made for.
Because yours is the kingdom of heaven.
You get a kingdom.
Of Heaven.
What does that even mean?
This is a kingdom that cannot end. It is a kingdom that is untouched by the stain of this world, a kingdom that is yet to come but is also here and now.
Heaven is invading this place.
It cannot be stopped. Why would we want it to?
But you have to be poor to live there. The entrance fee is poverty. It is a kingdom of the crippled, of the broken, of the empty, of those who were brave enough to surrender. Remember, that burning holiness only receives beggars. Not because he is haughty or proud, but because no one else will choose to come. No one else sees their need.
The last shall be first. The empty will be filled. The dead will live. The poor will own all.
Blessed are the poor.
“Come to me all labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Blessed are those who come to the table with nothing to offer. Nothing but emptiness.
Blessed are those whose hearts have been plundered and drained by the empty promises of this phony world. Blessed are those who have come to the end of themselves and can see in the rearview mirror all of their wasted efforts at peace and meaning.
Blessed are those who have learned the hard way, who have tasted the wares of the enemy and have seen them for what they are. So many of us have tried to fill our empty souls with chemicals only to learn that they fill nothing, they only enslave. They do not give, they only take.
So many have grabbed at love that was really only sex because they thought it would taste good. But it ends up tasting like dust and ashes, and smelling like sweat and shame. They have tried on so many people and have given away so many pieces of themselves that there is almost nothing left of them.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Blessed are those who have pursued religion, or mysticism, or philosophies, or politics, or ideologies only to find a pile of words, a trail of breadcrumbs that leads in circles and leaves you more lost than when you began. The devil spins a thousand tales to keep us from the one true story that we are.
Blessed are those who sit in movie theaters and weep. They weep because of the power of a story, or of a scene. They can feel truth and meaning coming off the screen and choking their heart and they want something, anything in their life to have that much meaning. Blessed are those who stand in the desert, or on a cliffside overlooking the sea, and are overwhelmed by majesty. They long for some intolerable beauty that they know is there, just beyond their reach. They don’t know what it is. They don’t where it is. They just know they do not have it.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Blessed are those who have poured themselves into self-improvement at every level but sense that, in the things that really matter, there has been no improvement. They have gone to the gym, and have learned another language, and have bought the most expensive mountain bike. They travel and eat like royalty of old, and they take wonderful pictures of it all. But after they polish their carefully curated social media presence, they look in the mirror and see a fraud. A pretender. They are an actor playing a part, and they are starting to forget their lines.
Blessed are those who have given up, who have stopped pretending. They have looked into their empty hearts and taken themselves out of the game. They have decided to sit down on a park bench and pray until God does something, says something. They need him to show up, to step out from behind his curtain and speak to them. They now know that they cannot fix themselves or fill themselves, and that meaning comes from without, not from within. They have realized that the awful emptiness that most people refuse to look at can never be filled by anything that has been created. They have seen that when it comes to significance, to meaning, to glory, they are impoverished. They have nothing. They need a miracle.
The miracle is becoming poor in spirit.
God only welcomes beggars. Everyone else is too proud.
Blessed are you when you finally learn that it is ok to stand naked and trembling before a burning holiness. It is a holiness who does not wish to consume you. He wants to love you, and adopt you, and fill you, and cleanse you. He wants to burn away the dross that clings to you. He wants to change you, and purge you, and raise you, and speak to you. He wants you to finally see what you have been made for.
Because yours is the kingdom of heaven.
You get a kingdom.
Of Heaven.
What does that even mean?
This is a kingdom that cannot end. It is a kingdom that is untouched by the stain of this world, a kingdom that is yet to come but is also here and now.
Heaven is invading this place.
It cannot be stopped. Why would we want it to?
But you have to be poor to live there. The entrance fee is poverty. It is a kingdom of the crippled, of the broken, of the empty, of those who were brave enough to surrender. Remember, that burning holiness only receives beggars. Not because he is haughty or proud, but because no one else will choose to come. No one else sees their need.
The last shall be first. The empty will be filled. The dead will live. The poor will own all.
Blessed are the poor.
“Come to me all labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
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