Poverty-stricken heart

Beautiful People, 

I love how Jesus starts His Sermon on the Mount by introducing a new paradigm shift—the beauty of a poverty-stricken heart. The first beatitude, "Blessed are the poor," runs parallel with the first commandment, "have no other gods." The connection is subtle but has serious implications. The first is whatever and whoever occupies your heart becomes not only your god but also controls the heart's currency. The first commandment is an invitation to wholesome rulership. God desires to have our adoration and love; however, our carnal nature has always found illegitimate gods to occupy the space of Jesus. These illegitimate gods have their rules—and they're pretty nasty. Take, for instance, the god of lust. The god of lust is not always sexual in nature; you can lust after material and immaterial objects. To appease this god, you will cross ethical and moral boundaries. The currency and wages of this god are immediate gratifications that are accompanied by shame and guilt.

Regardless of what god is positioned at the seat of your heart, they will have demands that you can not ethically or morally meet. The wealthier you become in them, the poorer your soul becomes, at least, that is how I read the first commandment and beatitude. Our hearts were designed to have only one legitimate ruler—Jesus, all other "gods" are false. So, how do you dispose of an illegitimate god? You cripple your currency; you bankrupt your heart. This is process done by the Spirit of God in conjunction with your obedience. I would propose that most of the internal problems we face are due to having an illegitimate god seated on the thrones of our hearts. There is good news here because Jesus came into the world announcing new rulership, His own! The good news or the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims that I can be free from all illegitimate gods. I live in that reality by acknowledging that I am poor in spirit and nothing I can ever do can save me except for letting Jesus be the King of my life. The poverty-stricken heart is made beautiful because of the richness of Jesus Christ in it.