This statement has never been more true than in Matthew 5 as Jesus speaks one the most powerful, identity defining messages of His earthly ministry - The Beatitudes. I once heard Lou Engle tell an audience that every believer should read Matthew 5 at least once a week to allow the identity of the reader to be measured by what Jesus says. Once I heard those words spoken, I began to spend time meditating on the truth that was in this message. The way that The Holy Spirit illuminated this passage to me really began to shape the way I pursued God every day. Matthew 5 is what I call the "Blessed Are" chapter of the Bible. It's a little open ended in it's "title" because I see it having a partnership from us in it's message to cause it to have a fullness in our lifestyle. Blessed are...tells me that there is certainly more to follow and I must constantly examine myself to find out who I am in Christ. Many times as believers we are more BLESSED than what we see in our lives. We are often too afraid of the examination process that is necessary by Heaven to see the release of that blessing in our everyday lives on earth. My goal is to show you how the The Holy Spirit opened the BLESSED ARE... to my life.
When you want to understand any chapter in Scripture it's important that you don't just read that one Scripture; we must understand the frame work going on around that text. For example in Matthew 5 we could easily conclude that it stands by itself, but the truth is, everything Jesus does connects to the whole subject of the Kingdom and doesn't stand by itself. He is Alpha and Omega (and everything in the middle), which allows us to understand that from the beginning to the end, HE IS!
It's important that we understand that in order to see the whole of the Scripture in Matthew 5, we must look at the earlier chapters for the set-up. In Matthew 3 there was an earthly ministry transfer that was going on in the Earth. Up to this point, John the Baptist was the "Voice" that people sought for direction. Jesus arrives and is baptized for righteousness sake. He who is 100% God is also 100% Man and chose to walk in oder, because glory was getting ready to be released. God's Word is eternal and His principles unlock the glory in every area of our lives. In the Old Testament the temple had to be set in "order" before the presence of God would reside there. It's important here to embrace a vital Kingdom dynamic - Order precedes Glory! So when Jesus stepped into the baptism with John, the TRANSFER OF HEAVEN'S VOICE was complete.
In Matthew 4 Jesus steps into the next position of walking in the fullness of His purpose on the Earth. He was LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS! We would love to skip over this chapter if we would ever assume that we would have to follow the steps of Jesus. In today's society we have somehow come to the conclusion that we won't have any measure of wilderness if we say, "YES" to Jesus. But the truth is, when we say, "YES" to Jesus, we say YES to being led by the same Spirit, that sometimes will walk you through a wilderness, to see what we truly stand upon. Jesus in Matthew 4 does what Adam did not do, He defeated the temptation of the adversary by putting His position of righteousness and His dependency of the Word toward every accusation of the enemy. When Jesus defeats Satan in the place of the wilderness, it was a battle that was necessary to win as the Son of Man, because it would pave the road of victory for all who will choose to follow. The remarkable thing is that when Jesus comes out of the wilderness He is clearly walking in a highly recognizable authority. Matthew 4:23-24 says that He preached, healed, and delivered all who were oppressed from various demonic attacks. As if that wasn't enough to get excited about, Jesus goes one step further in Matthew 5 by showing us that He never desires to give us "enough", but He truly wants us to know He is the God of MORE THAN ENOUGH. Especially when it comes to the IDENTITY of His Children.
In Matthew 5 He blows the defeated door of our identity wide open. You have to imagine that up to this point, the identity of Israel had nearly been lost as a "chosen people". Jesus takes his followers the mountainside in order to speak into them all they would need in order for them to understand what it means to be His. He opens up by saying, "BLESSED ARE the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." It doesn't sound so impressive or prosperous when you just read it from a Western culture perspective, but here is what this verse is saying. First of all He opens by declaring BLESSING! This word "blessed" is a greek word, "makarios" which indicates that it is something, LARGE in it's quantity and LONG in its duration. It's a word indicating that a "congratulation and applause is in order". WOW! What God is saying to the hearer, is I don't have anything small or weak to give to My people. I have something to give them that will last! The second part is the qualification, "poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven". Poor in spirit is a statement of humility. The Father requires humility to receive the Kingdom of Heaven. The proud and the "know- it-all" attitude cannot receive what is of the Kingdom of Heaven. It's important that the BLESSING of Heaven requires our hearts and lives to be in the right position to receive the fullness. One thing I want to reiterate is that ODER ALWAYS PRECEDES GLORY.
Here is how this subject fits into the life of a believer; One of the greatest questions, statement or situation in the life of most believer is, "What am I called to do or be?" It's an important question to ask, but we have to understand that the same principle within Matthew 3, 4, and 5 apply to our purpose and identity within the Kingdom today. God will not always lay it all in front of you to understand at the beginning. He will have you stand in righteousness and walk through a wilderness to ultimately release a powerful IDENTITY on your life!
God is more concerned with your POSITION BEFORE HIM than what you try to ACCOMPLISH FOR HIM. He will always demand POSITION BEFORE DIRECTION. If you are struggling in the area of direction for your life, family or ministry, I encourage you to go into Matthew 5 and see yourself from the context of this passage. The Father has nothing but good for you! Position your heart and life before Him in humility and watch Him release a greater identity upon you than you could ever imagine. This understanding is what gave the identity that we are a "CITY ON A HILL THAT CAN NOT BE HIDDEN". What God desires to do for you and through you isn't small or even enough, but He wants to reveal Himself to you and through you as the God of MORE THAN ENOUGH!
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