My brother, my sister, today let’s focus on a word we use so often but that many don’t really understand. What does the word “blessed” means? The Greek word for “blessed” is “mararios” and is defined as ‘the state of one who has become a partaker of God to experience the fullness of God.’ From this first definition, we see that being blessed is not limited to having material things Yes, being blessed can also be translated as being ‘happy’. Unfortunately, the way most people define happiness is not found in the Bible. People wrongly believe that they can only be happy if and when they experience some good luck or a favorable circumstance happens to them or when what they get or desire what they want. This is totally opposite to what Jesus taught in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) for He said things like “Blessed are those who mourn” and “Blessed are those who are persecuted.”
You see, the entire message of the Beatitudes is that happiness does not come from your external circumstances but comes from your internal attitude. The Greek word “Makarios” refers to the believer in Christ who is satisfied and secure in the midst of life’s hardships because of the indwelling fullness of the Spirit of God: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). Those who are blessed are able to rejoice and celebrate in spite of their circumstances.
Jesus begins the Beatitudes by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). This is a divine pronouncement of truth. Jesus is saying that those who are poor in spirit can immediately partake of the kingdom of heaven right here and right now. He says this because this is where your journey with God begins. The only way that you will go to heaven is to realize that your spirit is completely bankrupt in the eyes of God. You can never be good enough or do enough good works to earn your way into heaven. The fact is, self-righteousness is the greatest enemy to your happiness because it is rooted in pride and pride was the original sin. Lucifer became prideful in heaven because of his beauty and later told Adam and Eve they could become like God if they would eat of the forbidden fruit. The problem with that is they were made in the image of God and were already like Him. They were originally poor in spirit but lost it all when works of self-righteousness entered in. My friend, indeed, the ultimate deception is to think you have everything when in fact you have nothing or that you are someone when in fact no are nobody without Christ. This is why you need to become poor in spirit and believe that you are nothing without Christ: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). When you become poor in spirit, when Jesus becomes your everything, you will be blessed because now the kingdom of heaven is yours.
The Bible teaches us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who seek in Christ the sufficiency they do not find in themselves. It takes a humble person to admit they are poor in spirit but in the kingdom of God humility and greatness always go together: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10). God will lift you up by giving you the kingdom of heaven and, when you possess God’s kingdom, you possess all things. The kingdom of heaven includes planet Earth and when you become poor in spirit and get born again, there is nothing you can’t have and nothing you can’t own because “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him” (Psalm 24:1). Yes, the universe and all its glory belongs to God and you are an heir to all that He has created because of what Jesus did on the cross: the Bible tells us that the Children of God are ‘heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). This means that what Jesus Christ gets, you get also. My friend, when you surrendered your life to Jesus you got adopted into the family of God and inherited the wealth and the power and the majesty of the kingdom of God. Now walk like a child of His Majesty. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.