“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:3
Jesus opens the Beatitudes with a stunner. He announces that the kingdom of heaven, the very dwelling place of God, belongs to those who are impoverished, destitute, broken, and hopeless. Grace, Jesus proclaims, belongs to those who don’t have it all together.
I don’t know about you, but that is good news for me.
Our world spends a lot of time defining who “belongs.” If you are popular, famous, or beautiful, you are in. If you are smart, wealthy, or powerful, you can stay. If you know the right people, can open the right doors, or produce the right vibe, you belong. The rest of us spend a lot of time with our noses pressed against the glass. We evaluate their clothes, imitate their style, replicate their talk, and copy their actions in an effort to look “in.” We jockey for position, hoping to get a little bit closer to belonging to the circle of people who always seem to be just out of reach.
Jesus stands on a mountain and invites us to belong to Him. The kingdom of heaven can be ours. He offers us the ultimate “in.” The only requirement – we have to know how completely we don’t have it all together. We have to be aware of our limitations, understand our dependence, and be transparent about our inability to do for ourselves.
We are blessed, wide open for the movement of God, if we can grasp how broke and broken we truly are.
I stagger under the wisdom of this first blessing. Am I brave enough to set down all of my self-managing, control-the-spin, make-myself-look-good efforts and admit – live within the truth – that I don’t have it all together?
My Jesus Resolution today is to stop trying to fit in to the world and settle into belonging to God. Here is my reality – I am a mess. My family has flaws, my marriage has its moments, and my faith has cracks and doubts. I struggle with my weight, my money, my time, and my temper. Here is the rest of my reality – God loves me and is blessing (read transforming and working within) every broken, damaged, poverty-stricken piece of my heart that I am willing to give into His hands.
Casandra Martin 
So well said and so true of myself and many I know. I pray we can all follow your resolution to quit even thinking about trying to “fit it” (especially if this smacks of the ‘world view’) and then wait for God’s blessings and His magnificent grace. Most of all I will be praying for those who may have bought into a label of “unworthiness” that the world has put on them and realize the price God has paid so that they could be worthy in His sight. Love you Casandra, Oleta