In many pulpits you may hear that God wants to fill your pockets and nothing more than to make you a huge success in the eyes of men. Problem is...ahem..if you study your Bible carefully... that isn't what happened to God's choice servants... (think Jeremiah in the pit, or John on the island of Patmos)... and that most certainly isn't what happened to Jesus on the cross, our prime example.
Why do so many believe it then?
A while back, at church, a guest pastor filled in with a message about our utter dependence on God and mentioned the Beatitudes. I may have blogged about this already but in the first Beatitude Jesus says:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
He explained that the word for poor in the Hebrew Greek Lexicon is #4434 "ptochos" In my Spiros Zodhiates Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible (KJV), (a wonderful study Bible which explains from the Hebrew and Greek definitions the meanings of many words) means:
"poor and helpless; one who in his abjectness (ptosso) needs lifting. One who has fallen from a better estate.
{A different Greek word-my explanation}(penes- 3993) may be poor but he earns his bread by daily bread by daily labor; but the PTOCHOS is so poor he can only obtain his living by begging. The penes has nothing superfluous, while the PTOCHOS has nothing at all."
Do you like being described as "ptochos"? That is the way the whole lot of us are, the whole boatload of us human beings on this earth, whether we like it or not. Did you see the second sentence in the definition? "One who has fallen from a better estate?"
That is an offense, my friends, unless you are rightly adjusted to the grace of God and know it is all of HIM. It is the offense that keeps many from receiving Him, to think they are poverty stricken before Almighty God. When we come to Christ, we have to admit we have nothing to give Him. He must do all for us. When I read this, I had an "Aha!!" moment flash into my soul.
The world has its little slogans and maxims that blind the eyes and dull the ears of people to the Truth of the Word of God. How many times have I heard this lie from the pit,
"God helps those who help themselves."
I challenge anyone who reads this to comment and show me one place in the Bible where it says that. I believe the first Beatitude says just the exact opposite. "He is so poor he can only obtain his living by begging."
But David knows God doesn't delight in watching us grovel. Once we come to Him, admitting that we have nothing to offer Him, He is like the father in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15: 11-32, who kills the fatted calf and throws a party for his long lost son. The angels rejoice over one sinner coming home!
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Ps. 51: 17.
That is only one verse, you say. Here is another I found in my Psalm study today while not even looking. In Psalm 6, David is very sick. He speaks of being "sorely vexed" even in his bones. The bones (Strong's Hebrew Lexicon #6106) "etsem" refer to his bodily essence, substance, or frame.
In Psalm 6: 2 David pleads with the Lord:
"Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed."
Well, since I knew what the Lord said about the poor in spirit, I was curious to know what the word weak meant in this verse. I looked it up on the Blue Letter Bible website (blueletterbible.com) to find the meaning of the word. It is Strong's #536, used only one time in the Old Testament, 'umlal. It means to languish, to droop, to hang down the head.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H536&t=KJV
David said he was hanging his head down, he was weak. But that was in and of himself. Because just a few Psalms before, in Psalm 3, David said that the Lord was the lifter of his head, and that was when he running from his own son Absalom, trying to steal the Kingdom from him!
"But Thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head." Psalm 3: 3
The Apostle Paul also was afflicted with some affirmity after receiving a heavenly revelation in II Corinthians 12. He prayed three times for God to remove it. But God did not remove it. He let Paul remain in the state of utter weakness. Paul ended up saying that God's strength was made perfect through weakness.(II Cor. 12:9) I wonder what those prosperity teachers would tell Paul if he were to be in their congregration.
I breathe a sigh of relief. To me, this is good news. I am weak and I know it. I can sing the little song from my childhood days, "Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones (like me) to Him belong, they are weak (PTOCHOS-but that is OK, because....) He is STRONG!!!!
Showing posts with label ptochos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ptochos. Show all posts
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Grumbling or Gratitude?
A thought popped into my head the other day, amongst the millions of irrelevant or harmful ones that daily course into my brain. I know it was a God thought. I have done a lot of "gritching" lately. (Combo of the word "griping" and the word for a female dog.) I have issues with chronic pain which often puts me into a less than cheerful state. Often times where I live, the weather is gloomy, and it affects me. There have been ongoing trials in my life and I tend to feel sorry for myself. I am ashamed to admit these things because I have the Word of God available to me for access 24/7. No excuse.
The thought was: What if every time I grumbled I would immediately replace it by giving thanks? Paul tells us:
1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
He did not say, in some things did he? Well then, I guess this could include when things don't go my way, like when I repeatedly drop things and have to bend over and get them, even if I hurt. Or if a situation doesn't change, even if I have prayed for years about it. Or if I see chaos everywhere. No, God is sovereign. He knows every detail of my life, and if I love Him (and ONLY if I love Him) He promises to work every apparently "bad" situation in my life for the good. (Romans 8:28) In that I can truly rejoice!!
Sometime thoughts come in and they go out just as quickly. But this one has managed to stay with me for a little while now. It is my prayer that it will not leave me. (That is, the giving of thanks whenever I find myself getting mad, which I admit, is often.)
I was so blessed at church this Sunday, a guest pastor stood in for our regular pastor, both of whom are tremendous teachers of the Word. He mentioned the Beatitudes. When Jesus talked about the poor in spirit being blessed in Matthew 5: 3, He used the word "ptochos." It is from the Strong's Lexicon of the Greek New Testament #4434. It means:
1) reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms
2) destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour
a) lowly, afflicted, destitute of the Christian virtues and eternal riches
b) helpless, powerless to accomplish an end
c) poor, needy
3) lacking in anything
a) as respects their spirit
(I copied and pasted this from the Blue Letter Bible website, a free online Bible study source.)http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm
We have to see ourselves that way. It was the first Beatitude! Blessed are we when we see ourself that way! The Pharisees hated Jesus because they thought they were respectable. When we realize grace is ALL OF GOD and none of us, then we really can thank Him for everything.
Jam 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
That includes our little everyday trials. God wants to reward us in eternity. If we can bless and thank Him instead of grumbling, He will be able to do so. This is just an insight He has shown me. Yesterday I was working around the house pretty hard and everytime something happened that tempted me to get mad, I was reminded to thank Him and it made all the difference. I didn't do it perfectly, not at all, but it did make such a change in my attitude and outlook. It energized me.
Oh Lord, my prayer is that I will not forget this. I am daily bombarded with information overload. Bring this to my remembrance today and everyday, Amen.
The thought was: What if every time I grumbled I would immediately replace it by giving thanks? Paul tells us:
1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
He did not say, in some things did he? Well then, I guess this could include when things don't go my way, like when I repeatedly drop things and have to bend over and get them, even if I hurt. Or if a situation doesn't change, even if I have prayed for years about it. Or if I see chaos everywhere. No, God is sovereign. He knows every detail of my life, and if I love Him (and ONLY if I love Him) He promises to work every apparently "bad" situation in my life for the good. (Romans 8:28) In that I can truly rejoice!!
Sometime thoughts come in and they go out just as quickly. But this one has managed to stay with me for a little while now. It is my prayer that it will not leave me. (That is, the giving of thanks whenever I find myself getting mad, which I admit, is often.)
I was so blessed at church this Sunday, a guest pastor stood in for our regular pastor, both of whom are tremendous teachers of the Word. He mentioned the Beatitudes. When Jesus talked about the poor in spirit being blessed in Matthew 5: 3, He used the word "ptochos." It is from the Strong's Lexicon of the Greek New Testament #4434. It means:
1) reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms
2) destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour
a) lowly, afflicted, destitute of the Christian virtues and eternal riches
b) helpless, powerless to accomplish an end
c) poor, needy
3) lacking in anything
a) as respects their spirit
(I copied and pasted this from the Blue Letter Bible website, a free online Bible study source.)http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm
We have to see ourselves that way. It was the first Beatitude! Blessed are we when we see ourself that way! The Pharisees hated Jesus because they thought they were respectable. When we realize grace is ALL OF GOD and none of us, then we really can thank Him for everything.
Jam 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
That includes our little everyday trials. God wants to reward us in eternity. If we can bless and thank Him instead of grumbling, He will be able to do so. This is just an insight He has shown me. Yesterday I was working around the house pretty hard and everytime something happened that tempted me to get mad, I was reminded to thank Him and it made all the difference. I didn't do it perfectly, not at all, but it did make such a change in my attitude and outlook. It energized me.
Oh Lord, my prayer is that I will not forget this. I am daily bombarded with information overload. Bring this to my remembrance today and everyday, Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)