When we are born the first time, we became a living soul-we were born a human being.
We are born self centered, one of the first words we learn is no, we are born dishonest, covetous, and so forth. By nature we do these things and develop a conscious to dead works, trying to please God through self effort.
Every human being has a religious nature-they have certain beliefs about God-some believe that he doesn’t exist and make a religion out of it. This is a human faith, a part of our soul-life. Just because we believe in God does not mean that our spirit is alive to Him.
As we were growing up we thought of different things that we wanted to be when we grew up. When we are young we have many goals, dreams and desires. We desire to have a family, a good career, a nice home and car. To do the will of God is a struggle; because we are too busy trying to live our life.
As the word of God is planted in our heart, as it grows to maturity, it produces the divine nature, the God kind of faith and His other attributes and there is surrender to His leading. We begin to have only one desire-the will of our heavenly father.
In learning how to walk with God the most important quality to have is a broken spirit. The will of God is first of all a state of heart-a certain type of spirit.
A broken spirit is a repentant spirit, a humble spirit, a spirit that has no confidence in self, but is in total dependence upon the lord, it experiences the fear of God in it and trembles at his word, it is a divine quality and not the brokenness many experience who do not know the lord. That is a different type of brokenness that the lord heals us of.
Psalm 51: 16 For you do not desire sacrifice (animal sacrifice), or else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering (whole burnt offering-animal).17 The sacrifices (sacrifices of righteousness, the kind of sacrifice that the offering partakes of) of God are a broken spirit,( breaking, to shatter, to bring to the moment of birth) a broken (to break)and contrite heart O God, You will not despise( to treat with proper respect).
Isa 66:2 But on this one will I look :( to watch, to regard. It has the sense of looking somewhat intensely in a focused way at something. It is used as the keen observations of an eagle from a great distance. It is the Lords gazing on the earth from his habitation). On him who is poor and of a contrite (It is a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit-his word piercing the heart) spirit, And who trembles at My word.
The dealings of God are designed to bring about that which is in the sight of God is of greatest value. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, only God knows the evil that we are capable of, If His Spirit is not in control of our heart.
And through the circumstances of life, pressure builds and the self-nature is manifested, and we do what we didn’t realize we were capable of. And the Spirit of God reveals what was in our heart; this is the beginning of a walk with God.
We have to be broken of all confidence of the flesh, so that we are totally dependent upon God, or we are going to move in ourselves and not the Holy Spirit.
Math5: 3 blessed (Blessed one, possessing the favor of God, It indicates the state of the believer in Christ. That state of being filled with God) are the poor in spirit (utter helplessness, complete destitution. The poor in spirit are those who recognize their spiritual helplessness) for (for this reason, because) theirs is (to come into existence, occurring right now.) the kingdom (the kingdom is where the Spirit of the Lord is-2cor 3:17) of heaven. 4 blessed (indwelt by the spirit) are they that mourn (godly sorrow); for they shall be comforted. (Two words 1-by the side. 2-to call. The ministry of the Holy Spirit coming to our aid, to relieve, to help, encourages, making glad).
When we are born again we have two natures, the divine nature and the self nature. When our spirit was quickened through the life of God, it has the capacity to be poor in spirit, but this does not happen until in our soul we begin to understand how dark it is. Our soul is our individual life that is separated from God, until our soul comes into submission to our new born spirit, it will act in opposition to the will of God. But through the manifestations of the self life, we begin to see what is in it through the life of God in our spirit.
When our spirit was quickened, we have a yes in our spirit, to the will of God. Our soul immediately comes into contact with Gods life, but we do not realize that it has to be transformed, until the Spirit of God shows us how deceitful and wicked our soul is, and this is when we begin to mourn. We begin to see that we are worthy of death. It is human nature to think that we are a good person, but now we see the truth. Our soul has to be restored to the image of God.
We begin to see our inability to do the will of God, because of the unrenewed mind. We begin to see the part self had to play in our problems. Through self-will we have placed ourselves in a position to be hurt, and hurt others. And our spirit begins to mourn, and we begin to become broken in spirit. Our spirit weeps because of the darkness in our soul.
No longer do we mourn for the bad things that have happened to us, but we mourn because we have fallen short of God’s glory-the Spirit of God shows us how in and of ourselves there is no good in us. We see our whole life flash before us, we no longer trust in ourselves. Only then can we work out our soul-salvation with fear and trembling.
To this one will I look-the one who has a broken and contrite spirit before me.-Isaiah 66: 2
Once our spirit becomes broken we can sense the nearness of God, in our brokenness there is also a comfort and the help of the Holy Spirit. It is when we become poor in spirit, that we can draw the strength of the Lord.
When our spirit becomes truly broken, we can then begin to maintain this brokenness in our walk with God.
The greater part of repentance is that continual brokenness that continually looks to the Lord for His Strength.
The Lord dwells with those who are of a contrite spirit; this is a spirit totally dependent upon the Lord.
Our soul has a built in ego or pride in it, God resists the proud. It is not until we become poor in spirit that God can begin to visit and dwell in our soul.
John 12: 25He that loveth (to love, to approve of, to like, sanction, to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome, befriend) his (himself, herself, themselves) life( the soul, the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions )shall lose( to put out of the way entirely, put an end to, ruin, render useless, to kill, to declare that one must be put to death, to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed) it; and he that hateth his life in( intimate union with) this world( the present course or order of things) shall keep( to guard, watch, keep) it unto (motion into) life eternal.
When our spirit is made alive with God’s eternal life, his divine nature which is love, we become poor in spirit and mourn for what is still left of the old nature in our soul that is not in conformity to His nature. Hating our soul in not hating our spirit that God has joined Himself to, our spirit mourns because of that which remains in our heart, in our soul-life that has not yet been transformed into His image. It is only as we begin to offer our body a living sacrifice, through the faith and love that God imparts, is God’s Spirit able to transform our soul.
To lose or hate our soul, is to desire to be cleansed of all unrighteousness, that our soul might be renewed in the life of God, that it would be restored and have eternal life or God’s spirit also abiding in it.
As our spirit begins to develop in God we begin to hate the things that we see in our soul and other’s that war against God. Our growth in God is from being self-centered into being God-centered, where we become self-less and Christ becomes all in all.
We are called to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. We are not called to love our self-life .It is in the losing of our life that we find it. Our focus is not to be on ourselves, but God and then others.
There are two wisdoms-God’s and the world’s (human race). God’s wisdom comes by revelation, so that the human mind thinks it is foolishness. It is not the will of God that we love ourselves, and this sounds like foolishness, until the Lord reveals to us that self-is the root of the problem. It is as we learn how to deny ourselves, by learning how to put God first in everything, and then to concern ourselves with seeing all our neighbor’s needs are met, that we find our life.
Divine love is not focused on self, but God and then serving other’s on God’s terms, which may mean our not doing what they want but what we believe God wants us to do for them. It is in the giving of love that we receive love back. It is in the laying down of our lives for others, that we begin to experience the love of God.
It is as we see the condition of the human heart-our soul life, we begin to realize that we have been forgiven much, and we love all the more in return. It is in the breaking of our spirit, that we realize that we are not receiving what we deserve, but are receiving mercy.
As we begin to walk the path God requires of us it breaks us, a little more of us die’s and a little more of him comes alive in us. All the victories in us are wrought by the Lord, salvation is the work of His Spirit, and we just become a little more willing to be willing, as we learn how to expose ourselves to his Spirit. He gives us the desire and then the power as we learn how to yield to his Spirit. There is nothing that we can really glory in concerning ourselves; our glory is in the blessing that comes from His indwelling us.
It is in our brokenness, that we desire that everything in us that would respond to this world be crucified, and we begin to walk with the Lord with a broken and contrite heart.
The only sacrifice that God is looking for is the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, a broken spirit that worships the Lord. The whole of our desires begin to change, the only thing we desire is to be close to the Lord. We begin to realize that it is the cares of this life, which choke the atmosphere of His presence. It is the desire for other things other than the Lord, which distract us from the broken spirit that is near the Lord.
We begin to really appreciate the Lord, when He causes our spirit to be broken; this is when we begin to see beyond ourselves.
What God desires, what He is looking for is how our spirit relates to Him. This brokenness is not just seeing how we have fallen short of His glory, but it is the beginning of partaking of His glory. There is no greater joy than having a broken spirit before the Lord, because we can feel His love. This is the opposite of the guilt and shame that our soul feels in its separation from God. Our soul experiences the beauty of our new born spirit as it sees the darkness that is in our soul. This is the beginning of the fear of the Lord, the beginning of experiencing His mind-To fear the Lord is to shun anything in us that is not like Him. We are not scared of God because His Spirit is upon us, we fear acting in independence of His Spirit. We are asking God to cleanse us of the unrighteousness and potential of evil that could enter our heart, if our spirit is not in intimate contact with Him.
If we are going to learn how to walk before the Lord we must have a spirit that pleases him.
It is in the breaking of our spirit, it is in the humbling of our heart, that the Lord is glorified. Then He looks upon us and blesses us.
We do not really learn how to walk in submission to God’s spirit until there is a brokenness in our spirit before the Lord. The mechanical obedience is not enough; it goes much deeper, until out of our spirit the Holy Spirit begins to move and what we walk in become living works, as the divine nature comes forth in the things that we say and do and the Lord is glorified in it.
The most important ingredient of spirit in a walk with God is a broken spirit, it is as we maintain a broken spirit before the Lord that we are able to work out our soul salvation with fear and trembling, by allowing the Spirit to work in us to desire and do of His good pleasure.
We begin to learn the most in the contriteness of our spirit, because we are looking to the Lord for his perfect will, instead of just living our lives unto self. We enter into the sufferings of the Lord, until His will is not only accomplished in us but in others.In a walk with God natural ability is a hindrance, because we glory in it, instead of glorying in the work of the cross in our lives. Laying our hand upon the ark to settle it is suicidal. We try to help God, and hinder His work. But when we are broken before Him, his love comes through our spirit. We are powerless in ourselves to help others attain spirituality, God must open their eyes and His Spirit must do the work.
The mountains will be moved, when His word crushes our spirit, so that only He can come forth. We have to fall upon the rock and be broken, for if it falls on us it will grind us to powder-luke 20:18
We will walk in a phony humility until someone, crosses us and then we will see what comes out, only those with a broken spirit turn the other cheek. We do not react, we are dead to self. Without a broken spirit our soul or ego is still there, when confronted we will fight back or our pride will be so wounded-that self will be hurt, we will enter into self pity.
It is in our absolute submission to the will of God that God will begin to break our spirit and search our heart. We will begin to submit to what God wants to do in our lives. Only the Spirit of God can produce a broken spirit, as we begin to be totally yielded to His Spirit.
The greatest thing that God can do in our lives, is when we can never stand in His presence without weeping, they are the greatest tears of joy we can experience, because we know our spirit is close to the Lord.
It is in the dying to self that we truly begin to live. To be poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom. When we are poor in spirit, then it doesn’t matter whether we are rich in the earth or poor as far as material possessions are concerned, with food and shelter we are content.
We will be facing difficult days ahead as the judgments of God are released through His people once God has perfected their spirits. The pride and arrogance of the poor of this world can be worse than the pride of the rich, because they think the world or the government owes them. They constantly feel that something is owed to them.
It is as our spirit is broken before the Lord, that we realize that we were worthy of death, that Jesus took our place and gave us His Spirit so that we would be worthy through partaking of His Glory to inherit His Kingdom.
It is when we are poor in spirit, that we are rich towards God-we can always sense his presence, and there is no murmuring or complaining in our heart, because we know we are blessed. The things of this world no longer matter, because we are already living in eternity. It is a broken spirit before the Lord that is of great price.
The greatest prophet of Judgment in the Old Testament was Jeremiah-He was called the weeping prophet. God is not willing that any should perish and neither are we. It is with tears in our eyes that we will speak the Word of God which shall judge the nations.
God’s judgment is already at this time in motion and must be spoken from a broken spirit. It is not a vindictive, revengeful judgment that God is bringing to the earth- judgment comes upon those who have no room for God in their heart, they cannot love because they have never received God’s love.
God loves us so much that he died in our place, that we might receive the fullness of his Spirit, but there is no room for His fullness until self is dead. I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who Live.
Our perfection comes by going through the fire; there is no safer place to be, than in the foxhole of humility-the place of brokenness of spirit. It is there that fiery darts of the enemy cannot hit our heart, but they fly over our head.
When we break our spirits and humble our spirits before the Lord, we enter into a place of protection, so that when the battle comes we survive it.
It is when we humble ourselves under his Mighty hand, through becoming broken in Spirit that in due time he shall lift us up into the heavenly places in Christ, where we become the whole burnt offering and to die is gain. The Lord shall lift us up to be kings and priest to inherit his kingdom and rule over the natural creation.