It's Dark-thirty!

Linda and Sylvia, cousins to my sister Vickie and me, helped pour the strawberry Kool-Aid into the NEHI bottles. Too poor to buy a real NEHI we washed the used bottles, touched up our ruby red lipstick and pretended to head on over to the Grand Ole Opry. The dirt path called Baxley Road was our familiar get away that evening. What a motley crew we were. Poor as church yard mice, we had no worries in the world. It was Saturday night and none of us had a date mainly because our Dads would have shot the boys before they had the opportunity to open a truck door and invite us for a ride.  We laughed and giggled so hard for so long we didn’t realize that dark-thirty had rested at our feet.  Some quick decisions had to be made in order for us to get home before our parents missed us.  Linda and Sylvia had the longest run and could probably make it through the cow pasture without too much trouble if the bulls didn’t get after them. Vickie and I were living with Grandma at the time and Daddy would still be working at the saw mill.  I grabbed Vickie’s hand and took off uphill pushing my bare feet in the sand while Linda and Sylvia made a quick jump over the barbed wire fence, and hauled it across the field. I could hear Sylvia squealing hoping to scare the big bull to run the other direction. It didn’t work! Matter of fact, he dipped his head down and took off after Linda.  They darted back and forth and finally made it to the other side. We yelled across the field to let each other know we were safe.

The simplicities of country living with a little spiced up truth!

I am so glad God allowed me to grow up poor but happy, broken hearted but rejoicing, and with Grandparents who loved the big black King James Bible!

May I just take a minute and have a shouting fit?  God is so good, people, or have you even spoken to Him today? Please take your minute, bow your head and tell Him how much you love Him. He needs to hear from you, right now or have you just been too busy with everything else to give Him His due time this morning?  Dark-thirty will be resting at your feet before you can turn around. There won’t be time to get ready when the trumpet sounds!

Mt 5:3 ¶ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jas 2:5-7 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

As a teen-ager Matthew 5:3 had many meanings to me but I believe I related very well to that verse. The Words were a great comfort giving me hope for the future into eternity. But at the same time, I appreciated having to make do sometimes, working with the family to be a part of seeing the finished product of a day’s labor. If you and I didn’t have to work day in and day out, there is no reward folks. The reward would be to the one working for us, doing all the labor or does that make sense?

“Happy” should be our countenance as we labor “poor in the spirit” looking forward to that huge, beautiful mansion God is preparing for us. Our homes with its furniture and glory should never take precedence over our heavenly home and its furnishings. I’m not a Bible scholar and I know that Matthew 5:3 doesn’t necessarily mean poor in the sense of without “things” but because I grew up poor, I can understand more about having needs and so can many of you reading this blog. If you have never suffered “poor in the spirit” then it will be more difficult to relish the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes when we have it too easy as a Christian, our earthly home makes a claim on us that keep us from looking up; looking forward to that trumpet sound of Jesus coming back.

If you take the Beatitudes and study each one, you might see that poor people have a better chance of understanding, spiritually, just what Jesus was teaching His disciples. Look for yourself, see through the poor person's eyes, and think with me from the earthly point of view, not necessarily from the spiritual point of view and please know that I am not writing my own commentary! I have NOTHING to add to the great ones. I just believe that poor people have a better chance of understanding the spiritual application of Matthew 5 rather than the rich.

1.         Do poor people perhaps have more to mourn over?

2.         Do you know many meek rich people?

3.         Poor people know how to share their crops and cattle, what little they have, wouldn’t you agree?

4.         A family with many children learns to share and to have mercy on their younger siblings.

5.         Poor people are, for the most part, more sincere.

6.         Peacemakers? Oh me…..we had to constantly make peace to have peace with so many family in and out of the home.

7.         Blamed, persecuted for doing right? Absolutely!

8.         Reviling? Lied about and made fun of?

  

This is not a Bible lesson…..just some thoughts to add to your busy day. Go get happy in the Lord and be thankful if you are poor in the spirit, or are mourning, are meek, hungering for righteousness, are merciful, pure in heart, are peacemakers, persecuted for Jesus’ sake, and reviled with the evil tongue of those who have no clue just how really blessed you are. Smile! :)

Until next time, Lord Willing!

Sharon