Day 31

The Christian life is not so much about Christ changing us, as replacing us. 

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’ (Matthew 5:3-4) 

When we mourn our poverty of spirit and the corruptness of our own hearts, it is then that the Holy Spirit begins to express the rich life of Christ within us. Those who mourn are comforted by the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit. The measure of our mourning (repentance) will mark the measure of our comfort (the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives). The measure to which we have given up on our old natural self is the measure to which the Holy Spirit is free to live the life of Christ in us. 

God exposes our poverty of spirit and brings us to a place of mourning our poverty, not to humiliate us, but to replace our poverty with the richness of Jesus Christ, to replace our weakness with the strength of Jesus Christ; to replace our sin with the righteousness of Jesus Christ and to replace our defeat with the victory of Jesus Christ. This is very comforting! Our comfort lies in the fact that we have a substitute life, the Holy Spirit, replacing our poverty of spirit with all the riches of Christ. This becomes the basis of everything else in the Christian life. 

Lord, I submit my life to you today. In my brokenness and poverty of spirit, have Your way in me.