It's Where The Blessings Are

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. [Matthew 5.3-10]

This passage is what "seeking God first" looks like. It's where the blessings are.

While I understand the "boldness" that many embrace in the faith movement, I don't really see Jesus teaching anything of that sort (even though He was indeed bold at times). Especially as Jesus neared the Cross, He increasingly became more humble - even to the point of defenseless silence. In this way, Jesus was bold beyond comparison.

There is something about true authority that doesn't need to defend itself. True authority indeed does the work, but selflessly and without fanfare. This is gist of the Beatitudes seen above.

It must be understood that hungering and thirsting for authority and power is much different than hungering and thirsting for the One Who gives authority and power. Much, much different. The former yields an earthly kingdom (pride) and the latter yields a heavenly Kingdom (justice) - the Kingdom of God.

There are spirits attached to both ways described in the previous paragraph: one is the satisfying Spirit of God and the other is the discontented spirit of antichrist. This discontented spirit of antichrist is like the leech described in the Proverbs:

The leech has two suckers that cry out, “More, more!” [Proverbs 30.15a]

Jesus' teaching of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5.3-10) can be understood further in the simple but understandable terms Jesus gave in Matthew 16:

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. [Matthew 16.25]

And yet, all through the Gospels, Jesus indeed encourages faith but never at the expense of humility.

Perhaps then faith is not about what you get as much as about what you give. If our intent to give is the Spirit of God - the Spirit of Christ, then our intent to get must be the opposite spirit - the antithesis - the spirit of antichrist. We identify our "father" by the things we do (the tree is identified by its fruit)... the things we give. Jesus identified His loving, gracious Father by selfless death on the Cross. Jesus encourages no less from His followers:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9.23]

So "boldness" in coming to God probably doesn't actually look like what most "faith" teachings try to convince us it looks like. 

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. [Hebrews 4.16]

"Boldness" before God is indeed a brazen act - but it is the brazen act of laying our lives at God's feet on behalf of others as He wills - just like Jesus demonstrated - obtaining mercy and grace to help us when we need it most. Can we see this need for mercy and grace as for others? Remember, the priests didn't come to God for themselves, but on behalf of others. Look at the next two verses following Luke 9.23:

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? [Luke 9.24-25]

God blesses those who are poor, those who mourn, those who are humble, those who hunger and thirst for justice, those who are merciful, those whose hearts are pure, those who work for peace, and those who are consequently persecuted for doing right.

When the Church hypes faith with the goal of self-gratification, the result is disastrous. But, when the Church actually seeks God first, it looks just like Jesus healing the sick, feeding thousands, and laying down His life for the good of others. Hmm.

Father, I have been so self-centered in my "faith." Today I have a clearer understanding that genuine faith is selfless in every way. I understand that genuine faith is poor, it mourns, it is humble, it hungers and thirsts for justice, is merciful, is pure, works for peace, and is persecuted for doing so... just like Jesus. Forgive me for my self-centeredness.