Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Blessed Life - Session 2
What does Jesus mean when He declares, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”? Through a powerful opening story about bringing water and the gospel to a remote Ghanaian village, we discover that spiritual poverty has nothing to do with material circumstances and everything to do with recognized dependence on God.
True spiritual poverty isn’t about physical lack, emotional distress, or natural personality traits. Rather, it’s a divine work of the Holy Spirit that begins at spiritual rebirth and grows as we walk with Christ. Those who are poor in spirit acknowledge their emptiness without God and hold fast to Him through life’s darkest valleys.
The biblical examples paint vivid portraits of spiritual poverty in action. We witness Jacob’s transformation at the Jabbok River, where he emptied himself and emerged with a new identity and walk. We see David in crisis at Ziklag, choosing to seek divine guidance before taking action. We hear Peter’s desperate confession when others abandoned Jesus: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
What makes this teaching so revolutionary is its promise—the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who recognize their need. While crowds remained comfortably at the mountain’s base, only the disciples—those hungry enough to make the climb—heard these transformative words. The kingdom isn’t a distant reality but the present reign of God in surrendered hearts.
Like David’s prayer in Psalm 86, we acknowledge: “Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.” This posture of dependence isn’t weakness but the pathway to experiencing God’s strength. Will you join those climbing the mountain, recognizing your spiritual need and embracing the kingdom that awaits those who know they can’t make it on their own?
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Let us turn our Bible to the book the gospel according to Matthew, chapter 5. Matthew, chapter 5, we read from verse 1 to 3. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain and he sat down. His disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Shall we pray, father. We thank you that your presence is here. We thank you for preserving your word for us. Your word is quick, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Father, we pray that your word will find residence in our heart tonight. Help us to receive your word with understanding. Lord Jesus, we thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to be our helper. Open our eyes, o Lord, that we may behold wondrous things from your word. Bless your name in Jesus' name, amen, amen.
Ebenezer Asiamah:So in the year 2019, I had a privilege of going to some villages in Ghana, and the assignment was very simple. And the assignment was very simple I was supposed to find a village with no church and also a village which lacks clean drinking water. So there was one particular village that we went to somewhere in February of 2019, called Song Song, and so this village, since Jesus said it is finished has never heard a gospel before, there's never been a gospel meeting in the village before, and on top of that, they lacked clean drinking water, and so the people had dug a dam, and when it rains it fills up, but during the dry season there's no clean drinking water and they have to walk miles before they can have access to water. Now, when we went there during the day, we worked with a team. We started drilling for water. As a matter of fact, there have been attempts in previous years to drill for water, but they couldn't find any water. What they do is that the elders in the community come together and they write to the Muslim community and ask them to help them, and they have Arab funds that they use to build a mosque and try to get water. So when we went to the village, there's no electricity, there's no hospital, nothing. But they had a very nice mosque and we saw that they tried to build them some borehole, but they couldn't find any water.
Ebenezer Asiamah:But God being so kind and being so gracious to us, when we started, in the evenings we would meet and we would share the gospel with them and pray for the needs of the people, and during the day we would work on the boho. When we started to drill for water, the first attempt there was a gushing of water in abundance. So the people were so excited and they were so thankful because they've never seen such abundance of water before. By God's grace, in the week that we spent there they were able to get clean drinking water. But the best of it is that they had the living water as well. The gospel had reached them Before then. There were people in the community who had never heard the name of Jesus before, but they heard his name, they got to hear his gospel and they were glad. But I saw something in that community In the evenings where we would share the gospel with them, the people, especially the women, would come with water and they said pray over this water for us, because we believe that if we are sick and we drink it, we will be healed. We saw that they were very desperate and they had turned their desperation to God, and even though they were poor physically. But now I saw that they were getting poor in spirit, and that is what we are going to talk about tonight, what it means to be poor in spirit.
Ebenezer Asiamah:Now, before we delve into it. I just want to establish the fact that number one we're going to talk about what the poor in spirit is not Okay. So I've asked a number of people since I got to know that I'll be speaking on the subject blessed are the poor in spirit. I asked people. So what is the poor in spirit? And I've heard all kinds of explanations. And I was with a friend in downtown. He said well, these are the points in spirit. He pointed at the homeless. I said, oh, okay, but as a matter of fact I've been there and I've tried to witness to a homeless person and the person told me young man, if I'm looking for God, I know where to find God. They don't want to have anything to do with God and so somebody can be poor physically, but they are not poor in spirit. So the first point is the poor in spirit is not about material poverty. One person can be physically poor but may not have any desire for God or need for God. Likewise, a person may be abundantly blessed, but they still have a need for God.
Ebenezer Asiamah:And in the Bible I find Job to be a man who was very blessed by God. The Bible says he was the richest man in all the East. Yet this man had such dependence on God. When he was rich, he depended on God. When he lost everything. He lost all his 10 children in a day and he lost all his resources, all his money, he lost his health, but he was still dependent on God. And when you read Job, chapter 23, verse 12, he said I have not gone back from the commandments of his lips. Behold, I have treasured back from the commandments of his lips. Behold, I have treasured his words more than my necessary food. And so Job was a man who was very desperate for God and he had the spirit of dependence. And that is what the poor in spirit is.
Ebenezer Asiamah:Number two the poor in spirit is not just being sad or depressed. Our feelings or emotional state may not necessarily mean that we are poor in spirit, but if a sad heart turns to God, that can be poor in spirit. When you read Isaiah, chapter 57, verse 15, it says that says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in a high and lofty place, but with him, who is of a contrite heart and a humble spirit, to revive the heart of the humble and to revive the spirit of the contrite ones, and so one can be sad. But in the sad state or depressed state when we tend to God and we recognize that we need God, in that state it can be poor in spirit. But just being sad or depressed doesn't necessarily mean that we are poor in spirit. The third thing that I want to mention is that poor in spirit is not a natural trait. We are not born with it. We don't inherit it from our parents. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14 says that the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God and he cannot know them. They are foolishness unto him. He cannot know them because they are spiritually disincent, and so the poor in spirit is something that the Holy Spirit has to work in us at the new birth. When we believe in Jesus Christ and we receive him as our Lord and our personal Savior and we start to walk with him, that is the beginning of being poor in spirit.
Ebenezer Asiamah:Now, from the scripture, we read it says that Jesus, seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain and he sat down. His disciples came to him. So it wasn't the crowd that came to him on the mountain, it was the disciples, and the message was given on top of the mountain. Sometimes the crowd don't make it to the mountain Because there are so many reasons, so many excuses to give not to go up the mountain. It takes somebody who is desperate for God and who is hungry for God to make that effort to follow the Lord wherever he goes, whether it's on a mountain or in a valley. And so the disciples.
Ebenezer Asiamah:Disciples are followers of Jesus Christ. They are students and learners. They had a relationship with Jesus. They followed him up on the mountain and the first thing that Jesus, when he looked at the disciples, said to them is blessed are the poor in spirit, for this is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who are dependent on God, those who recognize their need for God. As a matter of fact, when I read it in my local dialect English is not my first language when I read it in my local dialect, it says blessed are those who know they need God. I'm like, really. So that is what it means. It's talking about the spirit of dependence and recognizing that we need God.
Ebenezer Asiamah:I want to point some things out. Number one what the poor in spirit is. I've already said it that the poor in spirit are the children of God. They are disciples of God. They've been born again, their spirit is regenerated and they have a relationship with the Lord. Romans, chapter 8, verse 15 to 16, says for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba, father. It says the Spirit himself bears witness, with our spirit, that we are children of God, and so it is a work that was started by the Holy Spirit at the new birth, and when we come into relationship with Jesus Christ, we become children of God, and as children are dependent on their parents, we begin to cultivate that heart of dependence on God, recognizing that we need him, and it's either God comes through or we don't have any hope, like the people in the village that I talked about. There are no hospitals, no school, no electricity, nothing, and so they know that it's either God answers them or they are dead, and so they channel all their attention and all their desire on God. Number two the poor in spirit recognize that they are empty without God. Poor in spirit recognize that they are empty without God. Have you ever felt that without God, you are empty?
Ebenezer Asiamah:I want to share a story with you about a man I love so much called Jacob. Jacob did everything in his own strength and in his own wisdom, but he could not get ahead. He used deception and everything, he lied to his dad and took the blessing. But he came to a point in his life where he recognized that without God he has come to the end of his life. And that was a time where God told him to go back and face Esau. I remember Esau had made a covenant that he was going to kill him and he was so afraid. Jacob was afraid and he came to a point he let all his possessions go. He let his wives and everybody his children go and he was left alone. And there was a river called Jabbok, and I looked at the meaning of that river and it means emptying.
Ebenezer Asiamah:So Jacob came to a place where he had to empty himself and that was when the angel of the Lord encountered him and he wrestled with him and he said unless you bless me, I will not let you go. And I thought his father, isaac, had already blessed him. So what other blessing is he hungry for? What other blessing is he asking for? He was asking for the true blessing. The angel said what is your name? He said I'm Jacob. He said well, you shall no longer be called Jacob. You are now Israel. A praise with God, because you have wrestled with God, you've wrestled with man and you have prevailed. And from that day, his life was never the same. From that day, he never walked the same way. The way he walked changed because the angel touched his body and he changed his ways. And when Esau met him, he said no, I'm not seeing Jacob. This is not how Jacob walks. This is a new person. This is a new, completely changed man. Even his walk shows this is not Jacob. I cannot kill him. And we all know the story. They reconciled. So Jacob recognized that he is empty without God. Have we ever felt empty without God? Unless God comes in, we are dead.
Ebenezer Asiamah:I remember when I was in Ghana and I really desired to be with my family, to be with my wife and see my son for the first time, I was in a moment of desperation. There was no visa to come to America. It's not easy to get to America. It's a battle. It's a battle and there was no way. And my son is growing. People are asking me when are you going to see your son, when is your wife coming? And my wife was also going through the same thing. People were asking her when is your husband coming? When are you going to Africa? It was overwhelming and I recognized that unless God intervenes, I'm stuck.
Ebenezer Asiamah:And one morning I was just there in prayer waiting on God and a friend of mine, a very good friend of mine. He called me. He said you know what? I'm going to Ghana, I'm going to the US. I said, wow, you are going and I'll be with Mark. I'm like, wow, so you get to see my son. That's great, that's great, that's great. As soon as we finished talking, I said God, I'm happy for my friend that he's going to the States and he'll get to see my son, but please, do it for me also. And I just was praying and asking God, please, please, do it for me. By the grace of God, when my friend came to the States, I was already here and it was a miracle that only God could do.
Ebenezer Asiamah:Another person that I see was poor in spirit was David. I love David so much. I named my son David, and David returned to Ziglag and he recognized that wives gone, children gone, the whole village was burned and he was in great distress. His men were in distress too and they spoke about stoning him. And in the midst of that difficult moment, what did David do? The Bible says that David encouraged himself in the Lord, his God. He got his strength back in the Lord. When all odds were against him, when his own friends were conspiring to get rid of him, he turned to God and he got a strength in the Lord and he said God, shall I pursue them? Yeah, of course your family is gone. Yes, but why is he asking? Because he knew that until he depend on God though, he may pursue, but it will come to nothing without God. So he spent time and quieted himself in the presence of God and asked him Lord, should I pursue them and will you deliver them into my hands? God said pursue, and you shall surely overtake and, without fail, recover all. And when he got that word from the Lord, he took the step. And we all know the story. God helped him to recover.
Ebenezer Asiamah:All the poor in spirit are those who need help from God. They go. I need your help. David said I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear it and be glad. He said O magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. He said I sought the Lord and he heard me, and he delivered me from all my fears. He said I sought the Lord and he heard me, and he delivered me from all my fears. He said those who seek him, those who look to him, will always be radiant. Their faces will not be ashamed. Then he said this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and delivered him from all his troubles. The poor in spirit are those who cry unto God. This poor man cried. The Lord heard him. Psalm 34, verse 5. Another thing I saw is that the poor in spirit hold fast to God and shows great trust in God. I've already shared about Jacob. I've shared about David and Job.
Ebenezer Asiamah:I want to talk about Peter for a little bit. He was among the disciples who made it to the mountain and he was poor in spirit. There was a time in Jesus' life where everybody left him. Everybody was leaving, and this was after a great miracle where they had been fed with bread and they wanted to make Jesus king. And Jesus spoke about unless you partake in my body and in my blood. You have no part in me. People were like no, are we cannibals? No way, no way. So everybody started departing from Jesus and Jesus turned to his disciples and said will you also go? Then Peter spoke. He said to whom shall we go? You have the words of life. We have believed that you are the Holy One of God. Such is the words of a man who is poor in spirit, peter. All that he went through his ups and downs, he still held fast to God.
Ebenezer Asiamah:Now let's look at the promise. He says this is the kingdom of heaven. What is the kingdom of heaven? And I love this church so much. We are so blessed with wonderful teachers that I get so comfortable sitting and just receiving. It's so rich the teachings that we receive here. You know, last Sunday we got to know that the kingdom of heaven is the reign of God and that is what God desires for all of us that he reigns in our heart and in our minds. So the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, is a realm where the throne of God is and where he reigns and rules as king. It is a place where his will is done. The poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of heaven Us. We are inheritance for being dependent on the Lord. We have a kingdom. It's already started in our heart, but the full manifestation will come one day, when we see his face. We shall be like him. It will be the consummation of the kingdom of God, where God will reign completely in our heart and in our lives and his will will be done in absolute perfection. That is what we look forward to as citizens of heaven. Love the scripture. That says our citizenship is in heaven, where we eagerly await a savior from the Lord, jesus Christ, the man. Jesus Christ. That is where we are going and that is where we are destined for as children of God.
Ebenezer Asiamah:I want to close with a psalm, psalm 86. It's a psalm of David and I want to pray that prayer over us even as we move to our group discussion. It's a very beautiful psalm, so just join me in prayer as we pray Psalm 86. Thank you, lord. Hear me, lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you. Save yourself and who trusts in you.
Ebenezer Asiamah:You are my God. Have mercy on me, lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, lord, for I put my trust in you. You, lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call on you. Hear my prayer, lord. Listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you because you answer me. Among the gods, there is none like you, lord. No deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, lord. They will bring glory to your name, for you are great and do marvelous deeds.
Ebenezer Asiamah:You alone are God. Teach me your way, lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness. Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name. I will praise you, lord, my God, with my heart. I will glorify your name forever, for great is your love toward me. You have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead. Arrogant foes are attacking me, o God, ruthless people are trying to kill me. They have no regard for you, but you, lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me. Show your strength in behalf of your servant. Save me, because I serve you, you, just as my mother did. Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, lord, have helped me and comforted me. We bless your name, lord. We give you praise In Jesus' name, amen.
