A cornerstone to living poor in spirit is living with an acknowledgement of our need for God.

We must learn to tap into our weakness and lean on Jesus in all things if we want to experience the blessing of God's grace.

The beauty of God's way is that it will always turn the ways of our world on its head.

To be strong, you must become weak.

To be rich, you must be poor.

To find you must lose.

Welcome to the First of Team Podcast. Our verse for today comes from Isaiah 57 verse 15.

Scripture says, I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and

lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

To be rich in spirit based on our own accomplishments is to bear the weight of our own spiritual

growth. In comparison when we acknowledge our

spiritual poverty before God, thereby contributing all that we do in art to his

limitless grace, the weight of our spirituality is lifted off and placed squarely

on the shoulders of Jesus where it belongs. To be spiritually poor is to be incredibly blessed.

I've spent so much of my Christian life seeking to do good.

I've gone to church, Bible studies, small groups, accountability groups, and have played in worship

bands.

I've gone on mission trips, fed the homeless, served at food pantries, given up sleep, spent nights out to invest in others, and even dedicated

my career to God.

But it seems like with every good work I was doing, I had to continually look to the next.

I couldn't take time to rest or enjoy God because the weight of my righteousness and the

fruit of my life rested solely on my own shoulders.

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