How To Experience The Kingdom Of Heaven

by | Jan 25, 2021 | Beatitudes, Sermon On The Mount | 2,105 comments

Do you want to experience God’s blessings in your life? 

I do! I absolutely do! I want to experience EVERY BLESSING God has available to me. Living a mediocre life, far beneath the spiritual privileges afforded to me as a Christian is not appealing to me. 

Because God’s people perish for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6), I decided to seek wisdom from the Master Teacher, Jesus, to learn how to receive God’s blessings.

In Matthew 5, 6, 7, Jesus shared divine wisdom (called the Sermon on the Mount) that you and I need to grasp not only to strive, but also to thrive. He began with eight “beatitudes” which are declarations of blessedness.  

As we study the beatitudes, we must immediately recognize that Jesus is not referring to things (cars, clothes, and houses). He means the deeper, spiritual blessings that money cannot buy, like a stabilizing inner joy and being fully satisfied in one’s soul regardless of circumstances.

The first blessing Jesus named in his Sermon on the Mount was the kingdom of heaven. Christians can continually experience the kingdom of heaven in their lives. 

I like that. I want to experience the kingdom of heaven in my life every day, in every way. How about you? Do you want to experience the kingdom of heaven also? But how do we do that?

Jesus said we must be “poor in spirit” to experience the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 5:3). Some Christians will have a difficult time experiencing the kingdom of heaven because the prerequisite is being totally dependent on God. Following are several examples of the prerequisites: 

  • Poor in spirt – those who are insufficiency apart from him [Jesus]. As long as you think you are rich in spirit, you’ll actually be independent and proud” – Tony Evans.
  • Poor in spirit – those who are like the tax collector in the temple who had money, but realized he was spiritually bankrupt, cried out to Jesus for mercy, and cast himself on God’s grace. In The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus taught “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14b).
  • Poor in spirit – those who admit they are not good at being the supervisor of their lives, the captain of their souls, or even the manager of their day. (Haire)

Many years ago, after ministering on the sovereignty of God, I gave all participants a poster that read, God is the Boss of Me. The kingdom of heaven is that sweet spot where God is the boss of you. 

If we admit it was Jesus who paid the cost for our sin-sick souls (and not we ourselves) and accept Him as our Savior, we position ourselves for kingdom living (Romans 10:9-10, 13). This is being “poor in spirit.” 

 If we come clean with ourselves and admit that we cannot flourish without Jesus, we will thrive (John 15:1-5). This is being “poor in spirit.”

 If we want to experience the kingdom of heaven, we must humble ourselves, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift us up in due time (1 Peter 5:6). This is being “poor in spirit.”

 If we want to experience the kingdom of heaven, we must trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and do not lean on our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight our paths (Proverbs 3:6). This is being “poor in spirit.”

 If we bow before the Triune God in total submission, He will lift us up and plant our spiritual feet firmly in the kingdom of heaven, the place of serene, untouchable, abundant joy of the Lord. We will be happy and to be envied, no matter what is going on in our lives. This is being “poor in spirit.”

 Jesus described this state of blessedness like this:

 “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever] (Matthew 5:3, Amplified Bible).

 What are your thoughts on the kingdom of heaven? Are you willing to declare that you are not the boss of you, that you are “poor in spirit,” and submit yourself to God’s “heavenly rule in your earthly life” (Evans)? If you do, you will experience the blessedness that abides in the kingdom of heaven.

 Join the conversation.

Dr. Dorothy J. Haire

Dr. Dorothy J. Haire

Author & Blogger

Both church planter and pastor of Bread of Life Christian Church for the last 18 years, Dr. Haire is a beloved mother and successful author. Empowered to deliver the word of God to His people, Dr. Haire uses her digital platform to educate and develop Christian communities that are rooted in the word of Christ.

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