Matthew 5:3, the good life belongs to the impoverished in spirit, the Hebrew word for spirit is “ruach,“ poor in relation to their ruach. Ruach, refers in it’s essence to invisible energy. It can be impersonal energy like wind or it can be the presence of someone’s personal life energy. It’s humanity’s ruach, in that it’s the energy and the vitality that we are animated with, but it comes ultimately from God. One of the standard ways to talk about human life energy is to talk about their ruach, but because it comes from God, ultimately it can be called the breath of God.
Another standard way we can talk about ruach is a person’s vibe, what makes them go. That basic meaning of ruach then can become the basis for a particular kind of Hebrew phrase where we describe someone as ex of spirit or ex in their spirit to describe it’s quality of the life energy. Job 7:11, he says the distress of my ruach, he talking about his suffering and the word distress means squeezed, the squeezeness of my spirit, like his life vitality is in a vice. What Jesus is saying, those who are impoverished of spirit, lack of resources, when our life energy doesn’t have fuel, lacking ability. Ruach is what makes us get up and go, but powerless without power, we lack the energy to do what needs to be done, if ruach is our energy and ability. The word poor is people without economic social stability and resources, but metaphorically then, our life energy is also lacking resources, impoverished in our ability to get things done in the world structure and have influence.
Jame 1:6-8, we shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord, because we’re double-minded, unstable in all our ways. Many believers live double-minded lives. They say they trust God, but they also trust their anxiety, they say they believe his promises, but they also believe their fears and when those two clash, fear usually wins, this is why surrender matters so much. Surrender isn’t passive, it doesn’t mean we stop caring or stop acting, it means we choose to act in obedience, even when our emotions scream the opposite. We take God at his word before we see the outcome, that’s where real faith lives, when we truly surrender, we stop needing constant reassurance. We stop demanding immediate results, we trust that God will keep his word, even if we haven’t seen it yet and that makes sense, because we live in time, but God doesn’t, he sees the beginning and the end all at once.
Jesus addressed this exact issue when he spoke to his disciples during the storm, Matthew 8:26, Jesus didn’t say, why are you in a storm? Storms are part of life, he addressed their fear, not the circumstances. Little faith isn’t about how big the problem is, it’s about how small God becomes in our thinking. Unbelief doesn’t always look like denial, sometimes it looks like agreement without trust. The same faith we need to believe that God will provide for our daily needs is the faith we need to overcome sin, temptation and destructive habits, it’s not two different systems, it’s the same surrender. If we don’t believe God can help us with everyday life, we won’t believe he can help us change our heart, many people don’t take their faith seriously enough, because God is not first in their lives, they haven’t surrendered to his Lordship.
Many people sit on the throne of their own hearts and then wonder why everything feels unstable, scripture is clear about the condition attached to God’s promises, Matthew 6:33, Jesus doesn’t say seek God when it’s convenient, it says first seek, first, that word matters, because when God isn’t first, life becomes a constant struggle. We fight temptation without power, we face fear without peace, we deal with uncertainty without assurance, living this way creates a life of instability. We never feel secure, we’re always bracing for the next problem, but that’s not how God designed faith to function, faith was meant to anchor us and when God isn’t first, faith becomes weak by default.
Matthew 6:33, that promise is powerful, but it comes with a condition, first, seek the Kingdom of God. The problem is that many people want the promise, they want peace without surrender, provision without obedience, freedom without discipline and when those things don’t happen, they blame God, the church or their circumstances without ever questioning whether God truly holds first place in their lives. When God isn’t first, faith becomes fragile, we may believe in God, but we don’t rely on him, we pray, but we still carry anxiety, we read scripture, but we don’t let it change how we make decisions and as a result, life feels like a constant uphill battle. This is why so many believers struggle to overcome sin, lust and temptation, it’s not because God hasn’t given enough power, it’s because we haven’t fully surrendered to his Lordship, we want God’s help without God’s authority.
We want God involved, but only on our terms, we want him to bless our plans instead of reshaping them and every time it leads to frustration and spiritual stagnation. Living this way creates a life of uncertainty, we never feel grounded, we’re always reacting instead of responding, every challenge feels overwhelming, because our foundation isn’t secure, faith without obedience doesn’t produce results. James chapter 1, the person who doubts, who lives double-minded should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, that doesn’t mean God is cruel, it means faith requires alignment, we can’t say God is first, while consistently choosing everything else over him.
Another standard way we can talk about ruach is a person’s vibe, what makes them go. That basic meaning of ruach then can become the basis for a particular kind of Hebrew phrase where we describe someone as ex of spirit or ex in their spirit to describe it’s quality of the life energy. Job 7:11, he says the distress of my ruach, he talking about his suffering and the word distress means squeezed, the squeezeness of my spirit, like his life vitality is in a vice. What Jesus is saying, those who are impoverished of spirit, lack of resources, when our life energy doesn’t have fuel, lacking ability. Ruach is what makes us get up and go, but powerless without power, we lack the energy to do what needs to be done, if ruach is our energy and ability. The word poor is people without economic social stability and resources, but metaphorically then, our life energy is also lacking resources, impoverished in our ability to get things done in the world structure and have influence.
Jame 1:6-8, we shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord, because we’re double-minded, unstable in all our ways. Many believers live double-minded lives. They say they trust God, but they also trust their anxiety, they say they believe his promises, but they also believe their fears and when those two clash, fear usually wins, this is why surrender matters so much. Surrender isn’t passive, it doesn’t mean we stop caring or stop acting, it means we choose to act in obedience, even when our emotions scream the opposite. We take God at his word before we see the outcome, that’s where real faith lives, when we truly surrender, we stop needing constant reassurance. We stop demanding immediate results, we trust that God will keep his word, even if we haven’t seen it yet and that makes sense, because we live in time, but God doesn’t, he sees the beginning and the end all at once.
Jesus addressed this exact issue when he spoke to his disciples during the storm, Matthew 8:26, Jesus didn’t say, why are you in a storm? Storms are part of life, he addressed their fear, not the circumstances. Little faith isn’t about how big the problem is, it’s about how small God becomes in our thinking. Unbelief doesn’t always look like denial, sometimes it looks like agreement without trust. The same faith we need to believe that God will provide for our daily needs is the faith we need to overcome sin, temptation and destructive habits, it’s not two different systems, it’s the same surrender. If we don’t believe God can help us with everyday life, we won’t believe he can help us change our heart, many people don’t take their faith seriously enough, because God is not first in their lives, they haven’t surrendered to his Lordship.
Many people sit on the throne of their own hearts and then wonder why everything feels unstable, scripture is clear about the condition attached to God’s promises, Matthew 6:33, Jesus doesn’t say seek God when it’s convenient, it says first seek, first, that word matters, because when God isn’t first, life becomes a constant struggle. We fight temptation without power, we face fear without peace, we deal with uncertainty without assurance, living this way creates a life of instability. We never feel secure, we’re always bracing for the next problem, but that’s not how God designed faith to function, faith was meant to anchor us and when God isn’t first, faith becomes weak by default.
Matthew 6:33, that promise is powerful, but it comes with a condition, first, seek the Kingdom of God. The problem is that many people want the promise, they want peace without surrender, provision without obedience, freedom without discipline and when those things don’t happen, they blame God, the church or their circumstances without ever questioning whether God truly holds first place in their lives. When God isn’t first, faith becomes fragile, we may believe in God, but we don’t rely on him, we pray, but we still carry anxiety, we read scripture, but we don’t let it change how we make decisions and as a result, life feels like a constant uphill battle. This is why so many believers struggle to overcome sin, lust and temptation, it’s not because God hasn’t given enough power, it’s because we haven’t fully surrendered to his Lordship, we want God’s help without God’s authority.
We want God involved, but only on our terms, we want him to bless our plans instead of reshaping them and every time it leads to frustration and spiritual stagnation. Living this way creates a life of uncertainty, we never feel grounded, we’re always reacting instead of responding, every challenge feels overwhelming, because our foundation isn’t secure, faith without obedience doesn’t produce results. James chapter 1, the person who doubts, who lives double-minded should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, that doesn’t mean God is cruel, it means faith requires alignment, we can’t say God is first, while consistently choosing everything else over him.
