"Blessed Bankruptcy"

This was the title of our pastor's sermon on Sunday.  I've spent the past couple of days spending a lot of time thinking through some of the things he said.  This morning I took out my notes and as I read through what I had written, I became a weeping mess.  The first thing I have written is this ...

"We should understand what it is to be bankrupt of ourselves ... destitute in ourselves.  It is only the poor in spirit that the Kingdom belongs."

A couple of my very best friends have often said to me, "God wants us to be at the end of ourselves."  It's taken me a long time to truly understand what those words meant.  I would often wonder why God would want me totally broken, unable to know how I was possibly going to take my next breath.  What I didn't understand was it is only at the point of total brokenness that we can see His grace and mercy.  It's only in brokenness that we can see His greatness.  It's only when we are at the foot of the cross completely empty of ourselves that we can see His glory.

I have realized more over the past couple of days that being bankrupt of ourselves is the most blessed place we could ever be.  We have nothing to offer the Lord.  We come to Him broken, empty and needy.  We come to Him as a poor wretched sinner and cry out for mercy.  He takes us out of our desperation and gives us all we will ever need.

In my notes I have written, highlighted in pink ...

"We've been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and we've been given the Kingdom of Heaven."

In our spiritual bankruptcy we find we've been given everything we could ever need.  We need Jesus, and it's through Him we are given the Kingdom of Heaven.

Also highlighted in pink and underlined ...

"Christ delights to save those who cry out for mercy." 

A couple of months ago Mary and Connie, on separate days, sent me the link to this.  I had heard this song several times.  When it comes on the radio in the van, the girls turn it up and sing along.  This past week Mary was sharing with me how she had bought the CD and what a blessing it was to her.  I bought the CD this weekend after our conversation, and have listened to this song no less than 50 times.  It might just be my new hang up.  It's beautifully written and sung.

"Blessings" by Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise