SECRET #9 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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Secrets #7 and #8 are taken from the first two snapshots of what a Kingdom dweller looks like-poor in spirit and mourning. To be poor in spirit is to have a right evaluation of yourself before God. This right evaluation includes your wickedness or weaknesses that enable you to do almost anything, any time. You don't have to teach a child how to be selfish. This evaluation also includes your wonder, which means that you are not as bad as you could be, since you were created in the image of the God of gods.

To mourn or reframe your weaknesses is to do something about that inner sense of wickedness and self-centeredness. I think this means to develop a sensitivity to that which keeps you from being and doing all that you were created to be and to do.

The third beatitude or Kingdom snapshot is: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Mourning relates more to the wickedness or weakness factor. And, now meekness relates to the wonder factor. The quiet, controlled strength and confidence of meekness comes from your Creator. His mark of wonder is upon you.

Remember, the right evaluation of yourself before God included your wickedness and your wonder. Once you see clearly who you really are, you are ready for growth. Then, if you are able to mourn over that which keeps you from growing, you actually graduate through this pile of problems. Now, you can't remain under the pile of mourning; you must gain inner strength as you emerge from the pile.

If you just learn how to mourn and remain there, you will be content to wallow in your weaknesses. Many people seem to enjoy suffering like this. They find a new friend in depression or loss or a sickness. They find that people seem to care more for them when they're allowing in a problem, so they take that problem on as their identity-sort of a badge of courage. Don't wallow in your sorrows. Mourn them. Recognize them. See them for what they are. And grow through it!

To be meek is to focus on the product of what you can learn in the midst of your struggles. "Gentle" is the word for meekness. Meekness is not weakness. It's developing a quiet, controlled inner strength or confidence that can only come from God's inside operation on your life. This is why we continue to speak of transformation or regeneration. It's an inside job by Jesus, Himself in your life. You recognize your desperate need, you mourn over it, inviting the Lord to do His work in your life. He does His work in your heart and creates a wonderful inner confidence-an inner strength that empowers you to keep going and to start over, whenever necessary.

It's learning to grow for it-no matter how rough or how tough life can be. Again, I say, it's not what happens to you, but how you handle what happens to you that matters most. To be meek is to renew your confidence and live your life-inside out and upside down-all in the rule or Kingdom of God.

The struggle here in renewing your confidence is to be diligent to find your inner strength in His work and not your own. Are you sensitive to God's transformation in your heart? Are you aware of His continued work every day in and through you-making you stronger? This is the reason why you can experience meekness in your heart while the rest of the world around you is shaky and falling apart.

So, SECRET #9 is: The follower of Jesus is meek, having a quiet, controlled, inner confidence that has no need to be reactive, but proactive from the inside out.

NOTE ONE MORE THING: Jesus says the meek will inherit the earth. Whatever losses the person of meekness may seem to be experiencing here on this earth, Jesus gives an assurance that the meek will inherit it all. "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."