By Manny Vázquez, M.S., LMFT, Advocate for the Poor in Spirit,
President and CEO of Vázquez Counseling and Ministries Inc., in
Service to our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ

Monday, July 27, 2026

In the Greatest Sermon Ever, the Sermon on the Mount, our LORD Jesus
proclaimed, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3; from The New King James Version of the
Holy Bible)

Who exactly are the poor in spirit? Have you ever been poor in spirit?
Have you ever lost your job and wondered how you were going to feed
your family? Have you ever faced death and walked away from the
event, wondering how in the world you survived, and now you are
traumatized completely? Have you ever been hated by your family and
others for loving Jesus? All of these life events are normal life events
that can happen to anyone, and I would say will result in us being poor
in spirit.

But Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.” Have you ever stopped to think about what Jesus meant
here? By way of explanation, Jesus also said, when referring to the
religious and self-righteous elites of His time and, really, of all time, and
also referring to the people of His time and really, of all time, “Those
who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I
did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
(Matthew 9:12; Mark 2:17; and Luke 5:31 [NKJV Version of the Holy
Scriptures]). This is a sobering statement, if you understand the
implications of what Jesus was saying with all these statements. What it
actually means is that Christ came to save those who are willing to admit
that they are sinners. Those who don’t care to admit that they are lost
will die in their sins and without Christ, and God already knows who
those fools are, those who are self-righteous and believe they have no
need for a Savior.

I believe that that the enemy does not take shots at inconsequential
leaders. Further, I believe that God Himself identifies all of the
consequential leaders to the enemy. Our LORD allows His people to be
tested by the enemy and his minions, not because He doesn’t love us, but
quite the opposite.

Consider the LORD’s servant Job. When the enemy came before the
LORD, He pointed out to the enemy the faithfulness of Job, knowing
full well that the enemy would attack him and try to turn him against
God, who in his complete foreknowledge knew that the character of Job
would not allow him to turn against God.

Throughout history, I believe, our LORD has been using the enemy and
his minions to test God’s people. Our LORD knows full well that we
will not turn against Him because we already have His Spirit in us, and
for those who belong to Christ, nothing can snatch us out of His hand, as
the LORD Himself proclaimed (John 10:28-29). Being tested by
demons can only drive us further toward God, which has been clear in
my own life and I’m sure, in yours.

What are the implications of all this? Well, is it not apparent that if you
are not being attacked by the enemy, then you are in his camp? He won’t
attack you because you are already his. Things may not go well for you
because such is life, but you will dwell in relative safety on this side of
Hell.

And the poor in spirit, who are they? They are the billions of believers
who are constantly being attacked by an unrelenting enemy and by his
army of darkness, the fools who will stop at nothing to destroy God’s
people and who will not succeed at all.

Do you understand now why Jesus said that His kingdom belongs to the
poor in spirit? The poor in spirit are those whom Jesus ministered to
during his brief three year ministry. And the poor in spirit are exactly
those whom Vázquez Counseling and Ministries Inc. has been called to
minister to. Amen and Amen.