Did you ever stop to consider why Jesus called the poor blessed? It could be for a variety of reasons, but I'd like to suggest that one is that poverty is under-appreciated.

We typically only see the downside of poverty, but it has a big upside too.

• When you're poor, you know the value of things.
• When you're poor, you are forced to depend on God for what you lack.
• When you're poor, you can more easily become unified as the body of Christ.
• When you're poor, you don't have to battle materialism as much.
• When you're poor, Jesus has compassion on you and comes to your aid.

Many people in the Bible struggled a lot more when they were rich than when they were poor. For example, Israel's kings were generally an inept lot; they needed more poverty.

Why do you suppose Paul struggled to do the things he wanted to do? He was a leader who had it all - his learned self-sufficiency worked against him.

The easy answer we learned in Sunday School is, "Sin." But drill a little deeper and you see that maybe what he needed was more poverty.

I've been rich and I've been poor, and I have to tell you, I prefer rich. I have a hard time saying "thank you" for my poverty. Yet I need it.

What about you, have you ever been equipped with poverty? Have you seen it's benefits? What were they?