Blessings???

As I dig deeper and deeper into God's word I am always amazed at what he continues to reveal to me. Lately he has been revealing a different way on how I view blessings.  When Jesus came to earth he was born into a poor family in a manger. As I listened to a sermon last night we all have this idea of how glamorous it was and how everything would have been just perfect when Jesus was born. But the fact of the matter is that the manger was probably some ugly old shack with smelly animals and feces everywhere. No, Jesus didn't come out completely dry with his hair combed back and a smile on his face, He was probably just as ugly and was crying just as much as any other baby being born. As Jesus lived his life he was constantly in situations where you didn't find him with the rich and wealthy, but he was always with the sick, the poor, and the needy. Knowing this about Jesus, it leads me to wonder where our blessing truly lie? In James 2:5 it says "Listen my beloved brothers,has God not chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, witch he has promised to those who love him". Mathew 19:24 says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God". As I read the text I ponder in the fact that we are always talking about the blessings we have here in north America, and how we are blessed to be in a society where we are in the top five percent of the wealthiest people in the world. But as I read this text that doesn't quite line up with what James 2:5 and Matthew 19:24 says about being rich and poor. It seems to me that if I were to take being blessed from a biblical stand point the ones who are in Africa and that come under that 95% of the worlds poor, are the blessed ones and we are the ones for a lack of a better word "cursed" living here in north America.  Would I rather in worldly terms be blessed with riches and have a harder time receiving Jesus? Or be dirt poor and have a better opportunity for a more meaningful and faith filled relationship with Jesus? I think its time we stop finding our blessing in worldly things but start finding them in the beautiful and amazing God that we have. I think if we can do that, greater we will be for overcoming the trial of living here in North America.