Tag: humility
Day 5–Grace not Worry!
Scripture reading for May 1: 1 Peter 5:5-7 “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” Psalm 55:22 “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
Living by faith is the key to a content and peaceful soul. Many in our world, even among responders, are filled with anxiety. We all face the pressures of life in this world and troubles that come upon the just and the unjust. “Time and chance happen to all” says Solomon. (Ecclesiastes 9:11) It’s how we respond to these troubles that is a key to our soul health. Jesus, our Example, was totally obedient to His Father and sought Him for every word to speak and every action to do. Everything was done to bring glory to God and fulfil His purpose of saving lost sinners and bringing them into a loving relationship.
Peter instructed believers to clothe themselves with humility towards one another. Jesus was completely humble and gentle, calling all to come and learn His way. (Matthew 11:28-30) Peter reminds us that God gives grace to the humble but He opposes the proud. Having God opposing you is not a place to choose for a healthy soul. We note that God invites us to cast all cares and burdens on Him and He will sustain us. He guarantees that He will exalt us at the proper time and help us stand firm. He truly cares for us!
This is good news for first responders who deal with other’s problems but still have our own personal concerns. When we cast our cares on God, we can let go of them completely. It’s like a shotput athlete throwing a 16 pound shot. If we cast it and hold onto it it will put our body and soul at risk. We must choose to let go and trust God to sustain us in peace and expectancy.
Prayer: Father God, I sometimes hold onto my cares and allow them to weigh me down as with a heavy load. Forgive me and teach me to cast those cares on You and live by faith in these amazing promises of Your unending care and unbreakable promises. Amen.
Day 3–Presumption on Tomorrow
Scripture reading for April 8: Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
James 4: 13-15“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”–yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”
Many people are very presumptive about time and assume that time will go on as it has for the future. Scripture from Solomon’s time warns us not to boast about tomorrow for no one knows what tomorrow will bring except God. There are a host of people claiming to be prophets that can accurately predict what will happen in the future. We are warned not to believe everyone who says they know the future and as Christ’s followers we are not to seek out the future. We are given what we need to know by God through the Word and Jesus Christ.
James, speaking to the early church, tried to reason with those making confident assertions about tomorrow as far as making concrete plans. James warned believers that their lives were very short, like a mist that appears and then vanishes in the sun. Instead of arrogantly boasting about plans, we should always make room for God’s plans and His will being worked out in our lives. Our time is not our own, but rather is in His loving and capable hands. We must stay humble and submit to His will and plans.
Responders also need to keep these truths in their own hearts as they work with others. We recognize that God is in charge of each person and we work for Him and with Him in each situation. We ask for His help and seek His will and trust Him for the outcomes.
Prayer: Father God, I sometimes struggle with plans and working out everything that I want to get done. I speak about those plans but am learning more and more to say ‘If the Lord wills’ and rest in Your timing and season. It is a joy to trust You! Amen.
Day 5–Called by Name
Scripture reading for January 30: 1 Samuel 3:8-10, 21 “And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if He calls you, you shall say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.” . . . .”And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the Word of the Lord.”
The story of Samuel, the young boy who was born to his mother and father as an answer to their prayers for children, helps us to again explore how our Lord calls us. Samuel was born in answer to passionate prayer from his childless mother. Eli, Israel’s priest had accused her of drunkenness until she explained her prayer for a son, promised to the Lord. After he was weaned, he was given back to the Lord to serve at the tabernacle at Shiloh under Eli. While serving there, God spoke to him by calling out his name. Samuel thought it was Eli calling for him and three times he responded. The third time, Eli told him he should respond by answering, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.”
The Scripture goes on to reveal what the Lord told Samuel about the coming judgment of Israel and the corrupt priesthood of Eli. Scripture also notes that God appeared to Samuel and revealed Himself to him through His Word. God’s Word is ultimate truth and is powerful to produce faith and love in us. This all comes through an established relationship with God. He calls to us and knows our name. He reveals Himself to us through His Word and gives us His Name! He provides the Holy Spirit to indwell us and guide us into His Word and walking by faith. Our humble response should be “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears!”
Prayer: Father God, Thank You for the personal calling of us by name. You respond to our need for identity and relationship by inviting conversation. I affirm my desire to hear Your instructions and will respond to Your calling of my name in humility and attentive faith. Amen.
The ‘heart’ of man’s problem!
Scripture reading for January 21: Matthew 15
“And He said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”” Matthew 15:16-20
The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day had set up many rules for worship of God and often majored on these man-made rules and taught them as God’s doctrine. One such rule was on the washing of one’s hands in order to be clean when eating. Now this was a good rule for cleanliness, but Jesus taught that this was not the major cause of someone being unclean. It went deeper than surface dirt on the hands or face!
Jesus revealed that the human heart was a greater source of uncleanness. This uncleanness is revealed in words, thoughts and actions that break God’s law and bring sin’s defilement which leads to death. Murder, theft, adultery, immorality and lying, all dealt with in God’s Ten Commandments, spring from the heart of sinful man. Because of Adam’s sin, we are born with a sin nature and it comes ‘naturally’! In order to remedy this, the human heart must be cleansed of sin through repentance. Repentance comes from a humble confession of sin and a willingness to turn from it. The heart is willingly surrendered to Christ Jesus as our new “Master” instead of our sin nature. This is understanding that leads to cleansing!
Are you following human rules and effort in order to be a ‘good’ person? Have you humbly encountered Jesus’ teaching about where true defilement comes from? Have you confessed your defilement and by faith received a heart-cleansing?
Prayer: Father God, forgive me for the many ways that I have defiled my own soul through evil thoughts, hatred, lust and greed leading to idolatry. I receive Your cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.
Wisdom to rule and live!
Scripture reading for July 9: Proverbs 22-24
The Bible teaches that we are all designed to rule and have dominion! Adam was given dominion over creation in order to tend and care for it as God desired and instructed. (Genesis 1:27-28) We need God’s wisdom because He is the source of all wisdom and authority and created all things for His purposes. The proverbs offer wisdom to those in authority to enable them to effectively rule with the mind of God.
Proverbs emphasizes our need for humility. (Proverbs 22:4) When we fear the Lord, God gives us discernment between good and evil. When we choose the good consistently we get wealth, honor and life as added benefits. We also get a good name and reputation, something that money can’t buy! (Proverbs 22:1) Keeping humility when God has blessed you can be a real test, for many times prosperity causes pride and God is forgotten or not honored.
When a king rules, he acts on behalf of God. Rulers are to treat the poor with equity and respect. (Proverbs 22:16, 22-23) When the poor are mistreated, God Himself promises to take up their case and rule on their behalf! Rulers must stay away from the adulteress and the hot-tempered man. (Proverbs 22:14, 24; 23:26-28) Both of those people lead to trouble. When rulers judge in court, they must be sure to convict the guilty and not show partiality or take a bribe. God will bless righteous judgment and integrity! (Proverbs 24:23-25) Also, do not seek revenge because that is for God alone! (Proverbs 24:29)
Those in authority must avoid drunkenness and laziness. (Proverbs 23:29-35) Drinking takes away your ability to have sound judgment and to see clearly. It causes violence and strife and quarrels. A hangover comes the next day and bloodshot eyes! It poisons our life like a snake-bite! The second warning is against laziness. (Proverbs 24:30-34) Laziness causes life to fall into ruin around you. Your life looks like a field that is not tended. Walls of protection are broken down and enemies steal the crop. Weeds grow and choke it out and thorns are a sign that the curse is at work. Laziness leads to poverty and lack!
Is you life marked by humility and respect for God? In your leadership, are you applying the wisdom of God in setting a good example? “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4
BSDD–Back Side of Desert Degree
Scripture reading for January 19: Exodus 3-6
Moses was picked by God to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. At his birth, the Hebrew midwives spared his life because they feared God and hid him. God showed his parents a plan to save Moses’ life. He was placed in a basket and released in the Nile river. Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing just downstream, and she “found” Moses, named him and paid his own mother and sister to raise him. He was raised in Egyptian royalty and schooled in their culture. When he was forty years old, he tried to deliver one of his brothers who was being mistreated. He fled to the back side of the desert and spent forty years there learning to care for his father-in-law’s sheep. There, he earned his degree in humility.
Exodus 4:10-12 “But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to Your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth?” Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.””
Moses went from a prince in Pharaoh’s household to a fugitive wanted for murder in a story as bizarre as Joseph’s in Genesis! When God appeared to Moses at the burning bush in the desert 40 years later, Moses was called to take off his shoes and then go and deliver God’s people from slavery in Egypt. Moses wisely took off his shoes but made excuses to God about going. God met Moses and answered each excuse. Moses, after 40 years in the desert university, had learned a valuable lesson: he can do nothing on his own. You might say that Moses graduated with his BSDD in humility!
Are you in the School of the Desert? What character trait do you think God is working into your life? If you are a graduate of one of God’s degree programs, how has your life changed?
Numbers 12:3 “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”
God gives us more grace
Scripture reading for October 10th: Jeremiah 27, 28, 29, 24, James 4
James 4: 4-8 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”
James passionately warned the believers about their need for holy separation from the world around them. God is a jealous Lover and wants our full devotion. This requires us to humbly submit to God and draw near to Him as an act of our will. We must resist the devil and his attempts to tempt and seduce us. James promises that as we humbly draw near to God that God will come nearer to us as well. God will give us all the grace we need to stand firm and to live a life bringing glory to Him and adding souls to His kingdom. As we pray and seek His will and the welfare of those around us, we find our needs met as well.
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for grace to live effectively and with holy separation in a hostile world. Help me to remember that You place me where You desire and use me as You will to accomplish Your purposes. I humbly pray daily, “Not my will, but Yours be done!” Grant me opportunities to share the Gospel and seek the welfare of those needing Your grace. Yours is the kingdom and glory forever!
Jeremiah 29:4-7 “”Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.””
Appropriating Christ’s mind
Scripture reading for February 11th: Exodus 28-31, Philippians 2
Philippians 2:1-7 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men.”
Jesus Christ was the Exalted Son of God, ruling over the universe He created. In the counsel of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Jesus humbled Himself and took the form of a servant in human flesh, becoming obedient even to death on a cross for the sake of all other human beings under the penalty of death for their sins. Jesus counted us of more value than His own comfort and position. He accomplished our salvation by His own complete obedience to God’s eternal Word in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Father God has gifted each believer with His Holy Spirit, calling us by name out of the darkness of sin and this world. He has given us the mind and heart of His Son to care for His interests–the souls of all men!
Philippians 2:8-10 “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit and the mind of Jesus Christ! Fill me with the power of the Spirit in wisdom, ability, and knowledge and craftsmanship to do Your work in Your way according to Your instructions. You are building Your Church, a habitation of God by the Spirit. Help me to put Your will and others before my comfort and selfishness.
Exodus 31:1-3 “The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, . .”
Humility and boldness!
Scripture reading for September 29th: 2nd Corinthians 10
Key Scriptures: 2nd Corinthians 10:1-6 “I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ–I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!--I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
Paul entreated the Corinthians to receive him and his message of the Gospel of Christ. God had assigned to Paul the mission to the Gentiles. False teachers had tried to undermine Paul’s authority and credibility and to undermine the message of salvation by grace through faith. Paul planned on boldly confronting them and had powerful weapons to do that with. It was not flesh and blood he was dealing with, but demonic strongholds of false religion and false doctrines being argued by those in opposition. He came with humility and gentleness in the spirit of Jesus Christ to them, appealing to them to lay hold of the truth and obey it fully. The powerful spiritual weapons that Paul referred to were the Word of God, passionate prayer, holy living, humility and the power of the Holy Spirit to act boldly. These weapons destroy strongholds and bring confrontation to those opposing.
2nd Corinthians 10:13 “But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even you.”
Faith confession and prayer: Father God, I humbly thank You for the assignment you have given me to be a pastor and teacher in Your Church. I rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal Your Word to me and empower me with boldness to use the spiritual weapons that are mighty through God to destroy strongholds, refute arguments, and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. My boast is in Jesus Christ, the only wise God and Savior.
2nd Corinthians 10:17-18 “”Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”
True greatness!
Scripture reading for March 14: Luke 9, Psalm 53, Proverbs 22
Key Scriptures: Luke 9:46-48 “An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by His side, and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My Name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
Pride manifested itself among the chosen disciples of Jesus. They argued with one another about which of them was the greatest disciple! Now it’s a noble thing to want to be the best follower of Jesus, but we can make an idol of our service to Christ and miss what Jesus desires for us. Jesus used a child as an example. Our treatment of children and the least among us requires humility and taking a lower position. True greatness, says Jesus, comes from this.
Faith confession: Lord, I want to attain true greatness by humbly receiving children and those looked down on by our culture. I believe You love children and the marginalized of our world and want me to love them. Action step: Reach out today to a child or someone hurting and show the love of Jesus to them.
Proverbs 22:4 “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.”