Beloved Believer

Chapter 5

Die

Gods’ Humility:

Humility may well be the most precious characteristic we have seen in Jesus.
He walked on this earth in perfect harmony with the Father. He lived as a man in
unbroken joy and fellowship with His Father. He openly denounced any self interest
yet was never powerless. His perfect submission to the Father is our example, our
inspiration, our conviction and our hope. In the midst of people who openly hated
and scoffed at Him, Jesus never asserted His authority over them. At least He did
not appear to assert His authority. Since He himself claimed that all authority on
heaven and earth had been given to Him, He asserted this authority perfectly in not
asserting it at all. In His death and resurrection, He forever sealed and made known
His right and authority over the entire earth and all mankind. He showed this all
encompassing authority without one protestation of the evil perpetrated on Him.
His humility was not blind or childish or faith without a mind. Humility is of Jesus as
is righteousness, and holiness, true joy, and perfection. The humility of Jesus is
purposeful and effective. It has reason and beauty. It is not a by-product of
anything man can or has or will do. Humility is perfected in our Perfect One, Jesus.
Only He has it and only He can enable us to know it and walk in it by His Spirit.

John 14:10
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.? The
words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father
who dwells in me does his works.”

Matthew 28:18
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Jesus tells us where all authority comes from and who holds it. We do not
usually think of a humble person holding authority over anyone. The humility of
Jesus knows authority. He knows what it is and whose it is; even His and He is not
shy about displaying it. The many forceful things said to the Pharisees in the Gospel
accounts and to the churches in the book of Revelation show us that Jesus does not
fall short of any authority.

Luke 11:29
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Luke 20:43
“The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies
your footstool”
 It is interesting that Jesus would choose to quote this verse from the Psalms.
It is clear that while being perfect humility, Jesus did not lay down authority. His
humility, on the other hand, shows His authority. We understand that Jesus laid His
life down of His own accord to accomplish the will of the Father.

We know from scripture that although He could have called a legion of angels to
fight for his earthly body, He chose not to. So was this humility only for His walk on
this earth? Where has it gone? Is the Jesus who makes the threats against the
church in Laodicea and the church in Ephesus in the book of Revelation the same
humble Jesus who died to bring these churches into being?
We know He is the same. He is the same yesterday, today and always. Humility
was not an accessory for Jesus to wear while on the earth. Humility is a
characteristic of Jesus. Jesus is the exact imprint of the invisible God.

Heb 1:3
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature,
and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Is God humble? Well Jesus is God and Jesus is humble and God never
changes so God is humble.
We know from scripture Jesus testifies that He is humble. Jesus is humble today; so
God is humble. How do we see this humility of God? As pointed out, we clearly see
humility as a characteristic of God in Jesus. Also, does not the harmony of God
himself indicate humility? The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit all defer to one
another. A third point to be made for the humility of God is in His dealings with us.
I believe scripture is clear on the election on God’s part of His people and that all
the chosen one’s will be brought into the kingdom of God. So I am not speaking in
any way to God bending or yielding to our decisions. When God deals with His
children, He displays His humility in that He does not bring us by force. He may
bring many things our way to cause us to want to yield and to receive grace to yield
but He does not exert the force that is His right. After we belong to God, in Christ,
He continues to work in us in this same way. He brings us to yield ourselves to Him;
he does not take us by force. He may discipline us and it may be unpleasant but we
yield of our own accord. We are able to humble ourselves before him only because
He was humble first. Any godly act on our part came from God first. We cannot be
humble or hope to walk in humility if it is not a characteristic of God.

2 Sam 22:36b
Your gentleness made me great

Rev 3:9b
“I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn
that I have loved you.”

Eph 5:1
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as
Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and
sacrifice to God.
 Without humility we can have no real confidence in our walk with Jesus.
Whenever the old self rules, we begin to doubt. We wonder if our desires and
actions are from us or from God. We do not have assurance that the Spirit is
leading and we constantly fear failure. When we walk in humility and the assurance
that the old self does not have rule over us; we can be confident that God will bring
beautiful fruit to bear from our lives. This humility can seem so elusive because we
have a tendency to think it is something we work in ourselves. God does tell us to
humble ourselves. He also tells us to purify ourselves and to be holy. We know we
have no purity or holiness apart from the person of Jesus. And so we have no
humility apart from Jesus. What encouragement that we can walk in God’s ways!
We are not expected to come up with humility but can and do receive it from God.
Only God’s power can give us the desire to be ruled by Him and the prayers to ask
for His power to rule.

This is when our self, our flesh, is on the cross. We can be sure that He hears our
prayers for humility as we can be sure he hears our cries for holiness and love.
God does not call us to earthly lowliness but to heavenly humility. By the
earthly definition, any small child is humble by force. Many who don’t know God
can be lowly due to suffering or personal meekness. God does not demand this
humility. The humility God demands is the humility that He provides in Jesus.
Circumstances may be brought our way to help us to learn to walk in His humility
but it is not being under the circumstances that is the humility. Humility may come
as a result of the pressure of the circumstances helping us to lie down our “right” to
control our lives and to our selves. God does not demand, nor would He want,
anything that did not come from Himself. For all that is not of God is of the flesh
and the devil. The Book of James reminds us that God opposes the proud but gives
grace to the humble. God does not give grace for us to bring anything to Him by
way of human effort. Humility must be of God and from God. What about
repentance? God does not repent of sins; that would be ridiculous. But the very gift
of repentance, that is the desire and act to turn from sin to God is humility. Humility
is not the awareness of sinfulness. If it were, Jesus would not have been humble
since He was and is sinless. The awareness of our sinfulness, like our circumstances
will hopefully point us to humility in that we will see our need of God and that our
fleshly choices for ourselves will not please Him or help us. Humility is not found
simply in an effort to place ourselves “under” another or to pretend to be less than
other people. Humility is found in placing oneself under God and His authority and
care. This humility allows us to defer to others honestly, not with a false motive.
As we are to love with His love so we are to be humble with His humility. We
are not wholly capable of understanding God’s love as yet. Our minds are too small.
We can experience God’s love in a way that surpassed the understanding of the
mind because it is supernatural and we have been given the Spirit of Christ. If we
do not know this love of Christ in our spirit, we have no hope of sharing it with
others and so proving we are Jesus’ disciples. This requires more than an
understanding of the mind. Scripture gives us many examples so that we may test
if our love is from the Father but it cannot be obtained through the mind. It must be
given by God through the Holy Spirit.
So it is with humility. We cannot understand wholly the humility that
God gives and that God requires with our minds. The very thought that God himself
is humble testifies to this. What immediately comes to mind when thinking God is
humble? How can God be lowly? How and why would God defer to man or put
himself “under” man? It is this kind of thinking that keeps us trying to attain to
humility by human effort. We think that only humans are to be humble and so have
no resource for it and our example (we tend to think) expired when Christ rose from
the dead. Like God’s love, we have many examples from scripture of what humility
looks like. These are to be tests of whether we are walking in humility not the works
that make us humble. If we limit ourselves to our natural understanding of humility,
that it is something human we bring to God, we will fall to the temptation and trap
of false humility. Our natural mind limits humility to lowliness due to a lower position
or an undeserving state. It is true that both of those apply to man and should be
acknowledged but Jesus was neither lower in position than anyone and He is
completely worthy. I believe this tells us that there is more to humility than we
typically give credit. If we limit our thinking of humility to this kind of lowliness, we
are likely to find a false humility in our hearts. A humility that depends on an
awareness of sin only does not promote true repentance or an eagerness to be rid
of sin. This kind of humility promotes the lie that we will never be able to overcome
areas of sin; that God intends them for us to keep us humble. This lie is in direct
contrast to God’s word and His many promises. We should not be content to
struggle with the same weaknesses because we feel it keeps us humble. This
“humility” is not from God.

If we do not know our goal we won’t know what to seek God for and we will
be susceptible to the schemes of the devil and fall into false humility. False
humility, as we all know, is nothing less than pride and God opposes the proud. So
if we do not seek a spiritual understanding of God’s humility by the teaching of His
Spirit by way of His word, does he not have reason to oppose us? If we only know
the surface kind of humility which is false, what claim will we have on our Jesus who
gave Himself to us? We cannot know His fellowship if we do not walk as He walked
and as He walks today; in humility. Every true child of God has had to receive
salvation through humility. I promote that we ought to expand on that experience
with the word of God and His Spirit to arrive at a better understanding of real
humility that will gain us greater access to the mind of God in Christ and to His
amazing love for each of us and for us corporately. Humility is a God-like quality as
is love, obedience, faith and all else that God requires. He supplies us with all our
needs. And as our holiness is found in Christ alone, so our humility is found in Christ
alone and therefore we have great hope of learning and loving it. God is interested
in working the life of his Son in each of His children. He will not fail us here.

Humility Receives:

In order for there to be a real desire for humility it might be helpful to

understand the benefits for us. We want to discontinue the thinking that God is
demanding we bring something to Him in the way of dues. As obedience is a joy
and a gift from God for every believer so should humility be seen as a desired
quality. If we can see it for the precious gift of love that it is; we may be more
inclined to earnestly seek it from God. The enemy would have us believe that when
go to God , we are dirty and in sin constantly. This thinking is contrary to 1 John in
many areas not to mention many other passages in the epistles alone. The only
grounds we have to go to God is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is His blood
that cleanses us. If we are not cleansed from our sin at any point, we have the
means to being cleansed in Christ. So we do not stay away because we are “dirty”
but we go because we can be clean in Jesus. My point this: the constant awareness
and or feeling of being sinful is not in itself humility. We will not be able to pray
effectively with doubt of our standing before God. If our idea of humility is based on
a constant sinning, how can we claim any of His promises for the upright? We go to
God in the righteousness and cleanness of Jesus. True we do not deserve to be
cleansed but if we have confessed all known sin; we are in fact clean in Christ
before God and He promises to hear our prayers and to answer them. A false
humility cuts our faith dramatically. It is harmful and must be countered with God’s
truth. We all want to be continuously cleansed by the blood of Jesus, but that does
not imply an active life of sin. The desire that comes with humility to want to be
cleansed on a constant basis is the knowledge of proper place before God. Man
inhabits a very low place before God because God is perfect and is his creator. This
low place is a place of peace for those in Christ. True humility should be had and
lived without the presence of sin. Our flesh is sinful and we carry it around but we
do not have to obey it. So having sinful flesh in our bodies does not make us active
in sin. To the contrary; if we are continually sinning and giving in to our flesh we do
not know Jesus. When we take our proper place before God we know the place of
endearment and favor.

Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before
honor.

Isaiah 66:2
But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in
spirit and trembles at my word.

Isaiah 57:15
“I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite
and lowly spirit.”

Faith, Humility, Trust:

We can ask and receive but it is humility that carries. For when we give up
ourselves and all that we are; what we take hold of must be with both hands. As
soon as we take any part of ourselves off Jesus and onto ourselves, we fail.
Faith finds entrance, humility takes home, and trust keeps. Faith and humility
can’t be separated. Faith may go to the door of the throne room and faith may
knock and knock but only humility enters. Faith may ask boldly and right but the
prize sought will be placed in humility’s hands. Faith holds the promises and argues
the cause but humility holds with both hands to the Lord Jesus. Faith may take us to
the place where we can receive heavenly gifts but only humility can receive them
and bring them to earth. Then trust takes over for initial faith but still humility holds
the desires of the Lord.
 Faith and trust guard her tender way, to the Lord and then to earth. Faith and
trust are her strength for she is as weak as a flower; they accompany her every step
and carry all her tears but only humility has the strength to carry the gift of her
Fathers love in Christ. As the gift is placed in the hands of humility; only she can
hold it and only she can give it. All that humility receives; she lies at the feet of
another. If humility were to keep anything for herself, she would cease to be
humility. She must return to the Lord by the beckoning and strength of faith with
empty hands. Jesus will not fill hands that are already full.
Faith sees the promise, faith desires, faith burns. Faith is white heat. Faith
desires mighty things from God. Humility is the nothing that God fills with the
mighty things. God creates out of nothing and so in His new creation He has made
a great nothingness that is to be filled only with Himself. And this place of nothing
must be emptied so it may remain nothing and return to be filled again. Is that not
the work of the Lord? Faith seeks and asks, humility receives and bears. Trust sees
to the pouring out on earth.
And what are the three continually seeking and bearing and pouring out?
Nothing less than the mighty love of God! It is the work of the new man to seek and
carry and dispense the love of the all powerful God. He is not meant to do less that
that – and there is nothing else he can do that will have any meaning or that he
wants to do.

Let us do the work of the Lord!

Let us be cleansed for every good work.

If there is anything of earth in the new man, it must be poured out before the
Lord so that humility may receive. Once that love of God is received it must also be
poured out, this upon men so that empty may be empty to be filled again. Faith will
empty of earthly things the vessels chosen for God’s work. It is by faith in the
person and work of Jesus Christ that we are made righteous. Faith will cleanse and
claim what is right for a new man.
Humility never grabs or claims, only receives and gives. Trust accompanies
the pouring out of love on the earth. Trust sees the promise through. Trust carries
the vessel of humility, heavy with the gift of love, to the earth and empties her
before the feet of mankind. Humility is always at the feet. She receives at the feet
of God and she pours out at the feet of man.
Humility works! She does not simply lie around to be trampled. Like Our
Lord, she may be trampled in the process of the work but is unconcerned because
she is fixed on the love of the Father. Only she can hold his gaze.
Humility never throws the love of God in man’s face or dumps it on his head. It
is always placed gently at the feet, for even the most sin filled may be given the gift
of faith to stoop to receive.
Humility never raises her head for she is always transfixed on God’s love. She
never takes her eyes off the love of God and so must have continual supply.
Faith, Humility, Trust; do not these three show God’s beauty!? Faith holds out
the outer shimmer of the backside of God the Father’s Glory. Humility is the perfect
vessel of God’s Love as is the Son. It is Trust that bears and keeps the hope of the
love of God with great strength and endurance until the perfect time as the Holy
Spirit keeps us. But the greatest is LOVE. All work together to bring God’s love to
bear on and through our hearts.
Romans 5:5
and hope does no put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

1 Cor 13:13
So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these
is love.

King Jesus, you are perfect in beauty in every way. May our hearts be opened
before you. Help us to have no secrets before you. Make us ready for your work.

How does the new creation receive humility? If we have received Jesus Christ,
we have received humility. We need to seek God’s strength and perspective to walk
in it. Our humility is in Christ; that is to say it is not wrought from us but is being
worked into us by God. It is the place of our hearts. We can’t have humility and
pride at the same time because they occupy the same space. When God’s child is
filled with God’s love it is “in” humility. Trust in God can carry and keep this love for
a time but it is a burden and when it is poured out to others; the place of humility
remains humility. If the place is not emptied of earthly things – it isn’t humility but it
is pride. If it is emptied of earthly things and desires it can be filled with God’s love
but if it is not poured out, it becomes pride. God’s love does not sour but will not
remain in pride. If this place is emptied and not filled at all, it becomes pride. Our
hearts must be continually emptied, being filled, pouring out, empty. Humility does
not remain empty but is the only suitable vessel for the work of faith and trust.
We cannot receive from God or give others from his great store of love if we
are not in our proper place before Him. That is the place of humility. It is on the
humble that God bestows favor and honor and His presence. Who would not want
that? God’s favor and presence is not a dead, sad stillness and humility is not a
way of distress, but of peace and joy and safety and power.

Confidence:

We do not typically associate humility with assertiveness or confidence. Yet

when we look at Jesus we see both. He was not at all confused about His purpose or
His works or His actions. He was perfectly clear in His declarations of and devotion
to the Glory of the Father. He deferred to the Father in humility. He ministered on
earth with unhesitant confidence in whom He is and who the Father is. He was
authoritative in his teaching and was firm when He came across the pride of the
Pharisees and teachers of the Law at that time.
Jesus’ earthly life is exalted as the perfect example of faith, humility and love. In
restraining his power to destroy sinful man, he proved his true might in humility
when He died for sinful man. Jesus’ confidence in His Father never failed because of
his perfect humility.
He is not seen as “under” the Father or as second to the Father because of his
humility. It is a perfect harmony of love.
We are not Jesus so our confidence and authority are not the same as His.
However, because we have a place under Jesus authority; we do have confidence in
His power and ability. We do not restrain our own power for we don’t truly have any
power, but we do restrain our control of ourselves in denying our flesh and we
submit ourselves to God in Christ. It is in this submission that we have true power
to carry out God’s ministry chosen for us. We gladly assent that submission to God
is a good thing. It seems there are many who see this submission as only a safety
from God’s wrath and fail to see submission as a positive and active quality. It is
important to see humility not only for what we do not do, being meek, but as the
power for action and authority. When we are submitted to God, not only are we
obedient but we have His power working in and through us. Anything less than
God’s power will not work for godliness or godly living or godly ministering to
others. Anything worked from less than God’s power is an act of the flesh and
offensive to God. It is not that we simply hide and wait but that we become pure
vessels in submitting in humility to God’s total design for our lives.
Godly humility is more than a lack of confidence in self. It is no confidence in
self and all our confidence is in Jesus Christ. For those who are destined to remain
earthly and so are temporary, a low self – estimating humility may look good and be
desirable. They have just enough strength to drag around their rotting bodies. This
is indeed a humble state but it seeks to be under man at the bottom the pile so to
speak. But for those of us who are heaven bound, we need far more that the lowest
of our strength. We need to seek no strength from ourselves and to seek all
strength from God. So the lowliest place is the most powerful in God’s economy.
And since his is the only economy that has a good future, we would do best to stick
with His currency.

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of
you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your
God?

Humility is not laziness or a downtrodden staleness. Humility is how we walk

WITH God. What more honor and favor could any child of God desire that to walk
with Him! In Christ we are with God. We move with Him in our proper humble place
and we are able to learn from Him and work with Him and enjoy Him and it cannot
be had without humility. God moves and is active; he’s not sitting around moaning
about the harshness of sin and life on earth. So if we are with Him humbly; why
should we cry and moan about our poor little lives? To be humble before God is the
greatest honor He can give any created being. We should seek it and savor it and
desire it as such. To see humility as some kind of punishment is a very proud thing.

1 Cor 4:16
I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

The apostle Paul very boldly writes to the Corinthians and urges them to
imitate him. How could he say such a thing? He could have pointed to someone
else, or to Jesus, or to scripture but he did not. He did not say, “don’t look at me,
I’m always falling into sin.” No, he was fighting, he was running the race, he was
living. Not only was he fighting but I think we have reason to think he was actually
winning! Victory over sin in Jesus Christ; now there is a great idea.
Most certainly he was tempted as we all are. But he was living a life beyond the
constant stumbling and tripping over every temptation, flirting with pride as if it
were a game. Jesus offers us a life beyond the staleness we have come to accept.
But it cannot be had without humility. It comes at the price of our flesh. Any less of
a life is not what God has for the Christian, and will not only fail to satisfy but will
eat one alive. Make no mistake about it, Satan desires to destroy your life and so
long as you ignore that fact, you are already being destroyed.
The Apostle was totally confident in the Lord Jesus Christ to the point that he
probably didn’t even see the “me” in his statement. I can’t know his heart but
based on the other things he wrote to the churches, I think we can get an idea of his
motives and character. Paul was confident in what Jesus told him to do. He was
confident in the Lord to carry it out and He was constrained to see it through. (in
chains for the gospel). God did an amazing work in the Apostle Paul and in many
others of His people. If God can and will do that kind of work in others, will He not
be willing to do it in each of his children? We need not aspire to be someone else in
station or importance in history but to aspire to the grace of God that is FREELY
given in Jesus Christ. God is not a respecter of persons. So we have every reason
to believe that we too can attain to such lowly places as the Apostle Paul and others
and come to a time in the appointment God gives us that we may say “imitate me”.
We may not be given an appointment or ministry that we say that with such bold
words but should we not desire to be able to say it boldly in our hearts and by our
lives that are built on humility?
Freedom is to know what God has made us for and to be in the pursuit of Him
in carrying it out. To have nothing between our Lord and our selves; this is freedom.
May we move on from this tripping over our sins and temptations and get really
barren and really full with God! When our whole lives have been turned over to
their rightful owner; Jesus, who has purchased us with His blood, then we too can
say “imitate me”. Let us beware of holding Paul in some kind of hero category. He
was a man, we are also men. By his own admission, he hated and was part of the
murder of Jesus very own people. Yet he gave, by God’s grace, his entire mind, soul
and body over to Jesus for His use. He endured many, many hard and horrific things
but there is not one trace of regret in his words. Just the opposite; as he states that
all is a loss because of the worth of knowing Jesus ( Phil 3:8). He isn’t talking about
knowing Jesus as if he just saw him once and prayed occasionally and gave thought
to the scripture when he had time. He made it his business to know Jesus. He
worked at it. He gave Jesus His all and received more than most of us can even
imagine. He worked hard in the grace of God but did not obtain anything by works.
He obtained in humility by grace. He did work hard. He did receive reward. He
worked at knowing Jesus not doing for Jesus. The things that He did were done in
the strength and confidence in who Jesus is and what Jesus had commanded him to
do. That kind of work can only be done in humility.
We are bound to protect all that is from us, (our flesh). God is bound to
protect all that is from Him. When all we have is from God, we can know that no one
can take it from us. It is the Lord who gives and takes away and what He has called
us to do, He will empower us to do. When we endeavor to determine our line of
ministry or gifts or general direction of our lives; we commit ourselves to making it
work and keeping it going. Is this not where our anxieties so often stem from? We
are busy trying to maintain lifestyles we have determined would be ours. We are
worn out in trying to make ministries effective that we have not been called to work
in. We are frustrated trying to make others see our visions that have not been
given by God. Too seldom, do we wait on God. Why are we so quick to get moving?
If we are certain a desire to minister is from God, can we not also be certain He will
give the details of how he wants us to move on that need? God gives the gifts and
the callings for our lives. He is completely dependable in enabling us to live it out.
There may be a ministry effort that God burdens a heart with and it may be that the
one burdened will be used to inspire another to do the work. If this is the case and
we rush around to “do for God” without waiting on God, we miss the blessing he has
for us and others. God works in many ways and we all have a part in Him but we
must wait at His feet for direction. When we are confident of His direction; we can
walk in confident humility.
God knows how to communicate with us and He has shown that He is willing to do
so. If our desire truly is to do His will, we will not be anxious to carry it out so that
others can see we are active in His work.

Romans 11:29
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Rev. 3:7b
“The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who
opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.”

Satan has a place to hold fear over us when we try to hold unto our old self.
We are bound to protect that self and he constantly reminds us that it is in danger
from the consuming fire of God. Our enemy is accurate in telling us that God will
not abide with our flesh – it must go. But as always, he twists the truth to portray
God as someone to be hidden from; someone to protect ourselves from.
What is it that you are afraid God will “take”? Lay it down. Chances are it is
of the flesh. If it is from Him, he will protect it. Are there secret desires for earthly
success apart from God? Are their foolish desires for self exaltation that seem
embarrassing to bring up before God? Lay all your secrets open to Jesus and He will
cleanse you of shame. Has God blessed you a zeal and joy in Him and the enemy is
telling you it will be short lived? Don’t believe that. Lay your every fear open to
God; every shame, doubt, unbelief. Lay out all the desires of your heart for God to
examine, whether they seem godly or not. As long as we have something we are
holding back from the light of God, Satan has a reason and a certain right to accuse
us and inwardly we know it; even if it is an unconscious knowing. It is in the secret
places that Satan sows seeds of fear.
May we have no secret agendas, no matter how right they may look to us. May we
have no secret fears, no matter how embarrassing or ugly they may be.

Ps 62:8
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him God is a
refuge for us.

False Humility:

We have the tendency to either avoid participating in Christian duties or we

are driven to identify who we are in them and find a corner to “serve” in. You find
your niche and there you are – in YOUR niche. Our nature is driven by pride and
pride wants us to make a big ado about ourselves. Am I doing it all right? What
exactly should I be doing? What are my gifts? What is God’s plan for me? Many
struggle with those kinds of questions. They all focus on us, not God. Our concern
needs to be finding out who God is, not who we are. Pride has us running after
proof of our love for Jesus and of His love for us in our activities.
We were called and saved by the power of God’s Spirit and we must live out
our lives and finish the course He has given us in the same way. Seeking to follow
Jesus is not mainly about what we are doing or not doing; in the sense of duties. It
is about what Jesus does in us and for us that matters. I think for us, in this day, it
is less a matter of trying to boil down what acts we should be doing or avoiding and
more a matter of the manner of Jesus walk. He walked in complete submission to
the will of the Father all the time. We can’t follow if we are not of the same mind as
His. Obviously our attainment is limited but God promises all that we need to do
what He calls. Jesus did not look to secure His own comforts or His own future (here
on earth) but only to the will of the Father.
He did not go to every person. He did not heal every person. He went and worked
where, when and how the will of the Father directed Him.
It is difficult to lay down our idea that we have a right to know specifically what God
may have planned for us. We tend to think if we know ahead of time what God
might do, we can be better prepared. We need to seek to be dependent on God
every moment so that when he calls us to act we will be prepared because we will
be listening. It is not enough to have a brief time in prayer in the morning. God IS
moving, all the day long. We need to be realizing our time in Him all the day so we
will know His Spirit when He directs us. We can in no way figure out or imagine
what He will bring our way but if we are asking and listening we will hear.
We will only be fruitful to the degree that we are submitted to God. We aren’t
called to “give it our best shot”. We aren’t called to try to figure out where we
would be most useful based on our human talents. We are called to submit to our
Master. God may call us at times to be involved with ministries and people we
never thought possible or likely. In each area God calls us to; Jesus is all that is
needed. Our flesh is not capable of gathering the lost. Unless we are totally
submitted to the direction of the Holy Spirit we will only be scattering.
Those called to Christ are called to walk behind and walk with Jesus. How
often we walk ahead and bid Him to come with us and bless what we are doing.
How pleasing this must be to our enemy, Satan. But thanks be to God, He is always
faithful to bring us back into line with Himself. Are we willing to look foolish to
others in our submission to God? Are we willing to set aside our so-called great
knowledge and experience? Look at the lives of many in the Bible. John the Baptist
would certainly have been thought a foolish man by many. Jesus was not looked
upon kindly. He was laughed at. We have become familiar with the biblical
accounts of those who serve God and can miss the surprising ways God worked
through them. We may be too quick to apply our common sense. Does it make
sense that the Apostle Paul would spend His life for the salvation of the gentiles?
Not to me. He was humble before his savior so he was able to hear direction.
It is arrogance that seeks for the flesh to be made perfect and weeps when
there is no improvement. There will be NO IMPROVEMENT of our flesh. The flesh
must be overruled, ruled over and put to death by the Spirit of God that dwells in us
through Jesus Christ.
In an arrogant perspective:
We are looking for our flesh to accomplish the ability to master the sin in us. We
can be deceived into thinking that an area of sin is not an issue for us so we do not
seek the Lord’s strength. When we fail we are thrown into despair over our
“failure”. False humility easily grows in the atmosphere of self pity. We have a
sense of false humility in our sadness over the reality that our flesh is not as good
as we thought.
In a humble perspective:
We are aware that our nature will always mean death and sin to us. We see the
great opportunity to know more fully the beauty in Christ as we see our flesh is not
worth hanging onto and we are filled with joy. We have no delusion that our flesh is
ever going to “get it right”. We are motivated to continually seek Jesus and his
strength and hide in Him. When we fail to yield to Jesus and give in to our flesh, we
have true repentance because we can see it for what it is; a disgrace to His glory.
We can quickly resume our fellowship with a greater sense of Jesus’ mercy and
greatness and power. We have a renewed awareness of how easily we can be
deceived into following our flesh. So we can be strengthened in our diligence. One
does not have to sin to know humility but when we do sin we can see it as an
occasion to gain more humility so Our Lord’s power will be more effective in us.

Lost in God:

Sometimes we can be as busy as little bees trying to make ourselves look

small as to let God be seen as big. What generous creatures we are, to step aside
and let God share our glory! How absurd! Saying we are small compared to God is
like saying the sun is hot. It is like a bee telling his bee friends how small he is
compared to the universe. If all this little bee does is say “look how small I am; look
how little I am”, well that is what others will do. They look at how small he is and
they see his smallness and they compare his smallness to their own smallness. But
they don’t really look at the universe. Now if this little bee just got lost in the
universe, wouldn’t they all say “wow, what a big universe!”? The little bee that got
lost in the universe would be so amazed at what he saw and would desire to
discover more. His smallness is a non issue. It is a given and it would seem silly for
him to even mention it now.
It is amazing that God reveals himself to man. He has been doing it from the
very beginning of our existence. What is really amazing is the manner of how He
reveals himself to His own children. He revealed himself to Egypt in terrifying ways.
He reveals Himself to us in Jesus Christ. He opens our eyes with everlasting love
and kindness and compassion. Conviction from God is kind and inspires hope of
more of him. The little bee that got lost in the universe would no doubt discover
how wrong and silly he had been in trying to convince his friends how small he was.
He would no doubt, in the vastness of the beauty of the universe, realize his
arrogance. His conviction would be as sweet as honey to him (just couldn’t resist
that). The realization that he had been wrong would set him free to see more of
what was true.
So if we will be our little bee selves and leave the correcting to God; we will
be a happier and fuller people. I am not talking about “being yourself” in the sense
of the sinful flesh; but of the new nature. If we will look to the vastness of God and
follow after Jesus, our smallness will not be the issue. If we recklessly run into the
refuge of our God, and get lost in Him, His bigness will be what it already is without
us shouting to tell people we aren’t in His way. God has created us to be who we
are and to “make honey” as we have been appointed. Recognizing our smallness
before God is good, necessary and wonderful. But let this be a recognition born
from the wonder at who God is. Let it be recognition of beauty, not a shocking
discovery or a negative aspect. God has made us to be man. Man is not a gnat
under God’s foot but man. We are made to enjoy him and be lost in him as nothing
else in creation can be. I am not suggesting we forget our fallen nature. I am
urging us to rejoice in the new nature we have been given and let our wonder at
God make our smallness a joy and blessing. We are to find our joy and glory and
beauty in God; not spend our lives denying our desire and need for joy, and glory
and beauty. A bee that hates its’ position to the point that it will not make honey is
of no use and brings no glory. What a wonderful thing to be able in Christ, to know
God personally. What a wonderful and precious thing it is to be remade by God,
held and cared for by Him. No other creature in heaven and earth can rejoice in or
know that or express that except God’s own people redeemed by him through the
priceless blood of his Son Jesus. Our brief time here on this earth, in the midst of
fallen people and of fallen creation, gives us an opportunity to enjoy and reflect
God’s care and love for us in a way it will never be done again in history.

Luke 11:34-36
“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole
body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.
Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole
body if full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a
lamp with its rays gives you light.”

Lord Jesus, please cleanse us and make your beauty to be seen in our lives. Lord we
will forever be searching and empty if not filled with your love. Make us willing to
toss of the old that we may receive the new. May our eye be filled with you and
only You, Jesus.

How do we know if we have humility or pride? What is in the place of our

hearts? Scripture shows us what God’s love is. If God’s love is not in our hearts; it
is pride.

Jer 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can
understand it?

Of course, we are easily deceived and pride can appear to be humility. Let us
not only seek God to show us the evidence within but also see the evidence without.
Is the love of God being poured out? In what manner is it being poured out? Moses
received by faith, many awesome things for God’s people. When he sought God for
water for the complaining crowd in Numbers 20, something went wrong between
the receiving and the giving. He sought God. Moses and Aaron fell down on their
faces and sought God, They received what was needed. But when it came to the
dispensation of God’s love; pride was present and humility was absent. Pride had
taken possession in that short time. Perhaps He did not continue to trust in God
along the way? Perhaps his own idea of how things were to take place seemed
more important than God’s directions? I am not at all taking issue with Moses; just
pointing out that what seemed to begin in humility seemingly ended in pride. “Shall
WE bring water for you out of the rock?” God rebuked both Moses and Aaron
because, He said, they failed to uphold Him as Holy in the eyes of the people. We
can see that humility is crucial in administering God’s care to others.
When pride is found we must lean on faith in Jesus to cleanse us and make us
suitable and fit for God’s work. Humility is a vessel for work! Humility is the
essence of Jesus Christ. We have received the Spirit of God through Jesus and so
have received humility. Pride is Satan’s counterfeit.
Pride is always at our heels, as soon as you think you’ve fought it off, you
realize that it has crept in the back way; over by diligence. The battle is never
ending. Praise God for His wisdom and kindness to us is in fighting for us and giving
us security in Him. The battle belongs to the Lord and He is mighty to save us.
We take God far too lightly and we take ourselves far too seriously.
Sometimes recognizing pride in our hearts is just plain funny. God does not laugh at
our sin but when we have inadvertently taken on a prideful attitude God seems to
allow us to laugh at how pitiful we can be. If we could not laugh, wouldn’t we just
crumble under it?
We may find ourselves thinking we are doing a great service for God and
others should be impressed. We want to leave a “legacy”. What will they think of
me when I’m gone? Well, they will think great things about you on the day of your
funeral. They will probably not build a monument of your likeness or dedicate a day
after you. All but those who know you really well will forget about you. They may
be reminded of you occasionally and hopefully they will think of some way you
reflected the love of your Lord Jesus. But a “legacy”?, come on.
Or you have a great thing to do for God and as you are on your way out you
see your toddler has put oatmeal in your shoe, or someone has put ten inches of
snow on the ground. Don’t they know you have important work to do?! Apparently
not. So maybe you go back inside and heat up some soup or sort your socks or
something. Suddenly it’s all not so important.
It’s good to be small. Thank God for the small tedious things in life that
reminds us that we are small and human and loved by God. On days when we
catch ourselves feeling a little big in the head it’s good to have to pick up the dog
doo and wipe a runny nose and tackle dandelions in our shorts. Let’s face it; we
can’t even stop the spread of those rotten dandelions let alone the force of pride
within.
God can handle the pride of our hearts; He leaves the dandelions to us. We can
submit our hearts desire fully to God and know that He hears us and will continue to
keep us on course. When we entertain prideful thoughts, he is faithful to help us if
we are faithfully seeking Him. He is not interested in slapping us down. We need
not be afraid to ask Him to teach us to walk in humility.
Often people say they are afraid to ask God to do this because they assume it
means He is going to make them grovel through harsh circumstances. That is not
the God we serve. Hard circumstances do come our way and in Christ we always
benefit. But if our desire is to walk humbly, God will teach us. He is gentle and kind
with us. If your child comes to you and asks you to help him to obey, you are eager
to help him with kindness (after you pick yourself up off the floor). Our God does
not have the need to be “over” us – He just is over us and He knows it so does not
have to prove it.
Nothing can be received from God without humility. Just as we received
forgiveness in the beginning of our salvation, so will we receive everything from
God. If what we think we have has not come through the door of humility, we didn’t
get it from God. If there is not an awareness of total poverty before God,
consistently, we are in trouble. We are in danger of serving the enemy when we
serve God and man according to our own sensibilities. Often, we let other’s
expectations and our fleshly ideas cut short the brilliance of God that we could have
experienced. God is not constrained by our arrogance. His name will be great
among the nations. Let us seek Him in honesty about our love affair with our egos.

Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

We will not be ashamed when we toss off our own ideas and embrace Jesus
against our human instinct and “better judgment”. Most are somewhat eager to be
“humble” before the needy in helping strangers. But how low are we before our
family members, co workers and fellow Christians? We will only go so far until we
draw the line of defense. Let us go all the way in the power of Jesus. Our Master
took the low road. We can’t be with Him if we insist on the high road. Our flesh is
very deceptive and will do anything to salvage pride. There is no power in us but
there is incredible power in Jesus and He is on the low road. Know that there is
nothing anyone can take from you when it is worthless to you, including, and
especially your self -worth. Love of ourselves and protection of our egos cannot co-
exist with following Jesus.

1 Cor 27 – 29
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose
what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and
despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things
that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

God did not choose those of us who were fools and despised and low to
make us look good to others but to shame them. Our “foolishness” in following
Jesus beyond worldly reason shows the greatness of His power. Remember, you
foolish, you despised, you weak, who you were when God rescued you. Remember
the trash He picked you out of. How can we walk around as though we have
anything to merit our standing with God? How can we now try to use our reason in
determining what we will and won’t do and where we will and won’t go? We, who
belong to Jesus, were dead and are now alive. I don’t think we are in a position to
decide what our lives are to look like. We need to reevaluate our goals and desires.
Jesus is moving. We will follow or continue to lag?

Lord Jesus, forgive us our arrogance and pride. You are merciful beyond measure
and only because of your great Name can we even ask for forgiveness. We are an
arrogant people and I ask that you will break our hearts and make us able to see
your beauty and our error. Deal with your people according to your greatness and
compassion.

Our tender Jesus knows our frailty and He is quick to listen. Do not hesitate
to go to Him now and ask for help. He calls us to be with Him and He intends that it
be so. We can count on Him to do what is right and good in us to help us to see
things His way. He calls you to walk, there must be a step. Go from wherever you
are. If you don’t feel you can even take one step, cry out from there and He will
show you what hinders you. We are blind to our own sins until the Holy Spirit
illuminates it for us. Ask, and He will be faithful.

Desperation:

Hear my cry Lord,

Hear my plea

Make me love you

With all of me

Have my everything take my all

Hear my prayer heed my call

Rule my mind my every breath

Give me liberty or give me death

Ps 18:27
For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. For
it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness

Ps 40:17
As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You
are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God

May the crowning glory of our lives be found in sackcloth and ashes; in
bitterness of tears and desperate cries. May the poverty of our souls be known and
carried on our knees; on our faces or perhaps just sitting in the blubbering messes
that we are with the knowledge that there is nowhere else to turn but to our Great
God. Not very dignified, no, but very safe.

John 6:68
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we
have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Where else but to God in Christ is there to go for the child of God? Shall we
run into ourselves or to the world? In Jesus alone is there life and those who know
Him cannot deny that truth.
Fall at the feet of your Jesus; beg Him to keep you and to tether you to Himself.
Only He can save us from our tendency to wander and only He can warm cold
hearts.

Rev 3:21
“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I
also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

In each of the addresses to the churches in Revelation, there are promises

made to “the one who conquers”. Jesus intends for His people to be moving and
building and working in His strength. This conquering must begin today. We cannot
say we will conquer and get serious in seeking God simply when we feel like it or
when circumstances are better. The very idea of conquering implies battle,
movement and war. We can do nothing except in the power of God through Jesus
given us in His Spirit. We need to realize we have no hope, no place and no peace
but in Jesus Christ. We need to be desperate to abide in His presence. We need to
be desperate enough that we will throw our lives away for it.
We love Him because he loved us first. We may need to ask Jesus to show
His love to us that our love may flourish. God has done all that is needed and has
done more than we could have imagined to prove his intentions toward us. He
certainly has done far more than we deserve. How can we ask Him to show us
more? It is desperation! It is a desperate soul that lays it all on the table; all or
nothing. Make me live or make me die. What could be worse than life in a cold
dark dungeon? Nothing could be worse than a life like that; just enough light and
food to remind you that it is out there. That is a lukewarm heart. Would death not
be preferable? We cannot change our own hearts but we can beg. We have no
power but let us draw Him to our cause with our pitiful cries and broken hearts. God
will not deny a broken heart.

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O
God, you will not despise.

Thank you, Lord, that when all is said and done and thought about; you stand to
save your people. You are our sun and shield. (Psalm 84) Come to us Jesus and
warm our hearts. Show us your greatness and love; we have no one else, for you
have purchased us.

We may at times feel like we are hidden away in a lukewarm or cold heart.
The roots of trees in winter are cold and dark. They have forgotten the rain of
mercy and the heat of the sun of righteousness. Spring is coming! The trees will
once again bear green leaves and fruit. Will God be less faithful to His people than
to trees? He will be faithful. He will restore us.

Psalm 42:5
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, me salvation and my God.