Humility re visited

I recently heard about the fall of a very proud man and family. It jogged my memory of one of my earlier posts. I prayerfully submit it for your consideration.


The power of humility

The bible has much to say about humility and not many good examples to follow.

Here are the few I can find,

Moses, The most used phrase in the bible is "And God said unto Moses", 125 times God spoke to this incredible man.

Yet " the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. "

Lets look at the pre-anointed Saul -
He did not broadcast his promotion, or even attend his own coronation ceremony.

"Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?"

He clearly did not see himself as anyone of great importance.
God recognized his humility by saying " you were small in your own eyes."

Then the lowly Jesus Himself.
He could of been born anywhere, He chose a stable.
He could of chosen any family, He chose a lower income working family.
Instead of choosing great personal appearance, He chose "no form or comeliness. "
For his triumph entry he could of chosen a lighting bolt or made his grand entrance riding one of those war horses described in Revelations. Instead He chose a humble colt.
With all of his attributes He could of been a man of reputation and influence. Instead "he made himself of no reputation. "
He was a king, but" He took on the form of a servant."
He could put all of his critics to shame and silence, instead "He answered them not a word. "

Jesus avoided fame. He miraculously healed people and then ordered them to keep it to themselves, telling no one about their experience.

He said of himself, " I am gentle and lowly in heart."

You're most like Christ when refusing to fight critics: " But Jesus kept silent, refusing to answer any accusation."

This is a accurate portrait of humility.


Now take me. - Better yet, do not take me.
And, if you will allow me to say so, we'll not be taking you either.
You and I struggle with this all the time, don't we?

And it's not because we are people of such great acclaim and attainments. None of these things are necessary to have a pride problem.

It's a human condition that plagues all levels of society. From the outcast to the highest social classes, from the waitress to the celebrity, from the oval office to the janitors closet.


"Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. "

Did you get that? .

Focus on the command: Humble yourselves.
Let's ignore the part about being exhaled for right now.

This is not a task you will want to be asking the Lord to do for you.
When God humbles people, He does so with a strong hand.
Sometimes, people don't survive the experience.

Here is a list of men that God humbled:

Pharaoh - By the time God was done, his nation was humbled, he was dead, and a large part of his military might was buried under water.

"And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?"

Consider what he did to the children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years

"And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."

If there were 3,000,000 people over the age of 20, that died during the 40 years of wandering.

3 million souls, divided by 365 days times 40 years equals 205.47 souls died per day
(3,000,000 / 14,600 = 205.47souls)
Their journey was a continual funeral burial procession. There was never a day that someone was not mourning the wasted life of a friend or relative. There were at least 547 funerals every day, seven days a week.

Can you see the high cost associated with God humbling a nation, a church, or a family?

Just a question, how many of our valiant are falling by the way, while we continue our egotistical posturing?

King Saul, who's refusal to humble himself, had the kingdom God had given him wrest from his grasp. Was tormented by an evil spirit and committed suicide, dying lost, lonely, tormented.

Remember what He did to Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon's almighty ruler who was reduced to grazing like an ox.

The great apostle Paul was humbled twice by God.
The first one brought about his conversion.
The second was an on going process, which served to keep him humbled enough to fulfill the call of God in his life.

"And lest I should be exalted above measure ... there was given to me a thorn in the flesh ... lest I should be exalted above measure"

The message here seems to be clear, Humble yourself or God will humble you.

Gods preferred means is if we " humble ourselves."

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Gods answer for healing a nation, a church, a home, a life... Humble fervent prayer.
"
There is restoration in humbling ourselves.

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

The dwelling place of God ... Is with the humble
Revival is proceeded by humility.

"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."

This is not a page out of any of the self-help books I have ever read.

"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

God resists the proud.

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

"...but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. "

The attention of God is focused upon those who have humbled themselves before Him.
Do you want God to pay attention to you?
Humble yourself.

And just how should we go about doing that?

1) Take a good look at the Lord. Spend some real time in his presence.

When Isaiah saw the Lord in all His majesty and holiness, the next thing he saw was his own sorry condition. "Then said I, 'Woe is me. I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people just like me. For my eyes have seen the King." ( see Woe is me )

When Isaiah saw himself his response was woe is me, for I am undone!

Humility is the result of coming face to face with God!


2) Be honest with yourself about yourself.

What do we have that was not given to us?
What do we possess that we will take with us?

Who am I and what is my fathers house?
Mix a little awe and wonder in all your doings.

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

"Consider thyself" ... Honest, self examination, trumps pride, and fosters humility and mercy.

3) Do tangible things to reinforce the humility you have chosen.

Go serve someone who can not do anything to bless or repay you.

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

Acts of generosity and kindness promotes the development of humility.

"And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

I am starting to feel more than just a little uncomfortable, are you?

4) Look at your speech. Cleanse it of its egotism.

We love for people to know about our degrees, and the success stories of your pasts. In church circles, we call attention the size of our church, to the numbers of those who responded to the gospel, and we do it from the purest of motives.

Our speech is a potpourri composed of honest love for God, and a desire to please him, mixed in is a genuine love for man kind, and a heart felt desire to answer the call to ministry. Tainting this sweet aromatic confection is pride, conceit, insecurity, a competitive streak, ego, and what the KJV called "vainglory."

A humble woman of the streets, brought a fragrant offering to the Lord and "the house was filled with the odour of the ointment". Absent from this aromatic sacrifice were pride, ego, and vainglory.


5) Keep it up. It's a daily thing.

Yesterday's humbling of yourself before the Lord will not suffice for today. The human heart is a congenital rebel, a determined force, and a powerful master. Its pride will not go away easily, will not admit defeat permanently, and will not leave you alone for long.

The power of humility.

Ahab sold himself to do evil in the sight of God. When he heard the words of the prophet, he humbled himself, and judgment was stayed.

"And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, thou knowest how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days:"

The power of humility is undeniable.
The power of humility turned back Gods judgment.


Humility is patient and kind, humility dose not boast or envy, it is not arrogant, or rude.

Humility dose not insist on it's own way.

Humility keeps no scorecard, remembers not past grievances.

Humility makes it easy to repent, and looks for ways to restore.

Pride demands people choose sides, and remain at odds, long after the offense has been forgotten.

The power of humility, is it restores broken relationships.

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud."

Pride brings destruction.

When David sinned with Bathsheba, then committed murder to cover it up, the prophet Nathan confronted him. He said, " By this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme."

The sins David committed to cover his sin, was much worse than his original crime.

Humility was grossly lacking in Davids life as he signed an innocent mans death warrant.

God humbled David, as a result,
- the sword never departed from Davids life
- his child died
- his life was marred beyond repair

Destroyed were his family, his reputation, and his legacy.

Here are a few more verses on humility. The bible has more to say about humility and us "humbling ourselves" than many of the subjects we hear preached regularly.

"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility. "

"By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life."

"Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:"

"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:"

A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

I have been in Pentecost most of my life, my wife and I were trying to make a list of humble people that we have known... It was a very short list.

Thank you for reading today, as always your comments are always welcome.

I am writing this first about myself and to myself.

I hope it causes you to examine your own heart and life. The call of God is to excellence in manners and spirit.


Humbly considering myself and praying for mercy on those who are being chastened of the Lord.

Lm


































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The church by the train tracks.

I quoted from the book: "How do you kill 11 million people" a few posts back. The following is another interesting quote from the book .

In his book, Pastor Lutzer shared an eyewitness account of how some church members reacted to the Nazism of their times:

“I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it because what could we do to stop it.

A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance, and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars. Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews in route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us. We knew the time the train was coming, and when we heard the whistle blow, we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church, we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.”

And then the eyewitness shared with Pastor Lutzer, “ Although years have passed, I still hear the train whistle in my sleep. God forgive me, forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians and yet did nothing to intervene.”





When faced with overwhelming evidence of wrong most of us respond by singing louder.


Proverbs 24:11-12
Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work?

I ask every one of you reading, are you just going to keep singing louder while everything precious in our country is destroyed?

Singing louder seems to be the favorite tactic of many of our political and spiritual leaders.

Piece by piece our country and our nation is being dismantled, and we cover the loss by just sing louder.

In our personnel lives often the path of least resistance includes pretending ignorance and plenty of loud worship.

Ignoring the evidence does not make you spiritual or diminish your guilt.
It just makes you a mental coward.

Truth always calls us to action.



You can sing louder, or you can accept the challenge that truth would reveal...




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A few considerations from the story of a battle between a father and a son.

A few considerations from the story of a battle between a father and a son.

A problem brewed between David and his son for over 40 years

Finally Solomon began to usurp and attempted to over throw his father throne.

2 Samuel 15:14
And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us,

and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

David's first concern was the city and the innocent people who lived in it.

2 Samuel 15:26
But if he (God) thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.

Secondly David understood God might be done with him, and was willing to accept the verdict of heaven.

2 Samuel 18:5
And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying,

Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.

And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning

The heart of a father was seeking a way to spare his son.

Let's look at the actions of the son.

2 Samuel 16:22
So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.

Absalom purposefully tried to embarrass his father.

2 Samuel 17:12
So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

His plans included the total destruction of his father. With no plans for mercy or restitution.

It is interesting Absalom's attitude and plans did not change the action and plans of grace by David towards his son.

This is a horrific story, it is one of the saddest stories of communication and relationship break downs, in all of scripture.

Absalom is and was wrong for his actions and conduct towards his father. There is no excuse for his rebellion and actions.

David for all of his parental failures, offers one of the clearest views of how a father feels when one of his sons goes astray.

Too many "fathers" fortify themselves in the city, and the innocent souls be damned.

It does not matter how many are wounded and destroyed in the battle.

Too many "fathers" fight to hold what is theirs with no consideration that God might be through with them.

Too many "fathers" have no plan for mercy, or concern for the welfare of their sons over minor and trifle offenses.

If one ever appears to have been disrespectful "off with their heads."

In everything I submitted to you as a son to a father, why have you not treated me like a son?

Answer: because you were not my father.

Your actions have proved you know not the heart or the ways of a father.

"O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

Finally there was no victory celebration ... How could David be happy? His son was dead.

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Note to all fathers in the gospel.

"O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

Proof of sonship rest in the heart of the father. Most sons spend much of their lives disappointing their fathers. But a father loves on anyway ...

1 Kings 3:25
And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

Solomon knew a real mother would never allow any situation to turn out in a manner the her child would be harmed.

Proof of sonship rested squarely on the parent.

"But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.".

The biblical example for working together is as a father with a son

An elder with a younger man.

But the test of sonship can only be answered by the father.

Note to apostolic preachers...

Don't tell the world you are their father in the gospel, if you are the one seeking to kill them.

You are not their father for you have not the heart of a father.

How different the story of the prodigal son would of turned out if the father in that story had sought the destruction of his wayward son.

The way many Elders have sought the death of their sons in the gospel, we are left to wonder if they were ever their father in the gospel?

"O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"
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