Again, it is important because the words you choose to write down force your thoughts to get specific enough to be summed up by certain words… Do you want God to direct you or give you insight? Do you want wisdom? Do you need forgiveness? Do you need faith? Just write down a brief prayer, one or two sentences, and ask for God to be with you right now.
2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As you read through these passages, just allow God to show you what your are diligently adding to your faith. You began by placing your faith in Christ. Now, He says add moral excellence… How are you doing? Maybe you need to stop their and allow God to search your heart regarding the way you live.
Are there areas that need to be sharpened? Are there areas where you have allowed integrity to slide?
Write those things down and ask God to give you strength to add this first thing to your life. Use your pen and paper to do a little life assessment regarding knowledge, self-control, godliness, etc.
Finish this morning by trying to get one thought as to how God wants you to live from here. What would it look like for you to be diligent? How might adding self-control shape your day?
Lord, I ask for you to penetrate my heart. Give me patience not to rush this process. In fact, this whole thing is an act of faith, because I am not sure what to expect from this. But I will move through this and I look forward to seeing how you are forming me into the person you have created me to be. Amen.
]]>1 Peter 1:3-7
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Notice the language in the first 3 verses. Great mercy—new birth—living hope—these are what we’ve been given in Christ. Our hope towards what will one day be everything we need. It requires faith to believe this. We are shielded as in watched over and held onto until our salvation is fulfilled. This only happens in one of two ways. Either Jesus returns or we stop breathing.
But the hope lies even beyond that! This is wonderful news. But now comes the sobering news. Look at verse 6 & 7. What is it that proves our faith to be real? What causes our faith to bring glory and honor and praise to Christ? It is endurance. It is REMAINING even when it doesn’t feel right.
The reason is not to prove it to us as though we are doubting that. But to prove in a way that reveals our faith to be the most precious thing we have. This is not an exaggeration, but precisely a Biblical truth. “So that your faith-of greater worth than gold.”
So how does this help us? Remain. Remain. Remain. If a man remains in me—I will remain in him. This is a reality of Christ. This will prove to be more precious, so remain. Rejoice. Remain and rejoice. There you go…
Lord, this can sound so trite when life can be so hard. Shift my values so I focus as much on building my faith as I do my wealth. Continue to cause my faith to be a reality and I will endure whatever you call me to… because this is my living hope and my eternal life. I will trust you in that. Amen.
]]>Humility begins with seeing God. God is worthy to receive the gratitude of kings and to be the object of our songs. He is great and worthy. And so we set our eyes on Him as we humble ourselves before Him.
In verse 6, we see the heart of God. Those who are humbled before Him; He regards. He considers and His heart is moved. God responds to the humble- with grace. However, the haughty remain at a distance.
This is one of the first things we should check when God seems distant. When God seems far, we stiffen up and demand to know where He is. But our posture is what moves God…
Our humility, He regards. Our pride puts distance between God and us.
Our prideful position leaves us on our own. God is active- He is just actively opposed to us. So we see Him and are drawn by His greatness and He is drawn by our humility.
James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
This passage speaks of the stability that accompanies humility. We are free from grasping for control and demanding that our lives work as they should. Instead, we are positioned under His promise to revive and save.
And He will accomplish all that concerns me. What a great way to live!
Lord, I draw near. I come to Your presence to see You and marvel. Give me eyes to see You throughout my day. When I sense distance, let me respond with humility. Help me to trust You to accomplish everything that concerns me. Amen.
]]>This passage is sobering. Verses like these cause me to look deep inside to test my allegiance to my Savior and my commitment to His cause. Jesus left us a trail. A trail of suffering that originated as He emptied Himself and was the path for God to exalt Him.
I think of it like this: His life begins where my life ends.
Jesus left us an example to follow. Now, I do not believe we are to go around looking for ways to suffer, but we should not be surprised when following Him requires sacrifice. And we see how Jesus did this. He not only provides an example of giving His life away, He shows us how.
Jesus followed the voice of His Father to the cross. Here, He is tortured and punished unjustly. He knew no sin (See 2 Corinthians 5:17). He was reviled and He did not respond to the injustice- prematurely. He held fast to the purposes of God. And it required Him to humble Himself to the point of death (this is Philippians 2:8).
He uttered no threats. He didn’t tell them they were going to pay. He remained fixed on the purposes established by His Father. And we see how at the end of today’s passage. A simple phrase…
“He kept entrusting Himself…”
As soon as things don’t go our way, we are quick to give up humility and threaten anyone around- “You’d better not mess with me!” But Jesus modeled an extraordinary posture- He kept entrusting Himself. He remained confident in the purposes of His Father and firmly in His Father’s Hand. He knew God is good and God is just. And knowing that allowed Him to remain.
Today, we must keep entrusting ourselves. In the face of opposition and when we may go unnoticed or be overlooked- we do not have to grasp. For God is good and He is just and His purposes prevail. So keep entrusting yourself- confident in His purpose and firmly in His hand.
Lord, I marvel at Your posture. You did not kill those who killed You. You did not threaten, but remained. Help me to remain in You today. Help me to be patient and resist the temptation to demand my way or force my agenda. But instead, to keep entrusting myself to You. Amen.
]]>Being exalted by God seems like a strange motivation for cultivating humility. But this is exactly the principle we have been exploring.
Luke 14:11
“Whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
James 4:10
“Humble yourself before God and He will exalt you.”
But humbling ourselves means we must be willing to empty ourselves.
In our passage for today we get a glimpse of what this looks like. Jesus emptied Himself of all of His claims and rights to embrace the life of His Father.
Jesus saw beyond the fleeting pleasures of this world and saw glory that would span thousands of years to reach you and me, and into eternity. Seeing God on His throne and knowing His worth leaves everything else pale. In His hand, there is nothing worth grasping. And our lives empty at His feet to receive from Him. And what we receive is the righteousness of His Son and the full measure of His grace such that as we are exalted- He is exalted.
Lord, to be exalted sounds like it goes against cultivating humility until I realize that to receive your life, I must empty mine. And this is where I am confronted with my faith in You. Lord, I trust You, help my distrust. I want Your life for me more than I want my own. I declare this by faith and ask You to bring it to reality- that You will be exalted. Amen.
]]>It is not uncommon for innovation to be met with resistance. With change often comes fear and doubt. Yet, the amount of backlash for the new pride prevention service known as The Meek Squad has been astounding. As the CEO of the Knowego Corporation, I feel it necessary to address the latest charges being made against our behavior modification technology.
The National Association of Neck Specialists (N.A.N.S.) held a televised press conference on Sunday with the sole purpose of trying to discredit the services the Meek Squad provides to the general public. The event was sponsored by manufacturers of Memory Foamz™, which ran advertisements for their neck pillow throughout the telecast. Specifically, N.A.N.S. stated that only an adjustment, tweak or occasional “tune-up” by a licensed chiropractor is needed to cure a person‚s stiff neck.
To go into detail about the numerous inaccuracies stated in their speech would be near to impossible. Instead, I wanted to highlight a few key errors to show how their argument is completely invalid. I can think of nowhere better to start than the causes of stiff neck syndrome. N.A.N.S. wants you to believe that individuals irritate the levator scapula muscle by turning their head sharply while typing, engaging in long phone calls without a headset, improper positioning while sleeping or exposure of the neck to a cold draft.
While we do agree that individuals stressing over having “the weight of the world on their shoulders” stretches the levator scapula muscle, the Knowego Corporation strongly believes arrogance and smugness levels determine the likelihood of an individual suffering from stiff neck syndrome. Numerous medical studies have shown that pride, more than any other factor, places the greatest strain on the neck causing individuals to become out of alignment not only in their spines and shoulders, but their souls as well. Their findings come from Habakkuk 2:4, which states, “Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him.”
How does someone who suffers from a bout of pride cure his or her stiff neck? N.A.N.S. wants you to believe that scheduling an appointment with a chiropractor is the only remedy. However, the Knowego Corporation stresses this is just a quick fix at best. Humility is a posture of submission with a stiff neck being resistance on our part to a life outside of our own.
On top of a visit by the Meek Squad, the only proven antidote to a stiff neck is daily posture exercises. Performing a few sets of Bended Knee and Bowed Head poses builds up humility by displaying strength restrained. No longer will a stiff neck force you to look out for your own personal interest. With a pain-free levator scapula, you will have the range of motion in your neck needed to perform acts without selfishness and vain conceit by having the ability to look out for the interest of others (Philippians 2:3-4).
Humbly,
- Rick Humbell, CEO Knowego Corporation
]]>The command is to never act from selfish ambition or vain conceit. We must ruthlessly test our motives by positioning ourselves before God. And in this posture of humility- we prepare.
We prepare to have the same attitude that was in Christ Jesus. We have to have our motives weighed and allow our heart for our God to drive our actions. No empty conceit (vainglory) or selfish ambition. Instead we will be moved by the glory of Christ and His love for us.
When we are loved, we are compelled to regard others. All of our claims and demands are no longer worthy to be grasped- but our lives are emptied in order to take up His.
And in His hand we are free from grasping. We are free from demanding. We are free to give of ourselves and serve others. This all begins as we humble ourselves before Him and develop His attitude.
Lord, I bring my life before You. I ask You to weigh my motives and deal with the empty conceit and selfish ambition that I am so prone to be driven by. I want to trust You and follow You. I want my life to be about Yours. This begins with my attitude. Remind me and quicken me to have this attitude and consider others around me. Thank You for Your grace. Amen.
]]>James opens this passage by calling our attention to our disregard for the teaching of Scripture. His question begs the obvious. Scripture was written for a purpose: God’s purpose. It is as if James is taking us by the shoulders, looking us deep in the eye and saying, “scripture was not written for your bedtime reading pleasure, it was written to instruct you and draw you closer to God.” This is serious stuff. The Christians James was writing to demonstrated by their actions that they believed the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification was the most important pursuit of humanity.
God does not politely request our allegiance. He commands it. Not because He is insecure, afraid He’ll go unnoticed- but He is God and we are made to see Him and honor Him as God. Anything that is elevated to in our lives to the place to receive our honor and allegiance is an idol. C.J. Mahaney, in his book Humility, says this elevation of idols are “contending for supremacy” in our lives. God desires our full passion to be devoted to Him. It grieves Him to see us pursue lesser things.
At this point, you may stop and pause. It may seem odd, or even troubling, that God describes Himself as jealous for the devotion of men. However, this is truly an act of love. If we take this train of thought a little further, you will recognize that God’s desire that men be devoted to Him and glorify Him is the reason He sent Jesus to redeem the Church. This is why He gives a greater grace! God patiently waits for us, loves us and never quits His pursuit of us until He makes us wholly His.
God opposes the proud: those who will not move, who believe they deserve everything, who cheapen grace and do not recognize the cost of the cross. The power of God’s jealous love is that it wins and rewards. God gives His gift of grace to the humble.
Lord, I humble myself before you. I have messed up and I need you desperately. I have allowed lesser things to contend for supremacy in my life. Instead, I want you to reign supreme in my life. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for never giving up your pursuit of me. Amen.
]]>“Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith.
“Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man,
So that he does not stay at home.
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all nations
And collects to himself all peoples.
God has a vision for each of us and He is at work in our lives each
and every day.
Our pride causes us to doubt Gods promises and shift our focus onto
our circumstances. The more we try to take control the more we are
pulled out of alignment with Gods vision; our soul is no longer right
within us.
It doesn’t take long to develop an unstable lifestyle of looking for
satisfaction in ourselves by feeding our own desires rather than
finding the stability that comes from trusting God with our lives.
This passage closes with a glimpse of how devastating our own vision
can be and the eventual downfall that it leads us toward. The more we
feed our prideful desires the larger our appetite becomes and we will
continue to feed it no matter what the cost, even if it kills us.
But the righteous will live by his faith. To get our souls back into
alignment with Gods vision we must stop doing what we think is best
and start doing what God knows is best, because His vision will not
fail.
Lord, my pride can cause me to become consumed with my needs and
desires to the point of death. But I know that is not your vision for
my life. Help me, in my lack of faith, to find the stability that
comes from trusting you with my life today.
What is pride? We all recognize it when we see it. Prideful people have an inflated opinion of themselves. They presume their thoughts and opinions are always right. Pride rejects and resents wise instruction and correction. Let’s be honest: prideful people get on our nerves.
But what is pride, really?
Pride is self-delusion! Pride happens when we demand the status and position God. Pride happens when we refuse to acknowledge our dependence upon God.
So, pride is not just an annoying character trait. It brings disgrace and, eventually, destruction! If we choose pride, and refuse to humble ourselves before God, He will oppose us! Most of us do not set out to be prideful and self-centered. Our intention is to be good. However, it is our direction, not our intention, that determines our destination.
What is your direction? Are you on a prideful path? We must examine ourselves closely. Identify the seeds of pride in your life and root them out quickly and completely. Seek after God in such a way that your life is changed because you are formed more closely in His image.
Why do the humble have wisdom? It is because the humble do not trust their motives and tremble before God’s word. They take correction, quickly confess their mistakes and alter their lives accordingly. In sharp contrast, the proud deceive themselves into ignoring the reality of their conduct and rush headlong onto a path of destruction.
Lord, give me eyes to see my prideful ways. Give me ears to hear wise advice and counsel. Help me root out the pride in my life and keep me from disgrace. I acknowledge my complete and total dependence upon you. I humble myself before you. Grant me the resolve to actively take a posture of humility so that I might gain wisdom and be formed more closely in your image. Amen.
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