The Demonstration Of Humility

Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It’s just the opposite of what we think, or what we want.  It’s that old nature - new nature thing…  What is humility?  Considering God the highest, and others higher than you.  What is humility?  A guarantee.  Humble yourself, and God will exalt you.  Sometimes, He cannot exalt you - until you humble yourself.   Humble yourself means it’s a choice, you choose to.  What is humility demonstrated by?  Obedience.  Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.  To be humble, you need to consider someone else higher.  First – God – the Highest of all, then your neighbor.  Humility always results in 1) obedience to demonstrate it, and 2) honor, (exaltation) the reward of it.  The obedience is immediate, the reward isn’t until later.  Obedience is your part, exalting is His part, both the how and the timing. Humility is coming under.  God’s authority, and the authority of those He has placed over you.  Everyone is under authority, just like submission – coming under another’s mission or vision.  To come under another’s mission or vision, it takes humility.  Everyone is under authority, whether a parent or teacher or boss, or policeman, or a government official, or a spouse.  God said we are to submit to one another in love, considering others’ needs and interests more important than ours.  To submit to God, you must recognize His authority, know what He said – so you know what to submit to, you need to believe that it’s worth doing, or you wouldn’t submit to it.  And you need to be willing to do it.  What if you were humble?  Humble is willing to do what you don’t really want to do.  Because if it was what you wanted, it wouldn’t really be submission.  Every time we humble ourselves before God, and those in God given authority, we demonstrate life and love of Jesus, and God can exalt us.  Is there any area of your life that you need to humble yourself in?  Sometimes, before your spouse, an attitude or opinion, or position that you held to, that is not humble, but prideful.  That’s what it means to submit to God, and resist the devil,  Submit to God is humility, resist the devil, is to resist pride, and the indulgence of self – the tendency toward sin that is self-serving, but not in the long run. Pleasure, but just for a season.  What’s the opposite of humility or submission?  Rebellion – resisting God, resisting His authority rather than submitting to it.  Rather than resist the devil, resisting humility – joins him.  He hates humility, he hates submission, he won’t… but he will… His day is coming.  Praying that you will resist the devil, not resist God.  Praise God that humility has a reward.  God didn’t have to do that – he might have said, just be humble – it’s your duty - with no promise that He will exalt you.  But God loves to exalt the humble, he loves to raise up the meek and lowly, those who choose to come under what they don’t have to, but choose to.  You’ll come under something, there’s only God’s way or man’s way, and you’ll resist one or the other.  Praying that God will help you choose the humility of Christ – so He can exalt you to higher places.  Humility starts with His plans for you today, and His Word for you today.  Praying that you will submit to Him, and resist the other, the result is as different as the heavens are higher than the earth.  It will lead you to the Good that He longs to give you.
 
Love you all,
dad