Tag Archives: humble

THE GOD PRINCIPLE.060415

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Boy celebrating mother's day. little child lad giving flowers yellow tulips to his mom mother studio shot on blue

In Psalm 18:25-27, David says, “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.  For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.”  In Matthew 5:3-12, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed (happy) are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the meek (the humble) for they shall inherit the earth.” Continue reading →

GOD IS MOVIN’. 052215:

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Tre muliTwo brothers and I had a discussion in our office building this morning.  We do this once a week usually; to talk about what God is doing in our lives.  This time we were talking about the standard we use to decide what is right and wrong in making decisions in our lives.  We were talking about whether it’s right (OK) to use torture to get our enemies to tell us what they know about their plans and operations.  One brother said it is definitely OK to sacrifice one guy’s comfort (or even his life) to save the lives of a bunch of others, especially if those people are ‘our’ people.  He said it was reasonable, even admirable to act in that fashion. Continue reading →

BE LIKE JESUS. 042815

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Teacher talking with students in the clasroomIn Matthew 10:24-25, Jesus said, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough that the student be like his teacher, and a servant be like his master.”  Like it says in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind (this attitude) be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.”  (That’s humble and willing to serve)  I pray these verses for you and me.  I pray we can BE LIKE JESUS.  That will definitely change our lives.

Seek God With All Your Heart. 040815

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MeditationDeuteronomy 4:29-31:  If [even after worshipping idols] you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you .  .  . when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

What does it mean, ‘With All Your Heart”?  Yes, I know, it means that you’re really serious; that you really want to have a relationship with God; that you want the benefits of having a close relationship with Him, because what you’ve been doing definitely isn’t working.

Sounds like, from the next sentence, that if you’re tired of going on without God, and you’ve done a whole lot of really stupid stuff, (like worshipping something besides God), and all these [bad] things come upon you .  .  . when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice.  .  .  God won’t forsake you or destroy you or forget the covenant He made with your fathers, because He is a merciful God. Continue reading →

FISHERS OF MEN. 040215

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Fishers of menHe said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matt. 4:19.  What does that mean?  I mean really, what does that mean to you and me in this day and age? OK I’m ready, tell me what ‘Follow Me’ means.  Does it mean ‘walk behind Me’?  Or does it mean ‘Do what I do’? Or maybe, ‘Be like Me.’?  Think about that.  You decide.  What does it mean to you? Continue reading →

OBEDIENCE. 032515

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Ephesians 2.8In the 22nd Chapter of Genesis is the story of when God told Abraham to get his son Isaac, the ‘Son of God’s Promise’, and take him up on a mountain, and “offer him there as a burnt offering.”  The very next verse in the story says, “So Abraham got up early the next morning and started out.”

It really is clear in the Bible, that from the beginning, God’s preferred means of reconciling Himself to men (really His only method and means) is by grace through faith; and this episode is but one of many examples of that message found in the Bible. Continue reading →

God’s Servant.021015

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In 2 Timothy 2: 24-26, Paul says to Timothy, (Tex’s paraphrase)  “God’s servant must not argue, but be gentle, ready and able to teach, patient (as in ‘love suffers long’), humbly teaching those who oppose him; maybe God will let them see and accept the truth, so they can escape the trap of the devil, and stop doing his will.”

Do you feel the love in this verse?  It follows the “Love Chapter” I Corinthians 13. ‘Don’t argue with them’; that’s the part about not demanding your own way.  ‘Gentle’; that’s all about being kind, not irritable or grouchy, not boastful or proud or rude.  ‘Ready and able to teach’; loving enough to put up with them ‘not getting it’; to continue telling them the truth.  ‘Humbly’– when they say something mean and tacky, you don’t have to gig ‘em back; because the Spirit in you can believe the best for them, hope the best for them, and never give up praying for them.

This works; even for little kids and teenagers (LOL!); sometimes even for old people who never really grew up.  ‘Course the whole point is that you can do these things only when your heart is totally surrendered to God, so that it is not you that’s doing anything, but God’s Holy Spirit, Who is pouring through you, leading you and them into all truth.

GOD IS GOING TO LIFT YOU UP! 011715

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“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ . . [So] Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”  James 4: 6, 10

What does it mean when it says, “Lift you up”?  I used to think it meant “Lift you up in the eyes of the world, before other people.”  Make you look good, maybe even better than other people.  I must’ve missed the whole point.  Sometime back God told me that it means “Lift you up to Me.”  Since I came to my senses, that’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted anyway; to be close to God.  To get to spend every day with God.  To get to be there when God moves; in my life and in the lives of other people; to see God touch peoples’ hearts and see them changed forever.  Wow!

So the simple version of this verse is: if I will only recognize reality;  the reality of how little I am, and how big God is; the reality of how smart God is and how stupid I am; the reality of how weak I am and how strong God is; then God will give me grace, even MORE grace than he’s already given me; and He will lift me up to Himself, starting right now; not later; not when we all get to heaven; but RIGHT NOW!

 

The Pure in Heart and the Peacemakers: 010815

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Matt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons [and daughters] of God.

“Blessed are the pure in heart.”  Is there anybody out there who is really pure in heart?  I don’t know.  But I do know I have met very few.  And the few I’ve met have been little old people who have long ago given up thinking they’re somebody; given up any illusions of how great they are; surrendered their whole hearts to God; and God has poured a full dose of His purity into them.  Pure, unadulterated, whole, entire, love.  All about God, none about them.  That’s humble.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.”  Why them?  Why does God bless them?  Maybe it’s because in order to be a peacemaker, you have to know how to be humble.  You have to attribute the best motives to both sides, in order to find the middle ground of peace.  Maybe it’s because you can’t be the “ruler” and expect either side to genuinely agree to peace.  Maybe peace only comes from God (really), and if you’re going to “make peace”, you’re going to have to get your self and all of the self-ish stuff out of the way, because that’s the only way God can or will use you to “make peace”.  Did you ever think about the word “selfish”?  We always think it means an attitude of possession, usually of property, stuff, things.  But “self-ish” really is a lot more about me having my way.  Not just about stuff, but more about control.  My ball, my game, my goal posts, my way.  If you don’t do things my way, then I’m not going to play with you anymore.  I’m just going to pack my stuff and go home.  Not much humility in that, is there?

Like it has been said before, if you want to be like Jesus, you have to be humble.  Jesus was the same Person about Whom Paul said, in Philippians 2:5-8:  “Let this mind, [this attitude] be in you that was in Christ Jesus, .  .  .  who, being found as a man,  .  .  humbled himself and became a servant [a slave]  .  .  and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  So if you want to be pure in heart, so pure that you see God; if you want to be a peacemaker, so that you’re called a son [or daughter] of God; then you have to Be Like Jesus; and part of what that means is to be humble.

Humble Yourself? What Does That Mean? 010315

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2 Chronicles 7:14: [God said to Solomon], “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Boy, this verse says a lot.   God is not talking to just anybody; He is talking to those of us who claim the Name of Jesus.  Just us.  Not all the people who have not yet invited Him into their hearts.

And what is the first thing He says to us?  He says, “Humble yourselves.”  [Quit thinking you’re so great.  Remember Who is really in charge here.  Who is the Potter and who is the clay.  Who created the earth and everything in it.  Oh, and quit thinking that you are in control!  Quit thinking that you don’t need Me to help you.  If you really think that, you’re just not paying attention; you are completely ignoring reality.  Do you know why you think you don’t need Me?  It’s because of all your affluence.  The reason it is so hard for a rich man to get into heaven is because his money and his stuff insulate him from the hard facts of life; so he begins to think he really IS in control, and he really doesn’t need Me.]

As my Momma might say, “You need Jesus in the worst way.”  Sometimes when I visit people in the hospital, and they’re not expected to live much longer, I ask them if they’ve made peace with God.  If they have, they’re quick to tell me so.  If they’re not so sure, it gives them a chance to think, which is all I’m hoping and praying for.

One lady said, “Since my husband died about 10 years ago, me and God haven’t had much to say to each other.”  As a result I was able to share God’s love and mercy and forgiveness with her, and she, like the thief on the cross, went to be with Jesus in Paradise.