Thursday, November 20

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2014

Ezekiel 40:28–41:26

James 4:1–17

Psalm 118:19–29

Proverbs 28:3–5

 

 

“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

 

“’God opposes the proud

    but shows favor to the humble.’

 

“Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

 

 

Tonight, at the Chinese students’ group, we will be discussing the Christian’s call to humility.  For us, this most unnatural attribute must become ingrained deeply within us.  Our growth in Christ and proper attitudes towards God, others, and ourselves depend on our becoming humble.

 

Why does humility not come naturally?  In the Scriptures, we read over and over about our sinful nature and its inherent pride.  Like Adam and Eve so long ago in the Garden, we have followed the temptation of the Evil One before that first sin:  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Each person has this desire for self-direction and self-exaltation.  Today’s celebrity culture shows that we have become experts in marketing the self as the ultimate product:  no talent required!

 

Andrew Murray, a 19th-century South African missionary and pastor, wrote a classic called Humility, in which he reflected on this most crucial subject.  He argued in that book that the life of Christ within us may give birth to true humility; only humility through Christ may overwhelm our pride from Adam.  We recognize that these two powers rage within us:  “Pride and humility are the two master powers, the two kingdoms at war for the eternal possession of man. There never was or ever will be but one humility, and that is the humility of Christ.  Pride and self have the ‘all’ of man, until man has his all in Christ.  He only fights the good fight whose desire is that the self-idolatrous nature that he has from Adam may be put to death by the supernatural humility of Christ brought to life in him.”

 

Murray further provides his “secret of secrets”:  “humility is the soul of true prayer.   Until the spirit of the heart is renewed, until it is emptied of all earthly desires and stands in a habitual hunger and thirst after God, which is the true spirit of prayer; until then, all our prayer will be more or less like lessons given to the students.”  A humble heart comes expectantly before a God Who faithfully provides.

 

Jonathan Edwards observed that “nothing sets a person so much out of the devil’s reach as humility.”  Stated differently, nothing sets us apart for loving and honoring God than humility.

 

How may we develop humility?  I am definitely no expert, but the wisdom I have received suggests that a fervent love-relationship with God lies at the center.  Only when we recognize His awesome power and grace do we see ourselves rightly.  We show our humility through prayer and a grateful heart.  From this humility, we may gain a tremendous confidence, knowing that we rely on a faithful and loving God Who never abandons His children.

 

 

Lord God, help us to see ourselves in the light of Your awesome power and grace.  Give us humble hearts, and renew our minds to view our strengths, weaknesses, and every situation in life in proper perspective.  We are in desperate need of Your daily provision of grace.  Apart from You, we are nothing.  Draw us close to Your heart, and bear in us Your fruit, sprouting from humility and obedience.  We love You and thank You for sending Your Son to live, suffer, and die in our place.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.

 

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