Humility Archives -

“Humble is Too Nice a Word”

It seems that “humble” is just too nice a word for what happened to Jesus. As I read the Gospels and review His passion—the whipping, beatings, and crucifixion, this was not “humbling,” but it is “humiliation.” Yes, the better word seems, at least to me, to be: “humiliation.”

This word keeps coming up in my life, especially in the last year and a half or so. Be it public or private, the “humbling” is often beyond unpleasant and nearly unbearable. I’m becoming more confident that the Lord is giving me a glimpse of what He went through in His coming down from heaven to earth: It is indeed a most profound humiliation. As our main text notes below, He was equal with Deity—He is God! And yet He didn’t grasp or cling to this privilege. Rather He chose to make Himself nothing. (One translation says, “made Himself of no reputation.” He did not brag about His being God; didn’t flaunt it in our faces.)

Continuing in this humiliation from heaven to earth, He took on the form of servant in human form. He did not come to be served, but to serve…. And the humiliation continued: He allowed Himself to be humiliated in death, and not just any death but the humiliating, shameful death of a crucifixion…. (In the Jewish mind, “Cursed is he who hangs on a tree” Dt. 21:22-23 & Gal. 3:13).

This is humiliation and not a mere humbling; publicly shamed and scorned; naked and beaten. The great God of the universe nailed to a tree by puny humans…. True humiliation, wouldn’t you agree?

And, oh, have I failed to note that He also carried the sins of all the world for all time? He—the Holy, sinless One—was so humiliated to carry our disgusting garbage of evil?

What ever small humiliations I have been going through these last 20 years or so cannot compare to His humiliation, for sure. But it does give me a taste of what He went through for me. A taste, mind you….

Do you, too, feel your humiliations are but a taste of what Jesus went through for you? Do they give you a greater appreciation for His coming down from heaven to earth? Your thoughts?

Main Text— Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV84)— ⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!

Additional Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?—2 Corinthians 11:23-29 (NIV84)

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.—Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV)

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.—Romans 12:3-4 (NIV84)

Heavenly Father, I accept this grace of humiliation. I accept it knowing that You are conforming me to be more like Your Son, Jesus. In His Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

“Spoiling an Attitude of Gratitude: Crying over Sour Milk”

Have you ever had those late night munches? You don’t want something huge; just a small bowl of some sweet breakfast cereal will do. You pour a bowlful as you mechanically grab the milk from the refrigerator, and pour just enough to get the right consistency of this precious snack. Raising the first spoonful to your mouth, you gag in utter horror! The milk is super sour!!! Ruining an entire bowl of your midnight delight….

As I was praying this morning and reviewing all the things and people and blessings I am thankful for, the Lord showed me my “sour milk”, which was spoiling my attitude of gratitude: Resentments; regrets…. Apparently I had a lot more that I realized.

Yes, I want to be thankful. I want to devote myself to prayer in a humble spirit of thankfulness, but my sweet delight of prayer was being spoiled by some super sour “milk”. The confession flowed as the tears poured.

Many resentments were unmet personal expectations. Many regrets were unfulfilled dreams and desires and poor choices. Wow. ….

Lately, I have changed my prayers for mercy to a recognition that the Lord’s mercy is already granted. The same for His grace. Instead of praying, “Lord, be gracious to me,” or “Lord, be merciful to me,” I am praying, “Lord, thank You for Your Grace and Your Mercy. They are fresh and new every morning, indeed, every moment.”

This awareness—coupled with the release of those resentments and regrets—has truly moved my attitude to a more sincere place of gratitude. Perhaps you’ve had a similar journey? Let us spur each other on, and perhaps we can check our “milk” before pouring it first, eh?

Main Text— Colossians 4:2 (NIV84)— ² Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Additional Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.—Philippians 2:14–16a (NIV)

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.—1 Peter 4:9 (NIV84)

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.—1 Timothy 1:5 (NIV84)

Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me for resenting ______, and forgive me for regretting ______. By Your shed blood cleanse me from this sin. Create in me a pure heart that I may be filled with sincere thankfulness. In Your Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

“I Missed His Fullness”

When I first came into a personal relationship with Jesus, I was more than impressed with His deity. In fact, I felt the Lord had called me to correct all the wrongs in various denominations. So I pounced on the New Testament, especially the Gospels and St. Paul’s letters. I loaded my theological Gatling Gun, removed the safety and was ready to unload its magazine at the first hint of any ignorance or denial.

One of the verses I constantly loaded into the magazine was Colossians 2:9: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (NIV84). Fire fight after fire fight, I would empty this verse at those I encountered. And sadly, I was more interested in winning an argument than establishing a relationship….

Then one day, the Father was pleased to reveal to me more about Him through Jesus in the very next verse, 10: “and you have this fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority” (NIV74). I literally hit a wall.

All those years I was trying to please the Father by defending His Son’s reputation and identity—and in some large way trying to earn His approval so I could get more of Him—when all along I already had His Fullness in me through Jesus….

Since then it has been a journey of decreasing while the Lord Jesus keeps increasing within me. I look at this as kind of releasing of compressed air. His fullness is compressed in me in various aspects of my life. When I yield to His presence, His compressed Presence fills the void left by my selfish self. In effect, His transforming power now controls a part of my life that had once been in bondage to sin and self.

Once again, the Lord’s timing is impeccable, for I was reading, The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence earlier this morning and came upon this in the Fourth Letter:

He [Brother Lawrence] complains much of our blindness; and cries often that we are to be pitied who content ourselves with so little. GOD, saith he, has infinite treasure to bestow, and we take up with a little sensible devotion which passes in a moment. Blind as we are, we hinder GOD, and stop the current of His graces. But when He finds a soul penetrated with a lively faith, He pours into it His graces and favours plentifully; there they flow like a torrent, which, after being forcibly stopped against its ordinary course, when it has found a passage, spreads itself with impetuosity and abundance. (p. 42, The Spire Book)

I, too, was blind to this treasure, this gift of His grace: His Fullness— until the Father was pleased to reveal Him to me. How this all worked? What mechanism sprung? I do not know, but I do know that once I was blind, but now I see a little bit better….

Have you experience a revealing like this?

Main Text— Matthew 16:15–17 (NIV84)— ¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

Additional Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.—John 1:16 (NIV84)

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen.—2 Peter 3:18) (NIV84)

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.—Ephesians 3:14–19 (NIV84)

Lord Jesus Christ, I praise You for Your Grace of Your Fullness. Strengthen my resolve as I continue on this journey of decreasing while You increase within me. In Your Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

“Dangerous Grace”

Grace is dangerous and risky. It could lead to misuse and license: “Let us sin that grace may abound!” The Apostle Paul new of this danger and wrote extensively on it in several of his letters (e.g. see Romans 6:1-7:25 and Galatians 5:1-15), and we do not have space here to present a major treatise on this amazing subject of Grace. But what I do want to present is the Hope of this dangerous Grace….

The hope? When we do fall, this dangerous Grace is all-sufficient for us to get back up and keep on walking in the Spirit in the steps of my Savior. We do not take this dangerous Grace lightly. We are fully aware of the price paid of the lavished Love flowing from such all-sufficient Grace. Yes, I could take it for granted, and continue wallowing in the muck and mire of my flesh—my sin, but the Love Lord Jesus has lavished on me somehow propels me to step out of the miry clay and have my feet firmly placed on the Rock that is higher than I. His dangerous grace is faithful to forgive me when I confess my sin and cleanse me from all that muck & mire…. It is all sufficient.

Charles Spurgeon shares a very personal moment regarding v. 9 of our main text:

The other evening I was riding home after a heavy day’s work. I felt very wearied and sore depressed, when swiftly and suddenly as a lightning flash, the text came to me, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” I reached home and looked it up in the original, and at last it came to me in this way. “MY grace is sufficient for thee”; and I said, “I should think it is, Lord,” and burst out laughing. … It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry…. Or, it seemed after the seven years of plenty, a mouse feared it might die of famine, and Joseph might say, “Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee.” Again, I imagined a man away up yonder, in the lofty mountain, saying to himself, “I breathe so many cubic feet of air every year, I fear I shall exhaust the oxygen in the atmosphere,” but the earth might say, “Breathe away, O man, and fill the lungs ever, my atmosphere is sufficient for thee.” Oh brethren, be great believers! Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls. [Source: Streams in the Desert, February 26]

So I rest in the hope of this dangerous, all-sufficient grace. The hope that gets me back up when I fall; the hope that a confessed sin is not only forgiven, but replaced with heaven’s righteousness; the hope that my feeble steps behind my gracious Master are strengthened by His dangerous Grace. Does this hope spur you to get back up and drink in His never-ending all-sufficient Grace? Your thoughts?

Main Text— 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (NIV)— ⁷ Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Additional Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;—2 Corinthians 9:8 (NASB95)

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.—1 Timothy 1:13–14 (NIV84)

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say, “No,” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.— Titus 2:11–14 (NIV84)

Heavenly Father, I am humbled by this amazing, dangerous Grace. I know I am not worthy to receive this, but Your Love for me has made me valuable. You Loved me even when I was Your enemy. Lord Jesus, I praise You for Your sacrifice of Love and Grace. No words can truly capture my heart’s gratitude. Baruch Ha Shem Y’shua! Amen.

Pastor Mike

“Confession: Positive & Negative”

Date: 01-10-15

Text: — Nehemiah 1:5-7 — ⁵Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. [NIV84]

The Big Idea: Both “Positive & Negative Confession” need to be included in your prayers.

My Thoughts:

Many of my prayers contain either all praise or all self-loathing. The former I call “Positive Confession”: We confess who the LORD is and what He has done. Nehemiah calls Him “Awesome” and praises Him for keeping His covenant of Love (v. 5). The ‘self-loathing’ prayer can be beneficial when accompanied by a humble heart that realizes we are unworthy to come into the presence of a Holy God. This is what I call “Negative Confession,” but in a positive way….

Lifestyle worshipers, both aspects need to be included in our prayers. The “Positive Confession” of Who God is, what He has done, Who Christ is in us and Who we are in Him, are all critical aspects of this positive confession. No less important is what Nehemiah includes in his prayer (see vv. 6b-7), the “Negative Confession.” The LORD already knows we are unworthy. He knows the sins we have committed or omitted. He just wants us to admit it (the literal translation of ‘confess’).

With both these aspects included in our prayers, they make us available to humbly receive the LORD s grace. It transforms an “entitlement” attitude of “You owe me” into a humble attitude of deep, profound gratitude. Your thoughts.

Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

— Matthew 7:11-12 (NIV)

He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

— Proverbs 28:13 (NIV)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

— 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Heavenly Father, I praise You. You are a forgiving God, slow to anger and abounding in grace and mercy to those who humbly seek Your face. I confess I have not lived up to Your Holy standards. I ask You by the Lord Jesus’ Christ shed blood to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I humbly receive Your Grace and mercy in my time of need. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

“How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You?”

Date: 12-02-14

Text: — Jeremiah 29:19 — For they have not listened to My words,” declares the LORD “words that I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the LORD. [NIV84]

The Big Idea: Before we start pointing fingers or elbowing our mates, let us ask ourselves, we must ask ourselves the same question.

My Thoughts:

If you’re a parent, I’m sure you can relate to the LORD here. He has told His children time and again to live righteously. He has sent them messengers to reveal how they were really living and how they ought to live. But, as recorded in Jeremiah 29:19 (noted above), “They have not listened.” Can you hear Him saying, “How many times do I have to tell you?”

Lifestyle worshipers, before we start pointing fingers or elbowing our mates, let us ask ourselves, “How many times does the LORD have to tell us how to live righteously? How many times does He have to point out how we are living and need to change (aka repent)?” An honest heart search will reveal much. I know in my life it has.

This has been especially so during this past Thanksgiving. I put on our church’s kiosk the saying, “A thankful heart has no room for resentment.” I did so for two reasons: (1) It is true; and (2) I needed to hear this. The LORD has been revealing to me how resentful I have been and that the remedy was a thankful heart. Have you, too, discovered that a thank-full heart has no room for resentment? Your thoughts?

Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. — Colossians 4:2 (NIV84)

First, I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to him..

— 1 Timothy 2:1 (NCV)

First, I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to him.

— Colossians 3:15 (NIV84)

Lord Jesus Christ, continue Your healing work in my Life, removing those resentments, large and small. In Your Mercy, heal over the scars, and in Your wisdom grant me the grace to live with the ones You have chosen to leave behind. In Your Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike