As I was spending some quiet time the other day with the Lord, I was presented with the thought that I was indeed a proud person and not humble, in some aspects of my experience of life and personality.
I knew it was the Holy Spirit whispering because this type of assessment was too real, too true for it to come out of my own heart. After all, haven't I always "prided" myself on being a humble person, and not a proud one? Exactly. Prided myself. All about me. I think I am a nice,loving,giving person and I very well might be. But Gods Word says this about my heart in Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things,and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" As I walk deeper and further in His presence,I continue to see that the way to become like my Lord, is to fully believe that He knows man and He came because we needed to be saved and rescued from ourselves.
Obviously as a Christian, I know I'm a sinner and I need forgiveness, cleansing,, New Life in Christ, a re-birth.But after all of that ,do I minute by minute, day by day embrace the fact that Gods Word is the bottom line for me? My thoughts, actions,character and life are to be formed and patterned after it. In theory, I absolutely do believe this. In the practice and living out of my life I often fall far short of it. But as I embrace what He came to rescue me from, and look to His Word and example as the way out of my natural failures, I am seeing that by His grace and direction, I too can become like Him.
In the quiet time as He spoke to me about being proud, it was such a revelation. As I said I felt I was a pretty humble person. His Spirit questioned Why then ,do you care about what people think of you? Why do you strive so to be understood and accepted? Why does it bother you and make you angry when people act as if they are better than you ? These things are rooted in your pride,child. I am humble and meek.Learn of Me.
It is of far greater impact when it meets you right where you live,than it is when you simply read it. Gods Word that is. I have read of Christ's humility and character often. I knew I wasn't exactly like Him,but I really thought I made a good effort at being humble.The effort then becomes "works" and my works are as dirty rags before Jesus. What I need is to be"transformed by the renewing of my mind" as Paul says in Romans 12:2. I get transformed by His Word becoming alive in me as I live out my life. This includes removing all my preconceived ideas about how and who I am.Or for that matter even,seeing myself as the central character.Paul says in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ,it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the body I live by faith (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
I have always spoken to my loved ones about how I see God as having a completely different economy than man.By that I mean that almost every answer or solution to mans problems that man comes up with, doesn't truly work. More often it creates other problems or diversions. If we look to Gods Word, it is complete. It has all the answers.As we accept that He knows all about us ,and all the ways to save, rescue and transform us, we can go forward in obedience, trusting Him to make us new. As we become new,we will become like Him and thus be equipped through the power of His Holy Spirit, to do all He asks of us as His disciples.
As a footnote to these thoughts on pride and humbleness, another of the songs on Audrey Assad's latest CD fit perfectly into these truths.I will be including them as a way of defining humble as it pertains to the character of our Lord,Jesus.
Humble and human, willing to bend You are
Fashioned of flesh and fire of life You are
Not too proud to wear our skin
To know this weary world we're in
Humble Humble Jesus
Humble in sorrow,You gladly carried Your cross
Never refusing Your life to the weakest of us
Not too proud to bear our sin
To feel this brokenness we're in
Humble Humble Jesus
We bow our knee
We must decrease
And You must increase
We lift You high
Humble in greatness
Born in the likeness of man
Name above all names
Holding our world in Your Hands
Not too proud to dwell with us
To live in us,to die for us
Humble Humble Jesus
We bow our knee
We must decrease
And You must increase
We lift You high
Humble You are
Make me humble
Like You
We lift You high
Obviously as a Christian, I know I'm a sinner and I need forgiveness, cleansing,, New Life in Christ, a re-birth.But after all of that ,do I minute by minute, day by day embrace the fact that Gods Word is the bottom line for me? My thoughts, actions,character and life are to be formed and patterned after it. In theory, I absolutely do believe this. In the practice and living out of my life I often fall far short of it. But as I embrace what He came to rescue me from, and look to His Word and example as the way out of my natural failures, I am seeing that by His grace and direction, I too can become like Him.
In the quiet time as He spoke to me about being proud, it was such a revelation. As I said I felt I was a pretty humble person. His Spirit questioned Why then ,do you care about what people think of you? Why do you strive so to be understood and accepted? Why does it bother you and make you angry when people act as if they are better than you ? These things are rooted in your pride,child. I am humble and meek.Learn of Me.
It is of far greater impact when it meets you right where you live,than it is when you simply read it. Gods Word that is. I have read of Christ's humility and character often. I knew I wasn't exactly like Him,but I really thought I made a good effort at being humble.The effort then becomes "works" and my works are as dirty rags before Jesus. What I need is to be"transformed by the renewing of my mind" as Paul says in Romans 12:2. I get transformed by His Word becoming alive in me as I live out my life. This includes removing all my preconceived ideas about how and who I am.Or for that matter even,seeing myself as the central character.Paul says in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ,it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the body I live by faith (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
I have always spoken to my loved ones about how I see God as having a completely different economy than man.By that I mean that almost every answer or solution to mans problems that man comes up with, doesn't truly work. More often it creates other problems or diversions. If we look to Gods Word, it is complete. It has all the answers.As we accept that He knows all about us ,and all the ways to save, rescue and transform us, we can go forward in obedience, trusting Him to make us new. As we become new,we will become like Him and thus be equipped through the power of His Holy Spirit, to do all He asks of us as His disciples.
As a footnote to these thoughts on pride and humbleness, another of the songs on Audrey Assad's latest CD fit perfectly into these truths.I will be including them as a way of defining humble as it pertains to the character of our Lord,Jesus.
Humble and human, willing to bend You are
Fashioned of flesh and fire of life You are
Not too proud to wear our skin
To know this weary world we're in
Humble Humble Jesus
Humble in sorrow,You gladly carried Your cross
Never refusing Your life to the weakest of us
Not too proud to bear our sin
To feel this brokenness we're in
Humble Humble Jesus
We bow our knee
We must decrease
And You must increase
We lift You high
Humble in greatness
Born in the likeness of man
Name above all names
Holding our world in Your Hands
Not too proud to dwell with us
To live in us,to die for us
Humble Humble Jesus
We bow our knee
We must decrease
And You must increase
We lift You high
Humble You are
Make me humble
Like You
We lift You high
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