Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Scoop #3 "Humility Reverses Pride


 

Humility Reverses Pride                            

Scoop #3

 

In today’s circle of worldly advice, humility is not considered to be a wise thing. Humbleness is not a popular word and is kinship to repentance, especially when you begin to admit you have made some wrong choices in your lives. “Keep your pride!" the world says. “Being humble is a sign of weakness!”  Nothing could be further from the truth. Humility requires being like a green willow branch that will bend.  True humbleness is so powerful it will make you crumble inside and will begin to empty all the poison that was destroying you. Picture a mason jar filled with moldy rotten food canned years ago. The forgotten jar sat upon on a dusty shelf and left unopened for years, and over time, a person could see the stagnancy of the milky substance by one simple glance. I wouldn’t eat that, would you? This is how we look when we become prideful. Our outer layer of flesh breeds on pride.  That milky substance is the weakness that our selfishness produces and it is called, “Me.”

Eventually that pride will fall before our Saviors feet.  

Self-pride is a deceiver. Why do we exalt ourselves over earthly achievements when our Creator was the one who gave us those abilities? Should we not give Him all the credit?

A humble and thankful heart is what gets God’s attention.

I was asked many years ago why I believed in such an archaic religious system? I replied, that “archaic” system is truth, and it changed my whole life when I began to read the Book of John. Real life is not easy. Early in my life, I discovered I was betrayed, abandoned, lied to, and abused in my early childhood years. Growing up, I asked; what was true love anyway? What was my identity? In not knowing my biological father and having a series of step-fathers I would ask, who was I? After a divorce, I found myself raising 3 sons as a single mother. There were challenging times when the car conked out on the way to work. Times, when I could not afford to get the car fixed or buy the tires it needed. I never received child support. I was alone. The hardest trial was finding a good, decent trustworthy babysitter. My heart was always on my children when I was at work.  Those were times when you learned how to stretch meals yet, still eat nutritiously. Times when you tried to attend all their sport games, take them to the Drs and hold their hands when they got hurt, nurse them through the flu or when one turned green from the chewing tobacco after a game. I searched to offer encouragement and love for them to hopefully grow up without too many hang ups. We teach our children by the examples we give, and my example was by the world’s standards without God before I was born-again. This was before I read The book of John.

I was destroying myself by worldly and fleshly standards and did not realize it. We really do reap what we sow in this life. One sin will always open the gate to add more in your life, that is the way it works. There is a process to sinning and I did my share/ You might ask, “what did you do?”  I say to you, “Enough!”

Then, as my sins piled up in front of me, I discovered I was helpless to get myself out of the pit I had dug for myself. Searchingly, I started reading in the Book of John in the Bible all about God’s love. I learned He loved me before I even knew Him. And I also read,

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3

Notice, Jesus said “I tell you the truth!”

Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God upon the cross and He was sent by God to be that pure sacrifice for us to be set free from a slavery of sin. This means, He was sinless.  Think about what seems to hold you back from seeking God? That one thing you do not want to let go of. Before Christ, we are all slaves to something. There is something that walks with you every day. Sometimes it is called a crutch. This crutch can prevent you from seeking the truth about God. It is also called fear. The Bible talks about loving sin more than the truth. Seeking God requires humbleness and one single step in the right direction.  It is admitting that you have sinned against God and mankind. All honest godly believers have walked through that door.  What we do does affect those we love. You may consider yourself a good person and do not hurt anyone, but that isn’t what the Bible says.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” Ro.3:23-24

Yes, I struggled before I was born-again, and it was because of sin. Most of my problems were because of bad choices and not thinking of the consequences that go along with those decisions. They were self-induced. I was an ignorant, fleshly, prideful selfish person.  Perhaps I thought: “No one really cares, why should I?”  Of course, that was a lie, because I did love and care for my children; but without God, how could I give them the best? How could I give them the true love of Christ?  I was giving them a bad example.

As I continued to read the Book of John, I believed what I was reading. I will never forget that first moment I believed. My whole life changed! The words leaped out from the pages, and I knew it was truth! I knew Jesus was the complete answer to my life.  I surrendered my life in prayer, holding nothing back.  Everything inside of me was emptied out that day, like the poison from that old mason jar.

I read salvation is a free gift of Grace [ I did not deserve it] from God. By faith, I believed. I needed His forgiveness! I needed the love He offered! I needed the truth! I wanted everything He offered me, and He gave it all to me!

His Holy Spirit comes and does a work inside of your heart. Being born-again is a supernatural experience from God Himself. God is a Spirit, God is LOVE.

 

I became just like the word says, “I became a new creature [a new person] in Christ, all the old things were passed away in my life and everything became new.”  I looked at things differently because I saw them differently. I was given new eyes to see the pure, holy truth. I no longer had a hard heart that was caused by abuse, unforgiveness, anger and pride.  But was given a soft flexible new heart that forgives others. I was set free, to grow in The Holy Spirit by the word and with each new promise given to me as I studied, I received by faith. When you walk in humbleness and truth your conscience will be clear and you will be filled with the joy of the Lord. It is no wonder that King David danced before the Lord with all his might.

You might be thinking that you have done so much in your life, how could a good loving God ever forgive you? There is nothing too big or small that God won’t forgive. Jesus said that when someone calls upon Him, He would never cast them out.

But you might ask; “You don’t know what I have done in my life.” You may be thinking, “If I clean up myself before I come to Him, maybe then He will accept me.” I once thought that way because I already knew how unworthy I was. I knew I was a sinner.  That kind of thinking is a lie, because without the power of the Holy Spirit we cannot clean up our own lives. We can try, but it won’t work, and this is why Jesus went to the cross. He gives us goodness and mercy in exchange for our humble repentance.

Do not hesitate over your decision.

Loving the world more than when He is knocking on the door of your heart is not worth risking eternity.

Do I still have trials and tests? Of course, this is how we learn to be overcomers and our faith is also increased. My trust is in God as His Holy Spirit takes me through each trial and test. I give Him all the credit and glory in my life. In time, you will learn consistency.

That one small step of faith will take you into a new life, now.  Accepting Jesus from your heart is a life changing experience. He heals the wounds of your soul and gives you comfort and counsel where you need it. He is the divine restorer.

Pray with me.

Heavenly Father,

I know I am a sinner. I need a new life. Please forgive me my sins: [name them].  Come into my life and make me into a new person in Your Son Jesus Christ. Give me the help I need to do this. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, truth, and love. Guide me, direct me, and feed me your way and take all my worldly stains away and replace them with Your pure word. I ask that You make me into a strong believer, and I ask that I meet many other believers to help on my journey. Thank you, Father, in Jesus I ask, amen.

If you have humbled yourself and prayed that prayer of faith, the Bible declares you have been born-again. Congratulations and welcome into the family! Now you need to learn to study God’s truth and link up with likeminded believers. They will help you through the tough times and pray for you.

 

 

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