Living Humbly
Posted by jerrywhite on Mar 30, 2009
“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is for me to have no trouble; never to be fretted or vexed or irritated or sore or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me: to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and be at peace and in a deep sea of calmness when all around and above is trouble. It is the fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on Calvary’s Cross, manifest in those of his own who are definitely subjected to the Holy Spirit.”
Andrew Murray
Source Unknown
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Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
1 Peter 5:6 (ESV)
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Pride is a cunning, deceitful snake that lurks in every believer’s fallen nature. Its origin is the devil, and its ugliness is repulsive when put beside the beautiful humility of the Lord Jesus. Pride has a thousand disguises, but regardless of which one it may use there is always the same putrid smell. Because it is so deceitful, the one who does not choose to be humble by the Lord’s grace is totally unaware of its ugly manifestation in their own life through their words, attitudes, and deeds. The Christian who is proud is not aware of his own spiritual bad breath that is offensive to others. Pride always wants to be somebody before others, and humility is willing to be nothing before others. Seeing the beauty of Jesus’ humility causes one to despise their own pride and diligently pursue the humble way before God and others. Even when sinful flesh tries to be spiritual and humble it reeks with pride’s putrid smell. Only the Spirit of God can produce in us the lovely humility of the Lord Jesus, and when He does it brings the fragrance of heaven upon us. Please do it, Lord, because I utterly despise the stinking pride that lurks in my natural being.
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Rich In Christ
Posted by jerrywhite on Mar 26, 2009
“My hope is found in this: [Jesus Christ] wrestled with justice, that I might have rest; He wept and mourned, that I might laugh and rejoice; He was betrayed that I might go free; He was apprehended, that I might escape; He was condemned, that I might be justified, and was killed, that I might live; He wore a crown of thorns, that I might wear a crown of glory; and He was nailed to the cross with his arms wide open, to show with what freshness all His merits shall be bestowed on those who come to Him. He will receive them into His bosom.”
John Bunyon
Fill Me With Hope, October 7 reading
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For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV)
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For a Christian to live as a spiritual pauper is a disgrace to the name of Jesus Christ. Infinite spiritual wealth has been provided in Him for every believer. He has done all He could do so that we can live in the richness of all that He is. This infinite wealth is ours just as much as if we possessed it in ourselves. Like a branch draws all it needs from the vine, so by simple faith—which is child-like trust—we can depend on Him to be in us all that He wants us to be. Do you know how to draw from His wealth like withdrawing cash from an unlimited bank account? In the Lord Jesus you have more than you need for your every spiritual need. You can touch His compassionate heart with simple faith. You can receive by deliberate dependence what He is so willing to give. He delights when you trust Him.
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Pain Defeated
Posted by jerrywhite on Mar 23, 2009
A number of years ago our daughter Laura learned one day that her second son, age four, had a very serious and massive cancerous tumor in his chest. She had been separated from her husband for fifteen months and was alone with her two children. As her parents we already knew deep and heavy pain because of her failed marriage, and now there was added to it the heart wrenching pain of our grandson’s life threatening cancer, plus watching our daughter go through the dark eighteen months of unsuccessful treatment of her son Jonathan and eventually his death at age five. During those very sorrowful days someone sent us the following prose in a card, and it encouraged us to remember what is true in times of deepest pain.
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Pain, you are a terrible deceiver…
Parading yourself as an angry foe,
Pretending to be unyielding.
You shadow me, hound me, taunt me,
As if by your mere presence
You could conquer my spirit.
But I have learned to measure
Your ultimate strength,
Not by how much hurt you can inflict,
But by how much of God’s grace you call forth;
Not by how deeply you can wound,
But by how frail you really are
When put in perspective by his power…
And I have learned, at last,
To believe that, even at your worst,
You can never outlast a promise of God…
You can never outlive his love.
B. J. Hoff
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For all the promises of God find their Yes in him [Jesus Christ]. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 2 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV)
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The Father’s Perspective
Posted by jerrywhite on Mar 19, 2009
“Our human perspective on current events is naturally low-centered. We tend to look at the circumstances of life in terms of what they may do to our cherished hopes and convenience, and we shape our decisions and reactions accordingly. When a problem threatens, we rush to God, not to seek His perspective, but to ask Him to deflect the trouble. Our self-concern takes priority over whatever it is that God might be trying to do through the trouble. One of the harder lessons of life is to learn that our low-centered, sense-oriented subjectivism militates against our effective cooperation with God in His purpose for us in a given trial.”
R. Arthur Mathews
Born For Battle, p. 120
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For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)
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Unhurried time plus careful attention is required to listen to another’s heart. Distractions and rush interfere with true listening. Being quick to speak before listening carefully to another prevents hearing. This is true of every personal relationship, and God is a Person who has made it possible for you to have a very personal relationship with Him. He wants a close, intimate relationship with you, and it cost Him His utmost so He could have it. He wants you to hear His heart so that you can ask for what He wants to do, but what He cannot do until you ask. The Lord Jesus spent adequate time alone with His Father so He could listen to Him as well as speak with Him. By this He gave us a pattern for our praying. The Lord Jesus wanted His Father’s perspective before He asked for anything, and that is why He always knew the Father heard Him. Listening is vital for all relationships, and this includes prayer.
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Awe or Boredom
Posted by jerrywhite on Mar 16, 2009
“I ask myself, I ask you: where is the ‘Oh’ in our response to God? Where is the intensity of awe and amazement that a true knowledge of the Holy One of Israel ought to evoke? Much of the church has lost the ‘Oh’ in her relationship with and response to God. Do you want to know why so many believers are muddling through the Christian life, just trying to stay out of hell and to get by with as little discomfort and risk as possible? It is because when they think of God, instead of ‘Oh’ their response is a ‘Who?’ of ignorance, or a ‘Huh?’ of disinterest, or a ‘So what?’ of indifference. It isn’t exclamatory excitement but a religious snore that emanates from the soul of so many in the church today when the character of God is at issue.
It grieves me to say this, but the primary reason people are in bondage to sin is because people are bored with God. One of Satan’s most effective tactics is to convince us that God is a drag. And the church has contributed in its own way to this dismal image that God has among His people.”
Sam Storms
Pleasures Evermore, pp. 108-109
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“If we belong to a reigning, ever-present, all-powerful Lord, who possesses all authority in heaven and on earth, then should we not expect to see Him do what would cause us to have, in the words of A. W. Tozer, ‘astonished reverence’? Should we not experience, again in Tozer’s words, ‘admiration to the point of wonder and delight’? Should we not be renewed again and again by glimpses of His glory with us?”
Author
The Spirit and Presence of Christ, p. 159
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The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
Psalm 99:1 (ESV)
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