HUMILITY

HUMILITY

Daniel 4:37

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

(Heb. anawab, Gr.  tapeinophrosyne).
Humility and the related substantive and verb humble, translate several OT Hebrew words and the NT Greek tapeinoo
family.
The meaning shades off in various directions, but the central thought is freedom from pride - lowliness, meekness, modesty, 
mildness.   There is a "false humility" (Col 2:18,23) called
"self-abasement" in RSV.   God humbles people to bring them to obedience (Deut 8:2).   To humble ourselves is a condition of 
God's favor (2 Chron 7:14) and his supreme requirement (Mic 6:8).   God dwells with the humble (Isa 57:15) 
Humility is encouraged (Prov 15:33, 18:12, 22:4).
To the Greeks humility was weak and despicable, but Jesus made it the cornerstone of character (Matt 5:3, 5; 18:4, 23:12,
Luke 14:11;  18:14).   Jesus by His humility drew people to
Himself (Matt 11:28-30;  John 13:1-20;  Rev 3:20).
Paul emphasized the humility of Jesus (2 Cor 8:9; Phil 2:1-11);
commanded us to be humble towards one another (Rom 12:10;
1 Cor 13:4-6;  Phil 2:3-4), and spoke of himself as an example
(Acts 20:19).  Peter exhorted humility before the brethren and
before God (1 Peter 5:5-6).
The above and other passages show that humility is an effect of the action of God, circumstances, other people, ourselves, or of
any or all of these on our lives.

Better it is to be of an humble spirit

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Proverbs 16:19 

Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

We are often more concerned about what others think of us, then what God wants from us. The scripture Galatians 1:10 says that a servant of God is a person that wants to please God, not please men.

The reason many will not lift their hands up in praise to God is because they think others will look at them. Many will not kneel in the Church again because of pride. It is self that holds many back from their full potential to be used by God. When I sense that self is trying to take over then I will stand up in the Church and say I am a sinful wretch who has been saved by Lord Jesus who came to save sinners, and now I have a new life and I'm walking with God.

Sometimes when we are worshipping I sense the Holy Spirit prompting me to kneel, I don't always feel like kneeling, but know I can't argue with God. If I had the choice where I sat then it would be at the back of the Church as I don't want to draw attention to myself.

In 1 Peter 5:5 it tells us that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. We must of course guard against false humility, which is not real humility but forced, with wrong motifs. It is always better to be humble, then to be proud. Pride says look what I have done, but Christian humility says look what God has done.

Prayer: Thank you Lord our God for showing us the importance of humility and we pray you will convict us by your Holy Spirit when we are too proud so we can humble ourselves and always give you the glory. That your will be done and your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

He restored Temple worship.

He restored Temple worship.

John Francis

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2 Chronicles 23:19 And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

A new King called Joash was made ruler in Judah, at the age of seven, and the priest took authority and saw that the idols and priests of Baal were destroyed. Then he restored the temple worship, with the tribe of Levite supplying the priests, and once again they offered burnt offerings of the Lord and it says there was singing and rejoicing in the temple.

What would the missionaries of past generations think, if they saw this land today, they would be in despair, because of all the temples, and mosques, and seeing that so many churches have closed down. What is being done to convert these people that come to our land, that are worshipping false Gods?

What would missionaries of one hundred years ago think of "Christians" of today? How they no longer think obeying God was important. They were mostly Sabbath breakers. They would see there was no reverence for God. People did not bother to study the word of God in their own homes. In most cases there was not much difference between the life style of sinners and those calling themselves Christians.

Prayer: Lord Jesus you are the king of kings and Lord of Lords, and we pray that you will raise up someone in this land who can turn the tide, so your light shines everywhere again, and your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Through your mighty name. Amen

THE SECRET PLACE OF PRAYER

THE SECRET PLACE OF PRAYER
"But when you pray, go into your most private room, and closing the door, pray to your Father Who sees in secret will reward you in the open. "-- Mat_6:6.

IN PRAYER there must be deliberateness, the secret place, the inner chamber, the fixed time, the shut door against distraction and intruders. 
In that secret place the Father is waiting for us. He is as certainly there as He is in Heaven, Be reverent, as Moses when he took the shoes from off his feet! Be trustful, because you are having an audience with One who is infinite sympathy and love! 
Be comforted, because there is no problem He cannot solve, no knot He cannot untie!

God knows even better than we do what we need and should ask for. He has gone over every item of our life, every trial, every temptation--the unknown and unexpected, the glints of sunshine on the path, and the clouds of weeping. He listens to our forecast and requests, and rejoices when they accord with His infinite foreknowledge; or He may give us something better and more appropriate to our case.
"He will recompense thee." If He does not remove the cup, He will send an angel to strengthen; if the thorn remains unremoved, He will give more grace. You may be sure that, in some way or other, your Heavenly Father is going to meet your particular need. It is as certain as though you heard Him say: "Go your way, your prayer is heard: I will undertake, trust Me, leave all in My hand!" When you have once definitely put a matter into God's hands, leave it there. Do not repeat the committal, for that suggests that you have never made it. Your attitude thenceforward is to look into God's face, not to ask Him to remember, but to say: "Father, You know, and caringly  understand! I know whom I have trusted, and am persuaded that You will not fail."
There is a prayer which is without ceasing; but surely that is not the reiterated request for the same thing, but the blessed interchange of happy fellowship. Use not vain repetitions, as do the heathen, who think that they will be heard for much speaking, but count Him faithful that promised! This reckoning of faith is probably the loftiest attribute of prayer, for faith is the quiet assurance of things not yet seen!

PRAYER
Lift us into light and love and purity and blessedness, and give us at last our portion with those who have trusted in Thee, and sought in small things as in great, in things tempered and things eternal, to do Thy Holy Will. AMEN.

GOD'S CONDESCENSION TO MAN

GOD'S CONDESCENSION TO MAN
"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?"-- Psa_8:3-4.

A CERTAIN writer ridiculed the idea that the Almighty Ruler, who inhabits the stellar spaces, can have any knowledge of such a cheese-mite as man. He says: "Put yourself in the planetary space, a mere dot, and do you think that the Almighty Maker can have discernment of thee!" But bigness is not greatness! The infant in the cradle is worth more to the parents and the nation than the royal palace in which he was born. The age which discovers the telescope, with the infinite abyss above, discovers also the microscope, with the infinite abyss beneath.
How absolutely different is the outlook of the Psalmist! He stands under the Eastern heavens, blazing at midnight with myriads of resplendent constellations, and cries: "O Jehovah, my Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth, who has set Thy glory above the heavens! They are Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers; as for moon and stars, Thou hast ordained them. How great Thou art!" Then he turns to think of man, and says: There must be something more in man than a superficial gaze is competent to discover. He must surely possess an unrealized dignity and worth, since the great God, the Maker of these worlds, stoops to call him friend.
But the question arises: How can God find pleasure in visiting, i.e. in having fellowship with a race so full of evil as ours? Granted that He might have fellowship with Moses or Elijah, with Daniel or John, but how can He stoop to intercourse with ordinary people like ourselves? What is Zaccheus, that the Son of Man should visit at his house--is he not a publican? Yes, but of late he had been restoring his ill-gotten gains, and Jesus sees in him the possibility of a son of Abraham! 
What is Simon Peter, that Christ should visit him? He, but he will one day become the rock-man, the foremost leader of the Church! 

So does Christ our Lord see what we may become, and He stands at the door of our life, seeking admission. Let us heed His knock and bid Him come in.

PRAYER
O God, may our whole nature be consecrated for Thine indwelling and use. Let there be no part in us dark, but may the clear shining of Thy Presence dispel all shadows, and fill us with peace and joy. AMEN.

GENESIS - DAVID PAWSON

The purpose of the book of Genesis is to tell how and why Yahweh came to choose Abraham's family and make a covenant with them. The covenant is the foundation of Israelite theology and identity, and its history is therefore of understandable significance. The book continues the tale of how the covenant was established by detailing the various obstacles to the covenant. Finally, we discover how the Israelites ventured to Egypt, thus setting the scene for the exodus.

The message of the book has several aspects. First of all, it provides an appropriate introduction to the Israelite God, Yahweh. We find that he is the sovereign creator of a world made especially for human habitation. Already in this we can identify an intentional contrast to Mesopotamian theology developing. In the ancient world, something was believed to exist by virtue of having a defined role in an ordered system. Consequently, creation was seen primarily as determining roles and functions for everything in the cosmos. In Mesopotamia this means that creation texts were not as interested, for example, in the material origins of the moon. Instead, the creation of the moon involved its being assigned the role it performed in the cosmos. Since its role was intertwined with the role of the moon god, the origins of both the moon god and the moon itself were linked. Creation referred primarily to this sort of origins. The gods came into being through procreation and as they came into being that to which their role was attached also took its place in the cosmos.

In Israel they shared the belief that creation pertained most importantly to assigning roles (note the description of the roles of the sun, moon and stars in Genesis 1:14). The key difference is that in Israel there was no belief that individual gods were associated with each of the functional aspects of the cosmos. Instead, one God was responsible for establishing all the roles in the cosmos and as a result all of the functionaries of the cosmos become the instruments by which he establishes and maintains order, rather than being viewed as his colleagues or subordinates to whom jurisdiction is delegated.

A second aspect of the message of Genesis concerns the role of people in the newly created world, and again a contrast to Mesopotamian thinking is present. A key message of Genesis is that humans were created in the image of God. The world was created for them and with them in mind. The roles of everything in the cosmos are seen in relation to human beings and they are assessed as being "good" when they satisfactorily meet this criterion. When the first human pair are created, they are accorded dignity and entrusted with responsibility (i.e., given their roles). Genesis insists that all this was the design and intention of God. This is a stark contrast to the Mesopotamian mythology that understands humanity as an afterthought of the gods. In Atra-Ḫasis, for instance, people are created to take over the labor that the gods have tired of doing. There is no sense that all creation was undertaken with people in mind, and there was little dignity to offer when slave labor was the only motivation.

Amid this contrast with Mesopotamian theology, it is not the intent of Genesis simply to debate. The point of the Genesis narrative is to establish that Yahweh was sovereignly pursuing a plan of history. People were created with every advantage and were placed lovingly by God in an ideal situation. This is important, for it moves us to the next point of the message of the book. It was this man and woman, not God, who disturbed the equilibrium and brought about the sad state of our present existence.

It was the continuing failure of humanity as a whole that led Yahweh to send the flood, scatter the people from the plain of Shinar, and eventually work through one man and his family, Abraham. The message of the book is to offer the first eleven chapters as the explanation of why Yahweh has chosen to work through a particular people. It is through them that he plans to reveal himself. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that it was not because of any merit on the part of Abraham that God chose him. Rather, it was an act of God's sovereignty. To Abraham's credit, he responded in obedience and exercised faith that Yahweh would honor his promises.

The message of the patriarchal narratives is that through many difficult situations the patriarchs and, more so, the Lord persevered to result in the establishment of Abraham's family. The text does not hesitate to show the shortcomings of Abraham and his family, but God is faithful and, in his providence, consistently brought good out of intended evil (cf. 50:20).

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Holy Spirit Power to be Witnesses!

Holy Spirit Power to be Witnesses
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  (Act_1:8)

After the cross and the resurrection, the Lord Jesus taught His disciples for forty days before He ascended to the Father. One of His strategic messages of preparation concerned the Holy Spirit enablement they would need to fulfill their ministry. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." After this vital promise was given, Jesus was taken up into heaven to the right hand of the Father. Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, this promise was fulfilled by the outpouring of the Spirit. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Act_2:4). The grand result of this empowering would be the spread of the gospel, region by region, throughout the entire world. "You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Act_1:8). 
Their success is documented in the scriptures. The religious opposition admitted that Jerusalem was promptly reached. "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine" (Act_5:28). Soon thereafter, Judea was being touched. "At that time a great persecution arose . . . and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea . . . Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word" (Act_8:1, Act_8:4). Next, the message of Jesus entered Samaria. "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip" (Act_8:5-6). Finally, the gospel of grace poured out around the world. "The word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world" (Col_1:5-6). 

This worldwide outreach was an astounding development, considering the unimpressive human credentials that characterized Jesus' followers. "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus" (Act_4:13). 
The explanation for their effectiveness was contained in the last phrase. These men had spent time with Jesus, had been impacted by Him, and were now walking in the spiritual strength of His Spirit. 
In order for any disciple (then or now) to be an effective demonstration of the reality of the risen Christ, they must live by the power of the Holy Spirit.

O Lord, my strength, make my life a daily witness, declaring in word, deed, and attitude that Jesus is alive. Lord, my own abilities will never be sufficient to accomplish this. So, I humbly pray, empower me by Your Holy Spirit, in Jesus name, Amen.