The Power of Humility
Dear Friend,
Don’t be surprised if life is messy. After all, didn’t Jesus say in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble... But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Right now, in those areas of your life where it seems everything is crumbling into the valley of hopelessness, we must humble ourselves and let the directions of 1 Peter 5:6,7 take place in our life. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
Knowing that God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins should cause us to ask what does God require of me now? Micah 6:8 (NIV) answers this question by saying, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
God makes His wishes clear. He wants us to be fair, merciful to those who have wronged us, and live humbly with Him daily. His mercy and justice have redeemed us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now we need to show the same mercy and justice to others as we walk humbly following the Lord God as He continues to set the world right.
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people robbers, evildoers, adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14 NIV)
The tax collector was the first to give us the Jesus Power used by the Eastern Orthodox Church and many others throughout the world. It is, “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me” Many add, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” It is a prayer further inspired by Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV) to pray constantly. The purpose of this prayer is for us to humble ourselves and turn our attention constantly to the presence of Christ.
1 Peter 5:5 (NIV) tells us that if we are going to have the power of God flow through us, so that we can do justly and love mercy, we must be clothed with humility. This is important because “God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.”
In his work, God Tells the Man Who Cares, AW Tozer had this to say about humility; “True humility is a healthy thing. The humble man accepts the truth about himself. He believes that in his fallen nature there dwells no good thing. He acknowledges that apart from God he is nothing and can do nothing. But this knowledge does not discourage him, for he knows also that in Christ he is somebody. He knows that he is dearer to God than the apple of His eye and that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him; that is, he can do all that lies within the will of God for him to do.”
We won’t be able to do all that lies within the will of God for us to do unless we humble ourselves before God. James 4:6-10 (NIV) says “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. ”
The love that God has for you is the very foundation of faith and humility. The question is, will you receive this love He has for you? Satan is constantly trying to offer cheap substitutes for the eternal love that God provides. In order to combat Satan’s lies and feelings of pride you must know the Word of God. In Isaiah 66:2 (NIV) God says, “Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ declares the Lord. These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.”
Esther was one who was humble and contrite in spirit. When she was given her chance to plead for the lives of the Jews, she did so with humility and self-control. In Esther 7:3-4 (NIV). She could have begun telling the King all the issues she had against Haman, but she didn’t do that. Esther stated her case and appealed to her husband’s sense of justice. Only after her husband, the King, demanded to know who would attempt such a thing did Esther point to Haman. The question is, when we face conflict do we respond with the same humility and selfcontrol? Or do we unload with hurtful mean things because our pride has been hurt? We must humbly hold our tongues in stressful situations as we tremble at God’s word and repent of our pride. As Joel 2:12 (NIV) declares, “Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
The cup of sin is filling up. The handwriting is on the wall (Daniel 5:26-27 NIV). Someone has said that hell is filled with unrepentant, proud sinners who are blind to the needs around them, while heaven is filled with sinners who have humbly repented and can see God at work.
Repentance and earnest prayer, resulting from a burning passion for the things of God, will bring forth a mighty awakening in the midst of this sinful mess our country is in. This involves caring people who will get down on their knees in intercessory prayer. Such prayer will push them out into their world under the direction of Almighty God. This earnest praying will result in healing, help, humility, and hope taking place.
Earnest prayers are push prayers which involve Praying Until Something Happens. These humble prayer warriors are God-fearing people who are the salt of the earth. They are fire baptized, humble individuals who are filled with compassion for the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit before the day of the Lord’s return. They know that it is, “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6 NIV).
If we are truly followers of Jesus, then we must do what He did! Acts 10:38 (NIV) says, “Jesus went out doing good and healing all who were under the power of Satan.” We must stop being a proud Sunday warrior and a Monday whiner. The time for action is now! Remember, through the resurrected Christ you are no longer powerless on Monday morning, but more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who strengthens you all week long.
In order to understand what it means to be a conqueror through Christ Jesus we must get quiet before Him, humbly waiting to hear His wisdom. As we are quiet in the presence of God, we will seek to learn His guidelines and, to understand His desires for our life. We should not be afraid to humbly admit that we don’t know it all and that we must learn from God’s instructions in the Bible. We learn and grow when we humbly admit our limitations and look to God and other believers for direction.
David expresses this in Psalms 131:1-2 (NIV), “O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. ”
In Luke 18:16-17 (NIV) Jesus said, “But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Some with humble childlike faith before the Lord, we will hear the invitation God gives in 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV). It is an invitation to experience the glorious freedom provided to those He refers to as My people. The phrase “My people” now includes all who humble themselves and declare “Jesus is Lord,” and “believe that God raised Him from the dead” (Romans 10:9 NIV). Such declaration and belief must be followed by decisive action in order to be creditable.
It is this necessary action which is spelled out for us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) when it says, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
We as the people of God must humble ourselves and realize we live in a society that is frequently hostile to the poor and homeless. Rules, regulations, and ordinances are constantly being created by the proud and self-righteous that are making it increasingly difficult to house the homeless and feed the hungry.
Jesus cared and so must we. He humbled Himself coming from heaven to earth to become God’s divine salt. Jesus was dangerous to the proud power brokers who perpetuated the cultural values that enabled the rich to get richer and the poor, poorer. Jesus was dangerous because “He has brought justice through to victory” as Matthew stated. The question is where is that humble, child-like faith in the Living God that will cause all of us to be salt. As penetrating salt, we will stand up for justice, and question a system where millions of the poor and elderly are left alone to suffer.
The salty Jesus is a problem to our religious institutions. It was Jesus who taught us how to break the cultural rules of bigotry and prejudice! It was Jesus who touched lepers, which was against the rules! It was Jesus who broke the Sabbath by healing people on that day, and that was against the rules! It was Jesus who forgave people of their sins, and that also was against the rules, because those caught in the act of adultery were to be stoned, not forgiven.
Jesus was not persecuted as long as he was in the carpenter shop. Stephen wasn’t stoned until he started doing signs and wonders. While Peter was fishing, he wasn’t beaten and put into jail. It was only when followers of Christ (Christians) started humbly putting a passion for the things of God before what was fashionable in the world that they got in trouble. 1 John 3:10 (NIV) says, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (and that includes sisters also).
The question is where are the people of God, who will humble themselves and show that they care? God cares that mothers find themselves enslaved to utility companies who will cut off their utilities because the company has not gotten their last dollar. God cares that power brokers and proud people support a prison industry that is locking up the poor and mentally retarded in record numbers.
If we desire to humble ourselves and do God’s will, we must declare in word and deed, “God is my refuge and fortress, My God in Him I will trust” (Psalms 91:2 NIV). Such trust gives us the ability to faithfully be front line workers among those in need knowing that God will deliver us “from the perilous pestilence” (v3).
Faith which creates an army of humble, compassionate prayer warriors must focus on God, His word, and His promises. Humility involves abiding in Christ, setting affections on Him and resting in His protection as promised in Psalms 91:10 (NIV), “No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling”.
We are free to humbly let the love of God flow through because we know that evil will not befall or destroy us because Jesus died for our sins and then rose from the dead. He gives us life both now and for all eternity. If we are truly alive in Christ, we will no longer be God’s arrogant chosen frozen saints content to be just sitting on a church pew in hopes of being blessed.
Many years ago, Oliver Cromwell was told of a shortage of precious metal in Old England that was needed for coins. After he sent out his troops to find some, they reported back that the only precious metal was found in the statues of the saints standing in the corner of the churches. To this Cromwell responded, “Well melt down the saints and put them into circulation.”
The time has come for us to let God melt us along with our earthly treasures down until we can be put into circulation doing good in this hurting world. God cares and so must His people. The opportunities to share are everywhere. We must now humbly move forth by Faith and seize these opportunities to let the love of Christ flow through us on a daily basis into the lives of the hurting, hungry and homeless. As we do this, the power of humility will be clearly seen as we let our light of love, “shine before men (and women) that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NIV).
As the world sees our good works we must be certain all glory goes to our Faith in heaven for truly Jesus has said, “For everyone who exalts himself (or herself) shall be humbled, and he (or her) shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:11 NIV) May we experience the power of humility as we surrender ourselves to God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20 NIV)
Yours in Christ, Larry Rice