Humble

Mar

2024

Encountering the High and Exalted One

Majestic God

“For this is what the high and exalted One says—He who lives forever, whose Name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”” – Isaiah 57:15 (NIV)

In this verse, we are introduced to a God who is both high and exalted, yet also intimately present with those who are humble and lowly in spirit.

Exalted One

God is described as the “high and exalted One” who “lives forever” and whose “Name is holy.”

These words paint a picture of a God who is supreme, sovereign, and transcendent. He is far above and beyond our understanding, dwelling in a “high and holy place.”

Intimate Presence

Yet, despite His majestic nature, God chooses to live and abide with those who are “contrite and lowly in spirit.”

He does not remain distant or aloof but instead comes near to the humble and brokenhearted, reviving their spirits and hearts.

Reviving Power

This is a profound truth: the God of the universe, the Creator of all things, stoops down to dwell with those who acknowledge their own limitations and brokenness.

He does not demand perfection or self-sufficiency but instead offers His reviving presence to those who recognize their need for Him.

As we gaze upon the majesty of God, we are invited to approach Him with humility and reverence; we also take comfort in knowing that He is not a distant deity but a loving Father who desires to revive our spirits and heal our hearts.

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“One Minute with God”

Jan

2024

The Mind of Christ

Philippians 2:8 – And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Setting Equality Aside

Though equal with God, Jesus willingly laid aside prestige and power to become one of us – the God of the universe confined as a helpless baby. He embraced human limitations for our redemption.

The One through whom all things were created took on the clothing of a creature. He humbled Himself to save the unworthy and serve those deserving death. What wondrous love!

Obedient Unto Death

In ultimate humility, Jesus subjected Himself to brutal mockery and crucifixion by those He came to save. He refused earthly power and prestige. Obedience led Him to death on a cross.

As Christ followed the Father’s will, so we must abandon self-interest to follow His example. Our obedience is displayed through sacrificial servanthood.

Lord, Clothe Me in Humility

Lord Jesus, You laid aside heavenly privilege for earthly pain to die in my place. Fill me with Your Spirit until the mindset of humility governs my decisions. Help me joyfully serve others through obedience to Your will.

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“One Minute with God”

Nov

2023

Cast Your Cares

1 Peter 5:6 – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. As we surrender control and acknowledge our dependence on Him, He draws near.

Humbling ourselves allows His strength to be perfected in our weakness.

Trust His Timing

Things unfold in God’s impeccable timing, not ours. Waiting can be hard, but He promises to lift us up at precisely the right moment. Meanwhile, we can cast all our cares on Him who cares deeply.

Freedom from Worry

As we humble ourselves before our caring Father, anxiety loses its grip.

We can relax, knowing God holds each situation – and us – securely in His mighty hands. He’s got this!

Lifted Up

In due time, God will lift the humble. He’ll strengthen, encourage and comfort you, providing all you need to rise.

Allow humility to pave the way for His sustaining grace.

Mar

2019

Blessed are the Meek

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Matthew 5:5

We often read right over this familiar passage without fully understanding what this means. The work used for “meek” is:

Praus prah-ooce’ mild, gentle, humble: – meek.

The best way to understand what this word means is to use an illustration. Many of us love horses. There is something spectacular about a horse. We have all watched the movies of the wild horses, the “Mustangs” running free across the plains.

These incredible horses are powerful, and beautiful. We love to look at them. As beautiful as they are, these horses, in the wild, are quite dangerous, and cannot be tamed or “broken” easily. In their “wild” state, they may be beautiful, and majestic, but they are quite useless until they are broken.

Once these horses are “broken” and learn to submit to their master, only then can all that power and energy be, put to good use. The horse is now under complete control of its master. Does this mean that the horse is weak? Of course not, it means that this powerful, majestic animal is now humbly under control of its master.

This is what Jesus had in mind when He shared this Scripture. Those who will humble themselves and come under the authority and control of God will experience great blessing.

Just like unbridled passion in a wild horse is dangerous, so is unbridled passion in the heart of a Christian dangerous, even more so.

A fire out of control becomes a wildfire, and wildfires are destructive, they burn hot and furious, and then die out quickly. What we need is a slow, steady burn, a fire ignited and fanned into flame under the direct supervision of the Holy Spirit of God.

If we look across the contemporary Christian landscape we will see many scorched areas where unbridled passions flamed, hundreds became disillusioned, and have become “burned out.”

We must learn to submit to our master, the sooner the better.

When Jesus spoke these words in Matthew, He no doubt was calling on a Scripture taken from the Old Testament Book of Psalms 37.

Psalm 37:1-11

Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

If we take a closer look at this Psalm, we will see some interesting “control” words floating to the surface.

Trust, Delight, Commit, Be Still, Do not Fret, Refrain, just to name a few. Jesus is emphasizing the importance of trusting in God, and NOT reacting to our human nature, which is to take things into our own hands, being unsatisfied, lacking commitment, always moving and going, fretting and worrying.

The greatest lesson ANY Christian can learn, is humility, and true humility will produce a person who is meek; controlled power.

Jesus said this later on in the Book of Matthew. . .

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I have been reading a little on several techniques used to break a horse. Some of those techniques seem quite unreasonable, and even cruel. However, unless the horse can be broken, it is utterly useless, and still very dangerous to those around it.

One technique is to “hitch” or pair up a wild horse with a tame one. This procedure seems to work on some horses. The idea is that the older, more “meek” horse, will cause the younger, wilder horse, to settle down a little.

I suspect this procedure is at times as frustrating to the older horse as it is for the younger one, but in the end, favorable results often occur.

Perhaps it is wisdom to come along side of an older, more seasoned Christian, and learn humility this way. They have earned their stripes!

I was one of those “bunking broncos” and I wanted to run fast, hard and free! Brimming with fire and passion, I lit many fires in my wake. I could not understand why well-meaning, mature Christians were coming along behind me with a fire truck, putting out my fires! It exasperated me to no end!

I had to learn the lesson of humility, and I am still in class!

Remember, “meekness” is not “weakness” it is controlled strength.

Finally, for those who have given control to the Holy Spirit of God, the truly meek and humble, the Bible says; “They will inherit the earth.”

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

Psalm 2:8

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

The inheritance that Jesus is talking about is not a home on earth, nor is it the mineral rights to planet earth; while we certainly have access to both! What Jesus is talking about are people; the nations! Heaven and earth will pass away but the souls of man are eternal!

Only the truly humble, only the meek will be able to bring others into the kingdom of heaven, not the proud and self-righteous.

The humble man or woman will be gentle, never condescending, they have an acute awareness of their own spiritual poverty, and are patient, and long suffering with those they encounter in this world. They treat them with an uncanny kindness, are gentle and mild in their conversations.

The meek begin taking on a striking resemblance to the Master they serve, trusting, hoping, and always persevering.

Those who are such will inherit the earth, and many will come into the Kingdom of heaven because of them!

Where are you in the process?

Yield to the Master, and simply take His yoke upon you?

Pick it up, and put it on, and partner with Him, saddle up with Christ, and get moving!

Jan

2018

Holier than Thou

Early in my pastoral career, I felt I had a corner on what it meant to be a Christian. My views were set, or so I thought! As an evangelical Christian, I always found it difficult to listen to opposing views; perhaps more accurately, different views, and I would do my best, to keep “my people” away from those who saw Christianity through a different lens than mine.

Annually, in our small rural community, through the season of Lent, area churches would come together in a show of Christian unity and share pulpits.

We would invite guest speakers from the local ministerial association to speak in our home churches each week, as the Lenten season progressed.

It was great; a Baptist preacher would share the message at the Catholic Church one week, then a Pentecostal preacher would share a message in the Baptist church the next week. The Christian community traveled to different churches, meeting new friends and sharing times of fellowship following the services.

Some of the more evangelical pastors were skeptical of having a “non-evangelical” pastor preach in their church, so they would quietly ask evangelical pastors if they would speak in their church the week the community came to their place of worship. I was one of those pastors.

On one particular week of the Lenten services, a “non-evangelical” pastor, known for occasionally shooting down claims made by the more evangelical pastors, would soon preach at one of the churches.

As the week for him to speak approached, I purposefully “forgot” to announce the location of that week’s Lenten meeting; secretly hoping many of my people would “forget” too.

The night of the Lenten service arrived, and I felt obligated to go to the service. I went prepared for a message that would be high and lofty, with very little, if any mention of Jesus Name; I was not disappointed.

I found myself analyzing every word; glad in my heart that few of “my” people attended!

Following his message, a fellowship gathering in an adjacent room, separated by a narrow hallway was getting underway. As people began to make their way to the fellowship gathering, I decided I would join them for a moment and headed in that direction.

As I moved into the narrowing hallway, and kindly old woman, with a crown of white hair, came toward me, gently grabbing my arms, pulling me in. She looked at me, her eyes looking larger than life, through glasses with thick lens, fogged up as tears streamed down her cheeks.

As she drew me in, she said to me; “Pastor Rock, was that not the most moving message you ever heard?”

I was speechless; I mean . . . I had nothing, not a word! The best I could do was gently form a smile; she smiled too, then released her grip and ambled down the hallway.

I stood motionless for a moment, stunned by her words, and I distinctly heard the voice of God; “Rock, you missed it; you missed Me, I was there, where were you?”

I focused entirely on my own narrow view and my own self-righteousness; so much so, that I never noticed God’s Holy Spirit moving in that place. I Left quietly and went out to my car and sat there sobbing, sorry for my ignorance and pride.

God taught me, one of the most valuable lessons I ever learned, and that is He has far more grace than I ever will have.

He taught me that I do not have a corner on Christianity; others have a place at the table too. I have heard it said; “someone does not have to be wrong, for me to be right.”

A Scripture in the Gospel of Mark reveals an important truth . . .

Mark 9:38-41

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.

I think the point Jesus was making to John was a simple one; just because they do not belong to your group, does not mean they do not belong to Me.

I have seen Jesus work miracles in ways I never dreamed of and He uses people that I never would! His grace is indeed great, and I for one am very glad; He even has space for someone like me!