Be Humble

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.  Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.  James 4:7-10

Humble.  It’s the title of one of my favorite rap songs.  It’s also a state of mind.  Being humble can be confusing.  Most people mistaken being humble for weakness.  In fact, one definition for the word ‘humble’ means having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.  However, its primary definition is not proud or arrogant; modest.  The former definition used to be what I believed.  “You have to make yourself smaller or meek,” I thought.  However, we know Jesus himself was humble, and there is no one who would ever consider Him either small or meek.  So what is it that I was confusing?  The answer came through one of my favorite authors.  He wrote that humility is a person being willing and able to put others interests above his or her own.  Note, it neither means to be a doormat to others nor to fall back to someone else simply to appease them.  It does means that you are willing to put your own interest aside for the good of the whole.  Jesus had plenty of opportunities to give Himself up to Pharisees.  But after His work was done, He then sacrificed Himself in humble obedience to God for all humanity.  This is why we follow Him as an example.

If we submit ourselves before God, He will lift us up above our circumstances.  Today’s verses speak of building a close relationship through God.  It speaks about humbling ourselves on two occasions.  Why is this so important?  The answer is fairly simple.  Numerous times, we have this debate between God and ourselves about who is ultimately in control of our lives.  We play tug of war knowing that if we truly follow Christ, we understand that it is not a winnable war.  Thus, we can either control our lives at the cost of being fully disconnected with God or choose to surrender all that we want for what He wants.  While I openly must admit that I often pull toward that side of wanting to be in control, I have learned to let go more to God, and the only way that occurs is to acknowledge He is bigger than me.  We must be willing to go to Him and say, “I cannot make it without you!”  Thus, today’s verses give us a clear picture of what humility is all about.  It’s having strength to surrender all to Him but not the world.

Humility is about knowing who you are in relationship with God.  I started this devotion noting two different definitions for humble.  We must understand that when it is in respect to God, we are the subservient follower, but when dealing with the world, God expects us to be modest servant of Christ willing to do His will above others for His glory.  Furthermore, we are to welcome those who come to us just as God was when He first found us.  Jesus illustrated this saying:

I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. (Matthew 18:3b-5)

Jesus said this understanding that being like a little child illustrates dependency; as in our dependence on God.  Let us commit to serving God both as His servant and serving others.  What do you need to humbly submit to God today?  Who can you humbly serve in Jesus’ name?  My prayer is that in the truest sense, we can as the rap song says, “Be humble!”  Amen.

Thursday Devotional - Hate, Honor and Hospitality

Yes, we’re to do all three! As Paul says, they’re part of having sincere love serving the Lord and sharing with His people.

Romans 12:9-13     Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

I certainly don’t do all of this all of the time. I can’t even say I hate, honor and show hospitality each week, but I did this past week. I hated a lie I overheard, we honored my Dad for his 65^th birthday, and we hosted people in our home three different times. James even asked to have another family over for dinner on Tuesday, but I was fixing a new vegan recipe and wasn’t sure how it would taste or if it would be ready in time.  

When have you and I not hated what was evil, including our own sin?

Who will you and I honor, faithfully pray for or show hospitality to this week in service to the Lord?

Paul sets out some high expectations.

Which one jumps out at you to focus on this week?

Alice

Tues Devo: Storm

Luke 8:22-25 “Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”” (NASB)

Having grown up in church, this story is one I was quite familiar with. However, as I have been reading through Luke something stuck out at me that I hadn’t noticed before. We think about the storm – and the imminent danger it brings. We think about how Jesus remained asleep through this terrible commotion. We think about Jesus and His power over the seas. We think about the amazement of the disciples and wonder why they asked Jesus to help, but then are in amazement when He actually does help – especially after all the miracles they have already seen.

But what I have missed is the question of Jesus. He asked them “where is your faith?”. Admittedly, I don’t know His precise intent of this question. Is it because those on the boat told Him they were perishing and didn’t ask for help? Or did Jesus ask because those on the boat shouldn’t have even needed to ask for help – trusting that Jesus’ presence would bring about protection because His work was not done?

Either way – it makes me think about how we view the storms in our lives. Are we looking for them to all just end? Or are we willing to trust that no matter how crazy the storm gets, it is about trusting God through the storm and not just wanting to be out of the storm??

The presence and love of God is not about the absence of difficulty, it is about the peace that trusting in Him brings while we walk through those difficulties.

You have the most powerful advocate possible, trust Him!

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Tired and weary

Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Have you ever had a day or a week that was extremely grueling?  That was me these past two weeks.  I had huge projects going on here at work, my son was constantly needy when he was home, I had other appointments and I just got to a point this past Saturday that I had nothing left to give, I was spent.  While I really needed to get some work done around the house, I just could not do it.  I had to take some time to rest and recharge. 

As I think about our mighty God, I think about how he created the entire world in just a week’s time.  Talk about a grueling project!  While he took time to rest, it was not because he grew tired or weary. 

I am so grateful today that we have a loving God who does not grow tired or weary on us.  And that when I grow tired and weary, that I have a place to be restored.