Thursday, September 17, 2015

PART 2: BE LIKE THE HUMBLE SUFFERING SAVIOR

Scripture says in more than one place that "God resists the proud but gives Grace to the Humble" This is absolutely true. If you look at it from God's perspective, pride is one of the worse sins of all. But just who are the humble? James, "old Camel-knees", quotes this verse in James 4:6 and uses the word "humble" from the original Greek "tapeinos"....or lowly in spirit. Can a mighty man or woman of God, who is successful in his or her field, (say a top female executive in a local bank, or owner of the best two auto-shops in town)....can such a person be "lowly in spirit" and God reliant instead of "self-reliant"? Yes, indeed, this is more than possible. It has been done since Christ rose from the dead and launched His best work - the Church.

We already know what humility is NOT. Satan/Lucifer's fall from heaven in the Five "I Wills" from the previous post, shows us what the opposite of humility is. History and Scripture told us why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. The perversion in their twisted sexuality was just a sympton of what the root cause was - pride! In Ezekiel 16:48-50 God Himself says "48"As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. 50"Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it". This is the exact mirror of America and the west today where all the excesses of arrogance, pride and easy living has led to perverted lifestyles, pornography and the persistent filthy culture.

But we, who are called by His Name are called to a different purpose. While God will not just resist the proud but deal with them harshly on the Appointed Day, we are to walk in unity and righteousness in the midst of a perverse and wicked generation and people. Here is our charge from Philippians 2:1-4 "Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 


This is a reflection of the Humble Savior, the Suffering Savior Who went to the Cross silently, resolute and with purpose in the Greatest Act of Love - for the forgiveness of sins. He gave us access to the very Throne of Heaven and so, the choice is ours. Do we put our pride aside and come to the end of ourselves, seeing our desperate need for a Savior or do we keep going the way we have with the delusion that we are okay and are basically, good people? Being like Christ requires knowledge - knowledge of the Holy and a realization that we are nothing, He is everything and we must be remade into HIS image and not ours.

Can the prideful and arrogant be saved and born again? Can they/we be remade and be reborn into the image and likeness of King Jesus? We sure can. History of full of such men and women. We will examine them as time goes by. It takes a lot of soul-searching to know that something is not right, that our relationship with God does not exist in actuality and that we have been kidding ourselves all along, in our pride. It requires a desperate cry for mercy, grace and compassion from the Only One Who can rescue and that cry and the resulting response to that repentance will lead to the re-birth. Are you ready for that call my friends?  The great prophet Micah leaves us with this to ponder our prideful estate as we seek restoration with him in Micah 6:8 under inspiration from God "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

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