Hope and Forgiveness

This afternoon, as I sat at a local coffee shop and reviewed the lesson we would be going over in Bible Study this evening, one particular instruction to the study caught my eye. The author instructs, “The Bible is filled with verses such as First Corinthians 10:31, Romans 8:28-29, Proverbs 27:5-6, or First John 1:9, which offer hope and forgiveness. Choose one of those verses and then explain why you would use that particular verse to encourage someone” (The Gathering Place, page 87). With a sense of awe in regards to God’s awesome provision, I chose First John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (ESV). I believe this was my choice for the reason of the experiential implication of the Gospel and the truth that I am offered a fresh start through the blood of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin. This is good news, and it is important news that I would want to share with another person. It is the solid foundation for counsel that brings truth and life.

Holy Spirit, I pray that you would moment by moment remind me of the Truth of First John 2:1, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (ESV). Thank You God for the fresh start You give me through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me to share this fresh start with others as You send me. In Jesus, Amen.

“But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” And “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2:16 ESV). Departure from sin begins at the cross.

A Humble Life

The life of Jesus was the first thing that came to mind as I pondered the question, “Because humility is necessary, what does a humble life look like (Isaiah 6:1-7)? (Question from the Gathering Place, Lesson 2, Reverence, page 257). And, the life of Jesus should be the first thing that comes to mind when we, as Christians, ponder a question such as this one. The Apostle Paul wrote boldly in Philippians 2:5-8, “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion” (MSG). As we gaze at truths such as this one, we become more like Christ and the reflections of verses such as “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death” (Philippians 3:10) begin to be seen in us.

What catches my eye in this moment as I look at this question are the words “humility is necessary.” And as I ask myself, “Why is humility necessary?” I remember a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that I read, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Thinking on this now, it makes sense to me that humility is the undertaking that keeps us from giving away our consent to “feel inferior.” This is what happened in the life of Isaiah: at the height of “feeling inferior,” God revealed Himself high and lifted up, “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up…” and, in response the prophet cried out, “Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Through his own confession of “feeling inferior,” God gave Isaiah a new confident perspective through forgiveness of sins, a resurrected perspective. As soon as he “died” to himself, God raised the prophet up to “go” for him. What an awesome reversal! He no longer submitted himself to the consent of his inferiority but to God’s superiority! And when God asked the question, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah was confident to respond, “Here am I. Send me!”

Without Jesus, we are guilt-ridden and undone and it is our own pride and lack of humility that keeps us in a state of rebellious ruin with an “all about me” attitude not going anywhere. We don’t understand the scope of this until, like Isaiah, we see the LORD high and lifted up. At that point, if we have truly seen Him, we have no other wherewithal in us except to bow down and worship the Only One who leads us on the right road, set free from the deceptive guides of pride and selfishness. He releases us, in love, to be humble servants living out the life of Jesus on the pages of our lives with an ever increasing grace and knowledge. Jesus Christ, the Name above all names, is the only One who holds our redemption in His hands, we cannot redeem ourselves. This is the saving knowledge that sets us free from consenting to every inferiority complex borne of pride. I am small and God is big and in His great mercy, He lifts us up in our humility no longer undone, ruined, and unclean, but reborn, clothed in Christ, and fully redeemed!

Opposite of Humility

“What is the opposite of Humility? What are some of the ways or attitudes in which we become prideful or arrogant?”  (Question taken from the Gathering Place, page 257.)  In response to this question, I found a few appropriate quotes (go figure) from C.S. Lewis.  In regards to the “opposite of humility,” I thought of pride and I found according to Lewis that in contrast to considering others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3), “pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man… It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity   When we keep a self-centered agenda, we cultivate pride and arrogance as an attitude.  It could manifest itself in things like self-indulgence instead of gracious generosity, swollen conceit instead of genuine concern for others, heartlessness instead of compassion, and seeking to please people over seeking to please God, but “The beautifully Fierce…” walk in confidence and humility that flow from the recognition of Christ’s work of grace in their life” (Kim Wagner).

Today, September 18, 2014 on Bible Gateway the “Verse of the Day” comes from Philippians 2:304 (AMP).   “Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves]. Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others.” According to the Word of God attitudes in which we become prideful or arrogant manifest themselves in the form of “contentiousness, strife, and selfishness” only to name a few.  Our remedy, in short, with our eyes on Jesus is to look out not only for our own good but also for the good of others.  “I was thinking recently that if I could identify one single attribute biblically that would be the supreme attitude of all attitudes, the most desirable from God’s view point would be humility” (John MacArthur) (The Gathering Place, page 35).

LORD Jesus, please forgive me for when I have considered myself more highly than I ought to.  Forgive me of pride.  Help me to recognize your work of grace in my life and to walk in confidence and humility.  I pray this for all of the women in the Gathering place bible study.  Increase our love for you.  In Jesus Name, Amen. 

Humility is Often Viewed as Weakness

The question on the table tonight is this, “It seems in our culture that humility is often viewed as weakness.  Do you agree or disagree?  Why?” (Question taken from the Gathering Place, page 257.)  My answer to this question is “agree.”  If I could simply define humility, I would define it as the words of Paul in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others as better than yourself” (NIV).  The realization of pride is found in the pervasive nature of vanity and the manifestation of swollen conceit.   It is pride and the love of self that considers humility weakness.  Pawns in the hand of the devil, those swollen with conceit see the inadequacies of the weak in their mind’s eye as a stepping stone. “As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity ). Kim Wagner, author of Fierce woman: the power of a soft warrior, speaks of the destructively fierce woman as someone who “walks in arrogance and pride but is blind to her lack of humility.  She views meek behavior as a sign of weakness.  She sincerely believes her personal conflicts stem from others’ ineptness, lack of spirituality, or inferior behavior.”

“At the top of Paul’s description for godless [people] men is “love of self.” Rather than loving God and having Him be the center, men are going to continue to love themselves, and live arrogant, proud, pleasure-filled lives(2 Timothy 3:1-4). We live in a culture that says, “Live for yourself; its’ all about YOU!” So how can you and I be different? How can we determine to not allow our views, ideas, and concepts of God to be lower than they ought? I believe that before we can ever begin to see God for who He is, we must think rightly about ourselves. R.C. Sproul, in his book The Holiness of God, says it this way, “Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their significance, until they have contrasted themselves with the Majesty of God.” (The Gathering Place, page 34).

Dear Jesus, Your Word says that I am not to conform to the patterns of this world but that I am to be transformed by the power of Your Word.  Please keep me from turning to things that cultivate vanity in my heart.  Help me to keep my eyes on You through Your Word.  You died for me that I might live for you.  Help me not to think more highly of myself than I ought (Romans 12:1-4). In You, Amen.