Hmmm - Humility

Driving along in the car this morning, I was thinking how pretty everything was with the sun coming up, touching the tops of the multicolored trees.  I found myself in awe of God’s creation and humbled by His thoughts, plans, and love for me.

Later, when checking the subject for a topical prayer schedule I am following, I saw that the day's prayer focus was Humility.  Much later in the day, in checking another daily Scripture source, the verse was 1 Peter 5:6 – also about humility.

Hmmm – Humility. I thought about Moses, who was said to be meek, or humble.

Numbers 12:3 Common English Bible (CEB)

³ Now the man Moses was humble, more so than anyone on earth.

 

In thinking about Moses, remembering his being told by the Lord to take off his shoes (when encountering “an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush”), it occurred to me that perhaps this removal of his shoes was a sign of humility.  In the restoration of the son returning from “a far country” in Jesus’ parable in Luke 15, shoes were to be placed upon his feet, as a sign of elevated status.

So, I thought I'd just look up some Scripture verses about humility, lowliness, meekness:

2 Chronicles 7:14 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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.

Micah 6:8 (KJV)

⁸ He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Matthew 11:28-30 (CEB)

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. ³⁰ My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.”

Ephesians 4:2-3 (KJV)

² With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

³ Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

Colossians 3:12-13 (KJV)

¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

James 4:9-10 (KJV)

⁹ Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

1 Peter 5:5-7 (KJV)

⁵ Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

⁶ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

⁷ Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

 

So I guess I wasn’t surprised when a situation presented itself where God’s grace covered me, deadening prideful feelings which could have seriously affected my attitude and damaged some relationships.  Thank You, God, for Your protection - by clothing me in humility!

Philippians 2:1-11 (KJV)

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

² Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

³ Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

⁴ Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

¹¹ And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

… and my journey with Him continues …

Not Alone

God With Us – MercyMe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0evTbghu7Rk)

Psalm 8:3-5 (KJV)

³ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

⁴ What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

⁵ For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

 

Praying for those going through hard, challenging times, those confused or lonely, those grieving, those with no hope, no light, no joy …

…so many needs, LORD.  But I know that You are more than aware of all of these things I see and know, these things that tear at my heart, and that You care more (and differently) than I do.  Please, Lord, show yourself strong on behalf of all who are hurting in any way, drawing us all - even through difficulties - to Yourself.  Thank You that Your grace is sufficient for anything we encounter, for Your strength is made perfect in weakness.  Thank You for those You send alongside us to help in times of trouble, and most of all, for Your continued Presence with us in accordance with Your faithfulness to Your Word.

 

He is With You – Mandisa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3CVlv2dz3w)

Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV)

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 ... and my journey with Him continues ...

Out of the Blue - (feeling) loved

Songs: Jesus, I Love You  by Norman Hutchins  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x80QzaOpoyc)
The Only One by Antonio Neal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nLh1MEF7jM)
He Loves Me by Jill Scott (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxi9OuiyjVc)

1 John 4:9-10

⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins

Just got in a while ago and sat down to the computer.  Was going to look up a song i heard on the radio (turns out to be The Only One by Antonio Neal) when "out of the blue" i felt such a surge of love, of feeling loved, of being loved.  My soul's response (before my mind even thought to respond) was "Jesus, i love You!"

So grateful for and humbled by such a love that is not dependent on anything i do or don't do, but that just IS...  Thank You, LORD!!!

... and my journey with Him continues ...

How God loves ...

Isaiah 55

New King James Version (NKJV)

An Invitation to Abundant Life

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
² Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
³ Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.
⁴ Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
⁵ Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”

⁶ Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
¹¹ So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

¹² “For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

 

 

Listening to David Crowder Band sing John Mark McMillan song "How He Loves", and looking at video of story behind song (http://vimeo.com/10868953) reminds me of Isaiah 55:8-9, that God is so not like us ...

Peace and Justice

Reported for jury duty today.  Thought of these verses, circling the building and praying during the lunch break:

 

Isaiah 48:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

 

Psalm 51:3-4 (NIV)

³ For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.

 

I smiled when I saw that the book I was reading, in the place I was reading (while waiting in the jury room), mentioned the story Jesus told in Luke 18:1-8:

 

Luke 18:1-8, J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

Then he gave them an illustration to show that they must always pray and never lose heart.

^2-5 “Once upon a time,” he said, “there was a magistrate in a town who had neither fear of God nor respect for his fellow-men. There was a widow in the town who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Please protect me from the man who is trying to ruin me.’ And for a long time he refused. But later he said to himself, ‘Although I don’t fear God and have no respect for men, yet this woman is such a nuisance that I shall give judgment in her favour, or else her continual visits will be the death of me!’”

^6-8 Then the Lord said, “Notice how this dishonest magistrate behaved. Do you suppose God, patient as he is, will not see justice done for his chosen, who appeal to him day and night? I assure you he will not delay in seeing justice done. Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find men on earth who believe in him?”

 

 

So, watching the proceedings, thinking of God as Judge ...

 

Psalm 135 (NKJV)

Praise to God in Creation and Redemption

 Praise the Lord!

 

Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
² You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courts of the house of our God,
³ Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.
⁴ For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His special treasure.

 

⁵ For I know that the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
⁶ Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
⁷ He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.

 

⁸ He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt,
Both of man and beast.
⁹ He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt,
Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
¹⁰ He defeated many nations
And slew mighty kings—
¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
And all the kingdoms of Canaan—
¹² And gave their land as a heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.

 

¹³ Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations.
¹⁴ For the Lord will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.

 

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
¹⁷ They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
¹⁸ Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.

 

¹⁹ Bless the Lord, O house of Israel!
Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron!
²⁰ Bless the Lord, O house of Levi!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
²¹ Blessed be the Lord out of Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem!

 

Praise the Lord!

 

… and my journey with Him continues …

Back again ...

It’s been a while since I blogged.  In reading some of my earlier posts, I see that a lot of the things I planned on doing (regarding the blog) didn’t get done.

But God is faithful, and continues to call me back to this when I would probably just shake my head in failure, disappointed with myself in my lack of commitment and follow-through, and go on to something else. 

Isaiah 30:15 (AMP)

¹⁵ For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength. …

So in response to His call, humbled by His grace and patient lovingkindness towards me, His mercy and goodness shown again and again … here I am again.  And the reason I am here, on this blog, is the reason I am here, on this earth: to bring God glory.  That’s been my lesson lately, that that is my part in God’s plan – to bring Him glory. 

1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31-33 (NKJV)

²³ All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.

³¹ Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ³² Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, ³³ just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Not sure why, but thinking of these verses:

Zechariah 9:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ And the Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of His people, for they shall be as the [precious] jewels of a crown, lifted high over and shining glitteringly upon His land.

Isaiah 62:1-3 (NKJV)

For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burns.
The Gentiles shall see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory.
You shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the Lord will name.
You shall also be a crown of glory
In the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem
In the hand of your God.

… and my journey with Him continues …

Cruel to be Kind

[...this is really a continuation from prior blog post, Correcting Rebuke...]

On the same day that I was awakened with the insect bite, I was making a phone call and was put on hold.  An “oldie but goodie” song came on briefly and quickly went off as I was switched to another extension – I don’t remember what it was but I was surprised to hear it instead of classical or other instrumental music. My foot began to itch where I had been bitten, and to hurt where it was swelling inside of my shoe.  I was asking the Lord if that had really been necessary to get me up, though I conceded with a smile that it was certainly effective.

Psalm 141:1-5, New King James Version (NKJV)

            Prayer for Safekeeping from Wickedness
            A Psalm of David.

Lord, I cry out to You;
Make haste to me!
Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.
² Let my prayer be set before You as incense,
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

³ Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
⁴ Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice wicked works
With men who work iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

⁵ Let the righteous strike me;
It shall be a kindness.
And let him rebuke me;
It shall be as excellent oil;
Let my head not refuse it.

Proverbs 27:5-6, 9 New King James Version (NKJV)

            ⁵ Open rebuke is better
             Than love carefully concealed.

⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

⁹ Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel.

Immediately I was put back on hold and the song “Cruel to be kind” came on.  I cracked up laughing.  As soon as I got off of the phone, I got on the internet and looked up the song on youtube.

I found the original, but then a more current version that I liked more:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a30Uo5sJWSQ – this was done as part of a show (Live from Daryl’s House) that was new to me.  I looked at some other episodes of these, choosing some for the guest artist and some for the song being performed.  In all of them that I watched, I was so thankful to God for His gift of music, of sound, of hearing, and for the joy of making and sharing in the music that seemed so evident on these shows.  I heard some “old” (i.e. familiar) songs performed by “new” people (people I didn’t know or hadn’t heard perform these particular songs) and some “new” (previously unknown to me) songs performed by artists with which I was familiar.

Matthew 13:52, New King James Version (NKJV)
52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

 So I’m just sharing in this joy, in this music, in this gracious gift of God, and hear the song, “That’s the Way I Feel About Cha” performed by Daryl Hall and band with Monte Montgomery, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7izBLEoZHs.  Monte’s vocals (from 3:51 to 4:17), had a harmony that struck me differently at that moment, and it was just like the Lord was affirming ... to me ... yet again His love ... for me.

Romans 5:6-8, New King James Version (NKJV)
 Christ in Our Place
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

… and He says, “That’s the way I feel about cha” …

John 14:6, New King James Version (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Romans 8:31-32, New King James Version (NKJV)
God’s Everlasting Love
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

… and He says, “That’s the way I feel about cha” …

Romans 8:33-37, New King James Version (NKJV)
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
 “For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

… and He says, “That’s the way I feel about cha” …

Romans 8:38-39, New King James Version (NKJV)
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Jeremiah 31:3, New King James Version (NKJV)
The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

… and He says, “That’s the way I feel about cha” …

1 John 4:10, King James Version (KJV)
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

… and He says, “That’s the way I feel about you” …

SONG: How He Loves, by David Crowder Band - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCunuL58odQ&ob=av2e

… and my journey with Him continues …