The Devotional – Search the Scriptures – 278


The Devotional – Search the Scriptures – 278

Curing worldliness with Humility

James 4:7 - 9 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Christ/Messiah is The Wisdom and knowledge of God

Philippians 2:3 – Nothing—through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. With the italics removed from this verse [since it is not in the original context], we are able to better understand and share a clearer intent of the apostle’s statement as he guides us in the Holy Spirit’s teaching on humility.

The church in the Untied States of America is far from being humble, if this statement is true and it is, what then are those people who call these churches their ‘home’ church? Revelation 3:20a – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock… Jesus Messiah has the apostle John writes about the condition of the church universal in the ladder days. Some scoff [lack humility] at the following. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 – Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Briefly, we have looked at humility from two vital areas of the life of God’s children. One, personal humility and two, corporate humility. Most churches are ‘arrogant’ and most children of God are boastful. Both the church and the child react to the public in a sinful ‘pride of life’, sadly we even react among our brothers and sisters in Christ in the same sinful manner. The apostle warns in Philippians that we are to esteem one another in lowliness of mind, that is to treat one another with a respect greater than you expect from them.

If this is hard or seemingly impossible for us to do, it is not the other person—it is YOU! Notice, back to James 4, we must be willing to draw near to God, we must be willing to cleanse our sinfulness and we must be willing to purify our heart. If not, we will remain ‘double-minded’ and this personal double-mindedness, like cancer, spreads  through the whole church. Yes, and if we fail to lament and fail to mourn over our personal lack of humility the church we attend will become just as we are—miserable.

Recognize where you are in your personal walk as a child of the Living God and if you are prone to a lack of humility as most of us are. “STOP IT,” I say again, stop it and return to God. Humble yourself before Him and as you do He will LIFT you up and He will restore your church,  and your joy and laughter will return – please read Philippians 2:1-18

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