Those who evaluate themselves by their accomplishments, monetary wealth, physical beauty or clothing styles, cannot be humble. A self focus, only brings arrogance and self worth elevated above the standards of God. As long as these people "appear" wonderful they are satisfied with that.
Those who love Christ want more than appearances, they want truth down to their very bones. They are the same whether they are alone or with people, they do not change character or responses because of who they are with.
Ephesians 4:31-32
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
Someone once said, "the better we know God the less we have to prove."
Those who continually act superior to others, lack faith and confidence about their walk with the Lord and must work to prove they are better through intimidation, demeaning and disrespect.
When we walk with the Lord, we know our lowly position, while also knowing His power, we can walk with confidence, knowing we have nothing to prove except Christ. Self is not an issue, Christ and His principles are everything, we are irrelevant, except to glorify Him.
John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."
Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Friday, March 13, 2015
Dying To Self Takes Christ
We cannot die to self unless we are submitted to Christ.
James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Not everyone is called to die a death in the body, but physically for someone else, we are called to serve, but even more so than that we are called to die spiritually to our own desires at the risk of rejection, to bring truth, the greatest form of love entrusted to us, is that which cannot be measured or seen but changes lives. the truth of God's Word. We help no one by withholding truth to be loved by men.
Galatians 2;20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 5:24 "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
Mark 8:35 "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it."
John 12:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
We cannot be used fully of God unless we first set aside our own desires and resolve to obey Him. Many people claim to be obeying the principles of the Bible but in fact, with close inspection, are actually disobey most of it.
We see the violations of selflessness daily in the acceptance of divorce and remarriage, the violation of the order of the worship service, the mandates about leadership, the ignoring of the practice of head covering and many other things that show a rebellion against the Word, using circular and pragmatic arguments to justify disobedience.
Nearly everyone thinks they are following the Bible when the reality is, that they are following very little of God's principles, to maintain their friendships and family.
Matthew 10:38 "And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."
Philippians 2:1-11 "1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
It would be good to evaluate everything we think and believe, through prayer and scripture reading, to discern whether or not we have trusted Christ, or whether we have trusted human wisdom and tacked a little of the Bible onto our humanistic form of Christianity.
Humility is necessary for us to do this, if we are someone who can never say they were wrong to another person, then we will never be able to say it to an unseen God.
James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
Is your goal to be elevated by men or to be lifted up by God?
James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Not everyone is called to die a death in the body, but physically for someone else, we are called to serve, but even more so than that we are called to die spiritually to our own desires at the risk of rejection, to bring truth, the greatest form of love entrusted to us, is that which cannot be measured or seen but changes lives. the truth of God's Word. We help no one by withholding truth to be loved by men.
Galatians 2;20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 5:24 "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
Mark 8:35 "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it."
John 12:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
We cannot be used fully of God unless we first set aside our own desires and resolve to obey Him. Many people claim to be obeying the principles of the Bible but in fact, with close inspection, are actually disobey most of it.
We see the violations of selflessness daily in the acceptance of divorce and remarriage, the violation of the order of the worship service, the mandates about leadership, the ignoring of the practice of head covering and many other things that show a rebellion against the Word, using circular and pragmatic arguments to justify disobedience.
Nearly everyone thinks they are following the Bible when the reality is, that they are following very little of God's principles, to maintain their friendships and family.
Matthew 10:38 "And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."
Philippians 2:1-11 "1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
It would be good to evaluate everything we think and believe, through prayer and scripture reading, to discern whether or not we have trusted Christ, or whether we have trusted human wisdom and tacked a little of the Bible onto our humanistic form of Christianity.
Humility is necessary for us to do this, if we are someone who can never say they were wrong to another person, then we will never be able to say it to an unseen God.
James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
Is your goal to be elevated by men or to be lifted up by God?
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