So you see, when we exalt THE LORD *GOD* ALMIGHTY, HE WILL exalt us! It is a win-win!!!
To humble ourselves is misconstrued, and often mistaken as weakness; that is due to carnal thinking, and the world! Humbling ourselves before our LORD *GOD* shows great strength, courage, and wisdom, for NOTHING exists if not for HIM, nor will anything thrive without HIM, regardless that the wrong, bad, and evil seems to; it won't be long before ALL stand before HIM, and HIS KINGDOM reigns forever, in which case, those whom humbled themselves shall share in HIS GLORY for all eternity, but those who did not, shall face eternal turmoil...
God will give more grace to the humble, because they see their need of it, pray for it are thankful for it, and such shall have it. Submit to God. Submit your understanding to the truth of God; submit your wills to the will of his precept, the will of his providence. Submit yourselves to God, for he is ready to do you good. If we yield to temptations, the devil will continually follow us; but if we put on the whole armour of God, and stand out against him, he will leave us. Let sinners then submit to God, and seek his grace and favour; resisting the devil. All sin must be wept over; here, in godly sorrow, or, hereafter, in eternal misery. And the Lord will not refuse to comfort one who really mourns for sin, or to exalt one who humbles himself before him.
Treat pride as a condition that always necessitates embracing the cross (Luke 9:23). It is our nature to be proud and it is God’s nature in us that brings humility. Committing to a lifestyle of daily dying to ourselves and living through Him is the foundation for true humility.
PRIDE IS that which separates us from THE LORD *GOD*, AND that which leads us wrongly, and sees us thinking, saying, and doing things which appease the flesh, but NOT the spirit, or THE LORD! In order to understand humility, we need to fully understand pride, and how it IS an enemy!!!
We have MANY enemies as we walk this Earth, MOST of them rooted from within the carnal being, which by the way, is NOT the image we were CREATED in, NO!, it is the spiritual being which IS our reality, and TRUTH IN HIS NAME, and FOR HIS GLORY! Pride tops the list, and opens up to increasing our errs, and IF we have listened to the whispering of the world, we ARE existing in contrast to our TRUTH, which then, furthers indicates the NEED for us to TURN TO *GOD*, and to humble ourselves before HIM!!!
PRIDE is a hindrance to our seeking *GOD*, and leads us to err! Pride is selfish, and is concerned with the world, and satisfying the flesh! Pride is defiant, and rebellious! Pride is what deafens us, and makes us blind to TRUTH! Pride is what caused the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden, and what made the first couple listen to the oppressor in the first place. Pride is one of those behaviours by which we are EASILY convinced of OUR wants, and needs, via Earthly stimuli, uncontrolled desires, wants, and needs! Pride lies to us and makes us believe that we've got this, and that we can fix anything, and that we are on our own! Pride USES us to the delight of the evil one, and to the disdain of THE LORD!!!
In erroneous pride, human beings embrace their own achievements, apart from those of THE LORD! Pride sees people so concerned with themselves, that they don't even think of *GOD*, and their haughty nature far removes them from HIM! THE LORD BLESSES those who humble themselves, acknowledge their errs, and seek to improve upon themselves IN HIS NAME, but HE is distanced from those whose pride consumes them...
There are 100+ BIBLE references to pride, and as many to being humbled! To exist in pride IS enmity to THE LORD *GOD* ALMIGHTY!!!
Humility before *GOD* is meekness, lowliness, and absence of the self; it is embracing the fact of THE LORD being SOVEREIGN RULER over all, and everything, and surrendering the self in favour of the spirit, in which lies vast storehouses of what is right, just, and good! The flesh is the reflection of the world; the spirit the reflection of THE LORD *GOD*! The flesh is temporal, the spirit is eternal! WITHOUT *GOD*, ALL souls would be condemned; WITH HIM, those who CHOOSE HIM, and REMAIN IN HIM, FIND LIFE!!!
For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
It is very common for a man to look upon himself as wiser and better than other men, and as fit to dictate to them. Such a one deceives himself; by pretending to what he has not, he puts a cheat upon himself, and sooner or later will find the sad effects. This will never gain esteem, either with God or men. Every one is advised to prove his own work. The better we know our own hearts and ways, the less shall we despise others, and the more be disposed to help them under infirmities and afflictions. How light soever men's sins seem to them when committed, yet they will be found a heavy burden, when they come to reckon with God about them.
Ah, we KNOW we imagine often, that we ARE something special, and feel that not much of instruction should apply to us, since we are so great! THIS right here, IS the whispering of the liar of time, in which case, we WANT to be important, the best, and obtain power, so, we bite into the lie, and ignore TRUTH! How difficult for most to accept that IF they lessen their conceited esteem of themselves, and give *GOD* HIS GLORY, by adhering to HIS WILL, there will come a time when their worth shall profit them greatly! NO! Most people demand gratification IN THE NOW, and don't care much for what is ahead...
PROVERBS 26: 12...
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
We see many a one who has some little sense, but is proud of it. This describes those who think their spiritual state to be good, when really it is very bad.
Numbers of Christians exist as the egotistic wise! They are SO sure of their end, that they imagine they are free to think, say, and do whatever they want, but they do little, if anything to reflect THE LORD, HIS WILL, and HIS WAYS! HE IS PATIENT, and HOPEFUL for ALL, though many take advantage of this, and continue down the same paths as before! This IS PRIDE at work, plain and simple!!!
ISAIAH 13: 11...
I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by the prophets, to describe the convulsions of governments. God will visit them for their iniquity, particularly the sin of pride, which brings men low. There shall be a general scene of horror. Those who join themselves to Babylon(sin), must expect to share her plagues, Rev 18:4. All that men have, they would give for their lives, but no man's riches shall be the ransom of his life. Pause here and wonder that men should be thus cruel and inhuman, and see how corrupt the nature of man is become. And that little infants thus suffer, which shows that there is an original guilt, by which life is forfeited as soon as it is begun. The day of the Lord will, indeed, be terrible with wrath and fierce anger, far beyond all here stated. Nor will there be any place for the sinner to flee to, or attempt an escape. But few act as though they believed these things.
Flee to shift for thine own safety; but those that are uneasy in one place, will be so in another; for when God's judgments pursue sinners, they will overtake them. Whence shall all this trouble come? It is a destruction from the Almighty. God designed to convince men of the vanity and uncertainty of all earthly glory. Warn all places and persons to take heed of pride; for he who exalts himself shall be abased. God will do it, who has all power in his hand;...
MICAH 6: 8...
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly a with your God.
Those who are fully convinced of sin, and of their misery and danger by reason of it, would give all the world, if they had it, for peace and pardon. Yet they do not offer aright. The sacrifices had value from their reference to Christ; it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. And all proposals of peace, except those according to the gospel, are absurd. They could not answer the demands of Divine justice, nor satisfy the wrong done to the honour of God by sin, nor would they serve at all in place of holiness of the heart and reformation of the life. Men will part with any thing rather than their sins; but they part with nothing so as to be accepted of God, unless they do part with their sins. Moral duties are commanded because they are good for man. In keeping God's commandments there is a great reward, as well as after keeping them. God has not only made it known, but made it plain. The good which God requires of us is, not the paying a price for the pardon of sin and acceptance with God, but love to himself; and what is there unreasonable, or hard, in this? Every thought within us must be brought down, to be brought into obedience to God, if we would walk comfortably with him. We must do this as penitent sinners, in dependence on the Redeemer and his atonement. Blessed be the Lord that he is ever ready to give his grace to the humble, waiting penitent.
IF we are OF CHRIST JESUS, we ARE a NEW being; gone is the old carnality, and present is the new spiritual being, whose attention is focused upon the BLESSED state of eternal oneness with THE LORD, and HIS KINGDOM! NONE of this can we do on our own, yet we must be willing, and grow INTO HIS WILL, and WAYS! We surrender the illusion of self-sufficiency, and RELY ON THE LORD *GOD* WHOM SHALL lead us TO HIS GLORY, in which we will bask, and share, forever!!!
More to come on the matters of pride and humility! Let us look TO THE LORD, and RECEIVE HIM IN spirit, and TRUTH! HOW WONDERFUL IT IS THAT HE LOVES us enough to offer us THE WAY through, and past all which intends to see us perish, therefore, let us consider HIS SOUND instructions, and WILL, as we PRAISE HIM, WORSHIP HIM, GLORIFY HIM, HONOUR HIM, and REJOICE IN HIM, giving THANKS, and BEING HIS lights for the world! NEVER forget the learning, and development ARE an ongoing process!!!
LWINSOR © 2018
BIBLICAL, and/or other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
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