Post by mommadee48 on Oct 10, 2022 13:54:49 GMT -5
OUR DAILY BREAD:
HUMILITY IS THE TRUTH; READ (JAMES 4:1-11).
Reflecting one day on why God values humility so highly, sixteenth century believer Teresa of Avila suddenly realized the answer:
"It is because God is the supreme Truth, and humility is truth... Nothing good in us springs from ourselves. Rather, it comes from the waters of grace, near which the soul remains, like a tree planted by a river, and from that Sun which gives life to our works." Teresa concluded that it's by prayer that we anchor ourselves in that reality, for "the whole foundation of prayer is humility. The more we humble ourselves in prayer, the more will God lift us up".
Teresa's words about humility echo the language of Scripture in James 4, where James warned of the self-destructive nature of pride and selfish ambition, the opposite of a life lived in dependence on God's grace (vv.1-6). The only solution to a life of greed, despair, and constant conflict, he emphasized, is to repent of our pride in exchange for God's grace. Or, in other words, to "humble yourselves before the Lord," with the assurance that "he will lift you up" (v.10).
Only when we're rooted in the waters of grace can we find ourselves nourished by the "wisdom that comes from heaven" (3:17). Only in Him can we find ourselves lifted up by the truth.
HOW does pride hinder true prayer and experience of God's grace?
How have you experienced the freedom of humility through prayer?
What causes fights and quarrels among you?
Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?
You desire but do not have, so you kill.
You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do NOT ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?
Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble". Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Brother and sisters do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
What fuels this self-worship is pride. Solomon says, "Where there is strife, there is pride" (PROVERBS 13:10).
God's humbling of the proud is His emphatic judgement (PROVERBS 6:16-17; DANIEL 4:37; JAMES 4:6,1PETER5:5).
NEXT:
THE DANGER of an UNBELIVING HEART; READ: (HEBREWS 3:12-19).
THE BIBLE WARNS about the peril of an unbelieving heart. Israel plunged into unbelief with frightful regularity. It's amazing how quickly they forgot the miraculous marvels by which God delivered them from slavery. An evil heart of unbelief will readily overlook the promises of milk and honey in favor of the leeks and onions of Egypt (NUMBER 11:5).
We need to realize that unbelief is a poisonous root of all kinds of evil. It's blasphemy that strikes at the very character of God, accusing Him of being untrue, unfaithful, and unreliable. This hideous cancer gnaws at the spiritual health of churches, and God warns us that those with unbelieving hearts are in danger of falling away.
That's why we're told to encourage one another day by day. We need each other to come alongside in times of doubt to persuade us to stay in the Word, keep our focus on Christ, and hold fast to our faith throughout life. A growing, intimate relationship with the Lord will keep our hearts tender and receptive to Him. Then we'll have assurance that our salvation is genuine so we can enter the rest He's prepared for His followers.
HUMILITY IS THE TRUTH; READ (JAMES 4:1-11).
Reflecting one day on why God values humility so highly, sixteenth century believer Teresa of Avila suddenly realized the answer:
"It is because God is the supreme Truth, and humility is truth... Nothing good in us springs from ourselves. Rather, it comes from the waters of grace, near which the soul remains, like a tree planted by a river, and from that Sun which gives life to our works." Teresa concluded that it's by prayer that we anchor ourselves in that reality, for "the whole foundation of prayer is humility. The more we humble ourselves in prayer, the more will God lift us up".
Teresa's words about humility echo the language of Scripture in James 4, where James warned of the self-destructive nature of pride and selfish ambition, the opposite of a life lived in dependence on God's grace (vv.1-6). The only solution to a life of greed, despair, and constant conflict, he emphasized, is to repent of our pride in exchange for God's grace. Or, in other words, to "humble yourselves before the Lord," with the assurance that "he will lift you up" (v.10).
Only when we're rooted in the waters of grace can we find ourselves nourished by the "wisdom that comes from heaven" (3:17). Only in Him can we find ourselves lifted up by the truth.
HOW does pride hinder true prayer and experience of God's grace?
How have you experienced the freedom of humility through prayer?
What causes fights and quarrels among you?
Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?
You desire but do not have, so you kill.
You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do NOT ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?
Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble". Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Brother and sisters do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
What fuels this self-worship is pride. Solomon says, "Where there is strife, there is pride" (PROVERBS 13:10).
God's humbling of the proud is His emphatic judgement (PROVERBS 6:16-17; DANIEL 4:37; JAMES 4:6,1PETER5:5).
NEXT:
THE DANGER of an UNBELIVING HEART; READ: (HEBREWS 3:12-19).
THE BIBLE WARNS about the peril of an unbelieving heart. Israel plunged into unbelief with frightful regularity. It's amazing how quickly they forgot the miraculous marvels by which God delivered them from slavery. An evil heart of unbelief will readily overlook the promises of milk and honey in favor of the leeks and onions of Egypt (NUMBER 11:5).
We need to realize that unbelief is a poisonous root of all kinds of evil. It's blasphemy that strikes at the very character of God, accusing Him of being untrue, unfaithful, and unreliable. This hideous cancer gnaws at the spiritual health of churches, and God warns us that those with unbelieving hearts are in danger of falling away.
That's why we're told to encourage one another day by day. We need each other to come alongside in times of doubt to persuade us to stay in the Word, keep our focus on Christ, and hold fast to our faith throughout life. A growing, intimate relationship with the Lord will keep our hearts tender and receptive to Him. Then we'll have assurance that our salvation is genuine so we can enter the rest He's prepared for His followers.