SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/26/2019
9:40 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-5 “Humility”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians 4:2
Message of the verses: “2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,”
I have mentioned many different times this year that the Lord seems to working on my heart for me to understand true humility. In my prayer time each day I go over Romans 12:3 “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Paul writes this right after begging his readers to give themselves to the Lord for service and for worship as found in Romans 12:1-2. He wrote the first eleven chapters of Romans about doctrine and now just as in this fourth chapter of Ephesians he writes about how believers are to live out these doctrines. He desires us to become what we already are. In Romans 12:3 Paul begins to write about spiritual gifts, and he does this also in 1 Corinthians 12, and we will also see this in Ephesians chapter four, along with what Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter four. In both Romans and Ephesians Paul talks about humility as believers are in need of humility to exercise their spiritual gifts, for after all they are gifts bestowed upon them by the Spirit of God and not something we are born with, but something we need to help in the body of Christ. God is certainly gracious to me in first of all laying on my heart the desire to understand humility better, and then to teach me about humility as, I believe that He has drawn me to study the book of Ephesians. I am thankful that God continues to work in my heart to make me more like my Lord Jesus Christ, and it is my desire to continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of my Lord each day. Spiritual growth is kind of like the title of Chuck Swindoll’s book entitled “Three Steps Forward, One Step Back.” It’s slow but there is nothing better to do in my walk with the Lord. With all of this said I want to quote the last several paragraphs found in John MacArthur’s commentary as he finishes up his comments on Humility.
“Humility begins with proper self-awareness, ‘the virtue,’ said Bernard of Clairvaux, ‘by which a man becomes conscious of his own unworthiness.’ It begins with an honest, unadorned, unretouched view of oneself. The first thing the honest person sees in himself is sin, and therefore one of the surest marks of true humility is daily confession of sin. ‘If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:8-9). ‘We are not bole to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves,’ Paul says; ‘but when tey measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding’ (2 Cor. 10:12). It is not only unspiritual but unintelligent to judge ourselves by comparison with others. Humility takes off our rose-colored glasses and allows us to see ourselves as we really are. We are not ‘adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves,’ says Paul, ‘but our adequacy is from God’ (2 Cor. 3:5).
“Second humility involves Christ-awareness. He is the only standard by which righteousness can be judged and by which pleasing God can be judged. Our goal should be no less than ‘to walk in the same manner as He walked’ (1 John 2:6), and Jesus Christ walked in perfection. Only of Jesus has God ever said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased’ (Matt. 3:17).
“Third, humility involves God-awareness. As we study His life in the gospels we come to see Jesus more and more in His human perfection—His perfect humility, His perfect submission to the Father, His perfect love, compassion, and wisdom. But beyond His human perfection we also come to see His divine person; and His authority to heal diseases, cast our demons, and even forgive sins. We come to see Jesus Christ as Isaiah saw the Lord, ‘sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted’ and we want to cry out with the seraphim, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory,’ and with the prophet himself, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts’ (Isaiah 6:1, 3, 5).
“When Paul looked at himself in self-awareness, he saw the foremost of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). When Peter looked at himself in Christ awareness, he said ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’ (Luke 5:8). When Job looked at himself in God awareness, he said, ‘Therefore I retract, I repent in dust and ashes’ (Job 42:6).
“Our business success, fame, education wealth, personality, good works, or anything else we are or have in ourselves counts for nothing before God. The more we rely on and glory in such things, the greater barrier they become to our communion with God. Every person comes before the Lord with nothing to commend him and everything to condemn him. But when he comes with the spirit of the penitent tax-collector, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner,’ God will willingly and lovingly accept him. ‘For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted’ (Luke 18:13-14).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I had never thought about Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 as both talk about spiritual gifts after both books talk about doctrine, and then before writing about the spiritual gifts, both begin with writing about humility. God is gracious in teaching us about humility before He bestows His gifts upon us.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to learn more about humility as found in both Romans 12:3 and Ephesians 4:2.
Verse that goes along with yesterday’s quotation: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to Him” (James 1:5).
2/26/2019 10:47 AM
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