SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/31/2020
2:29 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
Knowing when we are Humble
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:3
Message of the
verse: “3 ‘Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
We continue to look at humility and
the question arises “how do we know when we are humble when we are poor in
spirit?” We will begin to look at this
question and hopefully find an answer to our question in our SD for today.
In John MacArthur’s commentary he
tells us that Thomas Watson gives seven principles that we may apply in
determining humility, and we will begin to try and unwrap this principles.
1.
If we are
humble we will be weaned from ourselves:
“Like a weaned child rests against his
mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me” (Psalm 131:2b). The one who is poor in spirit loses his
self-preoccupation, as self becomes nothing, and then Christ is
everything. In Galatian 2:20, a familiar
verse we can see Paul’s humility when he writes “"I have been crucified
with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave Himself up for me.” Then to the
Philippians he wrote “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
2.
Humility will
lead us to the lost in the wonder of Christ, as seen in 2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed
into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” That word transformed is the word metamorphous,
an ugly worm into a beautiful butterfly.
3.
Third we will
not complain about our situation, no matter how bad it may become, (OUCH).
Think about what would happen to us if we were not poor in spirit and
then realized this and did not come to Christ.
If that were true then we would not ever in the time after death have as
good of a situation that we think we are in now. I read or heard in a sermon we are not to ask
the question “Why Me Lord?” Sometimes it
is hard not to ask that question.
Sometimes a person has to suffer for Christ’s sake and then we think
about all the suffering that He went through for us while on the cross. Peter talks about this truth in 1 Peter
4:16. He sates there that if we suffer for
the sake of Christ that we will also be glorified with Him. Paul declares in Romans 8:17-18 the
following: “17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of
God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that
we may also be glorified with Him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be
revealed to us.”
4.
We will more
clearly see the strengths and virtues of others as well as our own weaknesses
and sins. Paul says with “humility of
mind’ we will ‘regard one another as more important than [ourselves]’ (Phil.
2:3) and will ‘give preference to one another in honor’ (Rom. 12:10).
5.
We will spend
much time in prayer. The reason can be
compared with the physical beggar begs for physical sustenance, the spiritual beggar
begs for spiritual. Then we will knock often
at heaven’s gate because we are always in need.
This can be compared with Jacob wrestling with the angel because he
wanted a blessing from Him.
I want to, Lord willing, finish the last two principles
in our next SD and then take up the last short sub-section after that.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: When thinking
about humility I never realized what I am learning in this section. Grace is surely what I need.
My Steps of Faith For Today: Continue to learn contentment, humility, and
continue to ask the Lord to give me joy as I study His Word each day.
3/31/2020 2:59 PM
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