Humbleness

Scholars boast of their knowledge. Body builders boast of their strength. Rich men boast of their wealth....The list of talents, abilities and achievements that people boast of has no end. And people find their identity in these things because it's what they're good at. But what does God say about this?

Let's start with Jeremiah 9:23-24, it says, "Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

From this passage it's clear that God doesn't want us to boast of ourselves...but why? We may feel we have a right to boast of our gifts, talents, skills, and abilities - but do we? God's answer is "no" and here's why: James 1:17.

It says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

Basically this passage is saying that our gifts, (or anything that we're good at) is given to us by God. Whether He created us with them or created us with the potential to learn them, every good thing we've ever had has only been because God has permitted us to have it. Only by His grace are we good at anything. God is the originator of our gifts, talents and abilities. Without him we have nothing.

Galatians 6:14 says, "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

Here we see Paul makes His boast in what God has done for him and he urges us to do the same:

"Because of God you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

This is why the apostle Paul makes His boast in the Lord! Paul realizes that He can't take credit for what he did not do. His salvation...that was God. The way in which his ministry flourished...that was God. In fact, Paul's whole life had been a work of God...and hey so is your and mine btw. The only difference is whether we'll choose to believe it.

Another great passage of Scripture to consider is 1 Corinthians 4:7, "What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?"

How can the created boast of anything if the creator created him? In other words, how can we boast of anything if who we are and what we've done hasn't been us, but what God has done in and through our lives. If God is creator and God is sovereign then all the glory goes to Him!

In conclusion, what would humbleness bring about in the life of the Christian? The answer is twofold:

1. An attitude that pleases God by giving Him the glory for the skills and abilities that He's gifted us with. And

2. A lifestyle that attracts unbelievers to living for God in response to His gracious salvation (and not a boastful lifestyle that would make them think Christianity is works based toward an unattainable goal)

"I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the LORD;

let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me,

and let us exalt His name together!"

- Psalm 34:1-3

Scripture:

"When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. For he says:

"By the strength of my hand I have done it,

and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;

I remove the boundaries of peoples,

and plunder their treasures;

like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.

My hand has found like a nest

the wealth of the peoples;

and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,

so I have gathered all the earth;

and there was none that moved a wing

or opened the mouth or chirped."

Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,

or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?

As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,

or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!"

- Isaiah 10:12-15

"The LORD said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'"

- Judges 7:2

"O God, we have heard with our ears,

our fathers have told us,

what deeds you performed in their days,

in the days of old:

you with your own hand drove out the nations,

but them you planted;

you afflicted the peoples,

but them you set free;

for not by their own sword did they win the land,

nor did their own arm save them,

but your right hand and your arm,

and the light of your face,

for you delighted in them.

You are my King, O God;

ordain salvation for Jacob!

Through you we push down our foes;

through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.

For not in my bow do I trust,

nor can my sword save me.

But you have saved us from our foes

and have put to shame those who hate us.

In God we have boasted continually,

and we will give thanks to your name forever.

Selah"

- Psalm 44:1-8

"I say to the boastful, 'Do not boast,'

and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horn;

do not lift up your horn on high,

or speak with haughty neck.'

For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,

but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another."

- Psalm 75:4-7

Romans 3:21-31, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law."

2 Corinthians 11:30, "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

James 4:10, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."

1 Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,"

Focus

"Ethan finally finds Julia, tied to a chair, but before he can free her, Davian activates the bomb in Ethan's head. The result is an incapacitating noise in Ethan's head which hinders his ability to defend himself. Nonetheless, Ethan is able to best Davian in a savage fist fight - the fight spills into the street, and Davian is killed by oncoming traffic- and then Ethan frees Julia." - wikipedia

Some of you may have recognized the above picture as Tom Cruise, fewer of you will have recognized him as playing Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible III. This is the image that comes to mind when I hear the word "focus" - Ethan Hunt overcome with intense pain and a desire to give in but won't because of love.

So where am I going with this?

Well, focus is something that must be learned by the Christian to conquer sin in his life. Focus enables us to, when we are tempted by sin, stop and think about the decision we're going to make. When we focus, we are momentarily escaping our current emotions and desires to do what we want to do, and instead thinking about what we believe. It's that simple. But it's difficult because our emotions and desires to sin are so strong.

As Christians, we still have an old nature - a part of us that still wants to sin. When we want to sin, all we may think about is fulfilling what we want at that moment. But if we stop and focus on what we believe, overcoming that sin becomes possible.

How exactly can we do this? Here's an illustration

Suppose a Christian is tempted to seek revenge on a person. He must make one of two decisions: To seek revenge or leave vengeance to God. If he chose the path of revenge, why did he? What were his reasons? It's because he wanted to satisfy his own desire.

Now contrast that response to this one

What if the Christian leaves vengeance to God - why didn't he seek revenge? It's because he was convicted of his beliefs. The belief that for what Christ did for him on the cross, he'd love Him back by obedience to His commands.

So what is the core difference between these two decisions? Why is one chosen over the other?

The difference is a failure to focus or to choose to focus. To seek revenge is to think only of our own sinful desires - to ignore, and suppress what we believe about Christ - to choose to not focus.

So what about unbelievers? Understand that unbelievers don't always make morally wrong choices, they can choose to focus and do something that is morally right. But when they focus, it's not on God! Unbelievers don't have a conviction about God, they don't have a love for him. But that's what counts! (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) God looks at the heart - the motive.

In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve failed to focus. And we're still doing it today. Both Adam and Eve knew that God had told them not to eat of the tree "in the midst of the garden", but they suppressed that knowledge and were blinded by their own desires (Genesis 3:6). They weren't focusing on their beliefs about God, they were focusing on their own desires at that moment.

If the Christian holds as a conviction that Jesus Christ died for his sins by taking the penalty of sin on himself, then we realize that without Christ we would have no hope. And if there is no hope, than there is no reason to obey. But there is hope for those who trust in Christ! He has given us every good thing we will ever have, and for that we obey him out of love. So love Christ by obeying Him through focusing on what he's done for us!

In conclusion, let's sum up what it means to focus. Focus is a form of love. It's a mindset to give up what we temporarily want for what God wants for us because we value God more than ourselves - And He's given us every reason to believe that. See 1 John 4:19

Abraham and Isaac

Tonight, I read this from a book by A. W. Tozer

"In the story of Abraham and Isaac we have a dramatic picture of the surrendered life as well as an excellent commentary on the first Beatitude.

Abraham was old when Isaac was born, old enough indeed to have been his grandfather, and the child became at once the delight and idol of his heart. From that moment when he first stooped to take the tiny form awkwardly in his arms he was an eager love-slave of his son. God went out of His way to comment on the strength of this affection. And it is not hard to understand. The baby repre-sented everything sacred to his father’s heart: the promises of God, the covenants, the hopes of the years and the long messianic dream. As he watched him grow from babyhood to young manhood the heart of the old man was knit closer and closer with the life of his son, till at last the relationship bordered upon the perilous. It was then that God stepped in to save both father and son from the consequences of an uncleansed love.

“Take now thy son,” said God to Abraham, “thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” The sacred writer spares us a close-up of the agony that night on the slopes near Beersheba when the aged man had it out with his God, but respectful imagination may view in awe the bent form and convulsive wrestling alone under the stars. Possibly not again until a Greater than Abraham wrestled in the Garden of Gethsemane did such mortal pain visit a human soul. If only the man himself might have been allowed to die. That would have been easier a thousand times, for he was old now, and to die would have been no great ordeal for one who had walked so long with God. Besides, it would have been a last sweet pleasure to let his dimming vision rest upon the figure of his stalwart son who would live to carry on the Abrahamic line and fulfill in himself the promises of God made long before in Ur of the Chaldees.

How should he slay the lad! Even if he could get the consent of his wounded and protesting heart, how could he reconcile the act with the promise, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called”? This was Abraham’s trial by fire, and he did not fail in the crucible. While the stars still shone like sharp white points above the tent where the sleeping Isaac lay, and long before the gray dawn had begun to lighten the east, the old saint had made up his mind. He would offer his son as God had directed him to do, and then trust God to raise him from the dead. This, says the writer to the Hebrews, was the solution his aching heart found sometime in the dark night, and he rose “early in the morning” to carry out the plan. It is beautiful to see that, while he erred as to God’s method, he had correctly sensed the secret of His great heart. And the solution accords well with the New Testament Scripture, “Whosoever will lose... for my sake shall find...”

God let the suffering old man go through with it up to the point where He knew there would be no retreat, and then forbade him to lay a hand upon the boy. To the wondering patriarch He now says in effect, “It’s all right, Abraham. I never intended that you should actually slay the lad. I only wanted to remove him from the temple of your heart that I might reign unchallenged there. I wanted to correct the perversion that existed in your love. Now you may have the boy, sound and well. Take him and go back to your tent. Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.”

- A. W. Tozer, The blessedness of Possessing Nothing

Now think, what occupies "the temple of your heart"? Does God reign unchallenged there? Could you see yourself sacrificing whatever you value most? Your ipod, computer, wallet and everything in it, guitar etc....for God?

It's unlikely God's going to call you to do this - but are you willing?

When we realize the mess God has rescued us from and what He's now offered us, we can serve Him by placing Him first in our lives. Don't become "accustomed to grace" - live every day in full knowledge of what God has done for you by recognizing your own depravity and God's holiness, so that you can always serve to glorify Him. 1 John 4:19