Humility 101

"He who humbles himself shall be exalted." —(Luke 14:11)

"After we humble ourselves, the Lord exalts us. Then, after He exalts us, we should humble ourselves all the more (Sir 3:18). The Lord then will exalt us again, and we should humble ourselves again, etc. This humbling and exaltation should go on throughout our entire lives as the Lord transforms us "from glory to glory into His very image by the Lord Who is the Spirit" (2 Cor 3:18).

Repeatedly, we are tempted to stop God's exaltation of us by refusing to take the lowest place (Lk 14:10), share our meals with the poor or handicapped (Lk 14:13), "associate with those who are lowly" (Rm 12:16), forgive our enemies, confess our sins, look like a fool for Christ (see 1 Cor 4:10), wash the feet of our brothers and sisters (see Jn 13:14), be persecuted for proclaiming the Gospel, take up the daily cross (Lk 9:23), etc. The Lord loves to exalt us. However, we must put ourselves back on the Lord's launching pad by repenting of not humbling ourselves, which thereby halts the Lord's exaltation of us. Where did the process stall out? Repent there. The Lord is eagerly waiting to resume exalting you because He loves you.

  Prayer: Father, I need to be both humbled and exalted. May I do the humbling myself so that You don't have to do it but can exalt me. Promise: "You should be pleased that they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid in the resurrection of the just." —Lk 14:14 Praise: Praise our risen Jesus, Who is meek and humble of heart! Alleluia!"
(Presentation Ministries)

How to please the Father

"This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality."  (1 Thessalonians 4: 3)

My God and Father, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  May your holy will be fully accomplished in me in every detail.  Father, this is what I want today.  But I trust in your grace to make it happen.  Fill me with your Holy Spirit.  Help me to surrender completely to Him.  With the Holy Spirit in full control, He will make me holy without any hindrance and enable your will to be fully accomplished in my life.

He must grow greater

"John's answer was: He must grow greater and I must grow less."  (John 3: 27, 30)

Jesus Christ praised John the Baptist in these glowing words:
"Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."  (Matthew 11: 11)

If John the Baptist, the greatest of all people wanted to grow less so that Christ Jesus would grow more in him, what then should I do?

Lord, help me by your grace to grow less so that you will grow more in me.

Perfect love drives out fear

"But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him."  (1 John 2: 5)

Lord Jesus, I want to keep your word.  I desire to keep all your commandments.  I also desire to fully accept all that you permit to happen to me.  I consent to your presence in me and I also consent to all that you want to accomplish in me, with me and for me.   I want to enjoy the grace of the present moment.  Grant me this grace, O Lord. 

Endure your trials with a smile

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,
3for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.4And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  (James 1: 2 - 4)

The Choice, the Call, the Anointing

1 Thessalonians 2:4

"But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the gospel, that is how we speak, not as trying to please human beings, but rather God, who judges our hearts."

Below is a commentary from John Gills Exposition of the Bible:

"But as we were allowed of God
Or, "approved of God"; not that there were any previous fitness and worthiness in them to be ministers of the word; but such was the good will and pleasure of God, that he from all eternity chose and appointed them to this work; and in his own time by his grace called them to it, and by his gifts qualified them for it, who otherwise were unworthy of it, and insufficient for it. "

Seekfirst.blogspot.com

Without Vision I Perish

Habakkuk 2:2-3
The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

2 And the Lord answered me:

“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay."

Proverbs 3:3-4

3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good success
in the sight of God and man."

Habakkuk 2:2-3

My sheep hear my voice

"My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me."  (John 10: 27)

"Father, may everything we do begin with your inspiration and continue with your saving help.
Let our work always find its origin in you and through you reach completion.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever." (Morning Prayer, Monday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time)

Endure your trials as discipline

"Endure your trials as “discipline; God treats you as sons. For what son” is there whom his father does not discipline?"  (Hebrews 12: 7)

Dear Father, I still remember the joy I felt when I encountered the above scripture during my Desert 95 Experience.  I can now describe it with words I learned from Scott Hahn thus:  "Your word transformed  what would have been a "Roman execution to a sacrifice."  I felt I could accept a sacrifice because much good could come from a sacrifice.  Looking back at that experience, I can now say confidently, Thank you Father.

Your consoling words came to me again in the midst of another trial.  When I heard your words, I knew that all is well..  Father, I pray for the following gifts during this trial: faith, wisdom, understanding, humility, courage and peace.  I need the constant companion of your Holy Spirit during the duration of this trial.  Father, make haste to help me..

I believe in prayer

"The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth."  (Psalm 145: 18)

*I believe in prayer
*I believe in the word of God
* I believe in miracle
*I leave the rest to God

What does it mean to call upon the Lord? It means to cry out to the Lord in the time of distress for His help.  Such a cry is guaranteed to be heard.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord

"Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God,
The maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and all that is in them,
Who keeps faith forever."  (Psalm 146: 5 - 6)

I look to you Lord for my help and my strength.  It makes me happy Father to know that you are forever faithful.  Your word is trustworthy.

"Blessed are those who trust in the LORD;
the LORD will be their trust.
They are like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It does not fear heat when it comes,
its leaves stay green;
In the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still produces fruit."  (Jeremiah 17: 7 - 8)

My God, what beautiful words you have for us in Jeremiah 17: 7 - 8.  It fills my soul with joy.  Who will not want to put 100% trust in you?  Such a person will be the most foolish as your Prophet Jeremiah says.  As for myself, I put 100% trust in you.  Father, do not allow anything to tempt me from this position.

Joy of belief

Luke 1:45 45
"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

 Below is a commentary on part of the above verse from John Gills Exposition of the Bible :

 "These words may be considered, either as the subject matter of her faith, and be rendered in connection with the former, thus, "blessed is she that believed, that there shall be a performance, ", being fully persuaded, that what the angel had told her, concerning the conception and birth of a son, concerning his name, and the greatness of his person, and the nature, extent, and duration of his kingdom, should be certainly and punctually fulfilled; or as a reason of her happiness, because there should be a sure accomplishment of them. Whatever God has spoken to any of his people, whether it be with respect to things temporal, spiritual, or eternal, shall be performed; as may be strongly concluded from the veracity of God, who cannot lie; and from his power, who is able to do all things; and from his faithfulness, which he will never suffer to fail; and from instances, and matters of fact; from the experience of the saints in all ages, who know, and are conscious to themselves, that not one of the good things the Lord God has spoken to them, has ever failed, but that all have come to pass;" see ( Joshua 23:14 ) .

 Seekfirst.blogspot.com

Productivity - moment by moment

"All our moments are made productive by obedience to the will of God, which reveals itself in a thousand different ways, each of which successively becomes our immediate duty." (John-Pierre Caussade, SJ)

The word of God is effective

"Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart"  (Hebrews 4: 12)

What is the word of God?  It is not a thing.  It is a person.  The word of God is Jesus Christ.  He is alive, very effective and sharper than a two-edged sword.

Jesus Christ, the word of God is the truth, the way and the life.

I believe in prayer
I believe in the word of God
I believe in miracle
I leave the rest to God

No Impossibility

"Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”  (Matthew 19: 26)

Lord, grant me the grace to recognize your will in things that I cannot change.  Instead of kicking the goad, may I come to you in confident prayer to help me.  I have come to learn and believe that all things are possible for you.

"I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me."  (Philippians 4: 13)

• I believe in prayer
• I believe in the word of God
• I believe in miracle
• I leave the rest to God

Terrible Distress

"The anger of the LORD flared up against Israel, and he delivered them into the power of plunderers who despoiled them. He sold them into the power of the enemies around them, and they were no longer able to withstand their enemies.
Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD turned against them, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them;f and they were in great distress."  (Judges 2: 14 - 15)

The people of Israel rejected the hand of friendship that God extended to them.   God in turn temporary rejected them.  They gained nothing but empty promises from the gods of the people surrounding them.  They lost the promises of God's mercy and love.  Concretely, they lost the promises of pardon, peace, power, purpose, presence, protection and provision.  These promises are enjoyed by the elect.

I like the brief commentary below from the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Judges 2: 14

"4. the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them--Adversities in close and rapid succession befell them. But all these calamities were designed only as chastisements--a course of correctional discipline by which God brought His people to see and repent of their errors; for as they returned to faith and allegiance. He "raised up judges" ( Judges 2:16 ).

The Grace of the Present Moment

"The duties of each moment are shadows which hide the action of the divine will.
The angel told Mary:  "The power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow" (Luke 1: 35).  Now this shadow is whatever duty, temptation, or trial that every moment presents to us.  It is exactly like those natural shadows which veil and hide objects from our sight.  These ever-present duties conceal the fact that they are expressions of the divine will.............

But what was the bread that nourished the faith of Mary and Joseph?  It was the sacrament of the moment.  But what did they experience beneath an existence apparently filled with nothing but humdrum happenings?  On the surface it was similar to everyone around them, but faith, piercing the superficialities, disclosed that God was accomplishing very great things."
(Abandonment to Divine Providence, by Jean-Pierre de Caussade, SJ)

The Sacrament of the Present Moment

"God speaks to every individual through what happens to them moment by moment. The events of each moment are stamped with the will of God...we find all that is necessary in the present moment." (John-Pierre Caussade, SJ)

Choose whom you will serve

“Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
If it is displeasing to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”  (Joshua 24: 14 - 15)

In his last testament, Joshua admonished the Israelites to serve the Lord "completely and sincerely." These are two strong adverbs.  An adverb qualifies an adjective.  The adjective "complete" means total, 100%, full.   I looked up "completely and sincerely" in other translations and found the following:

"with all faithfulness", "wholeheartedly", "in sincerity and faithfulness", "in sincerity and truth", "in faithfulness and truth", "with integrity and loyalty", "with integrity and faithfulness", "with a perfect and most sincere heart", "in perfectness and in truth", "in perfection and in truth".

Does it matter which word or synonym is used to cover biblical truth?  It matters a great deal.  Different words impact us differently.  A synonym of a word used in our standard text and version may be what nails in the message.  For me the message in Joshua 24: 14 is this:
It is God's will for me to serve Him with 100% of my heart, mind, will and body; of my time, talent, treasure.  Plus all my weaknesses.  Impossible?  Not at all!

"I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me."  (Philippians 4:13) 

Unfailing Providence of God

" Commit every particle of your being in all things, down to the smallest details of your life, eagerly and with perfect trust to the unfailing and most sure providence of God" (St Albert the Great)