Humble Or Harden (The choice is yours!)

 

God compels you to repent and turn to Him, but He does NOT FORCE YOU! And how you respond to His compulsion, conviction, and truth, is YOUR CHOICE!!

But the scriptures tell us, that IF we humble ourselves in His sight, HE WILL lift us up!

James 4:10

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

1st peter 5:5-6

"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

Did you know that humility, coupled with fearing the Lord, brings riches and honor?

Proverbs 22:4

"By humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches and honor and life."

In contrast you have the Israelites who were stiff necked and hard hearted and would not humble themselves even after seeing the great victories and deliverances of Almighty God!

Exodus 32:7-10

"And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

Hebrews 3:7-19

"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath,‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said:

“Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

You can harden yourself when truth comes to challenge your beliefs, you can harden yourself when the Spirit of God convicts your soul, of sin, rightousness, and judgment, you can harden yourself when you know you've done wrong and should repent. It's not that difficult to resist God's grace, His love and mercy towards you.

But that hardness will cause you to fall in the desert like the Israelites! That hardness will lead you to an early grave!

Humble or Harden, The choice is yours!

In Christ,

Tyrone

Humble Yourself!

 

Philippians 2:5-11

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

These are some of the greatest scriptures in the bible! To really understand what God Himself did for His own creation is mind blowing! He caused a Virgin to be with child and formed a body for Himself to enter into His own creation as a human being! The Word was with God and the Word was God, and He became flesh and dwelt among us! Amazing!

Then as an adult man humbling Himself to wash His own disciples feet!

John 13:2-6

"And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”

The disciples must have been in shock to see their Rabbi, kneeling down on the floor washing their dirty feet! Peter couldn't understand what was happening!

James 4:7-10

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

The scripture says HUMBLE YOURSELF! That means there is something you must conciously and willingly do in order for God to work in your life! Notice the scripture says humble yourself in the SIGHT of the Lord, not for people or to be seen as humble in their eyes! AFTER you humble yourself then the word says and HE WILL LIFT YOU UP!! That's an absolute, a guarantee of a blessing from God!

It's like when Jesus said, "Come Follow Me, AND I WILL make you fishers of men!"

Humility brings grace and the blessings of God upon your soul! 

Philippians 2:1-4

"Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."

This is absolute true humility and love given to those in the body of Christ by the Spirit of God! This is not some piety of a sect or religious order, but the fruits of the Holy Spirit born in the hearts of true disciples of Jesus Christ, who desire to be like their Master!

Your life can be completely changed by God, IF you humble yourself in His sight.

The choice is yours!

In Christ,

Tyrone