“HUMILITY COMES BEFORE HONOR!”

 Proverbs 18:12                (ESV)

    “Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,

        but HUMILITY COMES BEFORE HONOR.”

From Bishop Robert E Smith

 From Bishop Robert E. Smith!

“The old man is crucified (Rom. 6:6), the natural man petrified (1 Cor. 2:14), the new man spiritualized (1 Cor. 2:15), and the heavenly man glorified (John 12:16;13:31).  Where are you? (Rom. 8:30).”

“I WILL BRING YOU BACK!”

 

Jeremiah 29:11-14.                (ESV)

“[11] For I know THE PLANS I have for you, declares the LORD, PLANS FOR WELFARE and not for evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE. [12] THEN you will call upon ME and come and pray to ME, and I WILL HEAR YOU. [13] YOU WILL SEEK ME and FIND ME, WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART. [14] I WILL BE FOUND BY YOU, declares the LORD, and I WILL RESTORE your fortunes and gather you from ALL THE NATIONS and all the places where I HAVE DRIVEN YOU, declares the LORD, and “I WILL BRING YOU BACK” to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

There are times when I wake up and IMMEDIATELY open my cellular phone and begin looking at emails and social media in a supposed effort to keep “in-touch” with everything that is going on in today’s society.  I am NOT that important, so why do I need to find out what is transpiring in “my world”???  Could it be that “the enemy” is trying to cloud my mind with whatever he can that will prevent me from “getting a WORD from THE LORD”???

This morning I really tried to get “into” THE WORD, but my wife was getting ready for work and I was having trouble just BEING STILL and hearing from GOD!  Then I recalled Jeremiah 29:13 which says “YOU WILL SEEK ME and FIND ME, WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART”!!!  THERE are times when this Brain Damaged person has difficulty LETTING GO and hearing from THE CREATOR!  “The enemy” dangles a myriad of “things’ in front of me in an effort to “cloud my vision” and prevent me from ACCESSING THE THRONE OF GOD!!!  

So I opened the Scriptures to Jeremiah 29 and was led to write about verses 11-14.  When I was skimming over the Scriptures, I was “drawn to” the passage “I WILL BRING YOU BACK”!  If was as if GOD was telling me that “I WILL BRING YOU BACK” to a place where HE WOULD BE GLORIFIED!  I have been “matured” by HIM to the point where notoriety has faded away and JESUS BEING GLORIFIED is more important to me!

King David wrote in Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have NOT SEEN the righteous forsaken or HIS children begging for bread.”  I have SEEN some pretty desolate times, and I have experienced some GLORIOUS experiences!  But to UNDERSTAND that THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES says that “I WILL (DEFINITELY) BRING YOU BACK” is a PROMISE that I will thoroughly enjoy accepting!!!

“I WILL NOT FORGET YOU!”

 Isaiah 49:14-16                 (ESV)

    “[14] But Zion said, “THE LORD HAS FORSAKEN ME;

        my LORD HAS FORGOTTEN ME.

     [15] “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

        that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

    Even these may forget,

        yet “I WILL NOT FORGET YOU”. 

    [16] Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of MY HANDS;

        your walls are CONTINUALLY BEFORE ME.”

There are numerous times in my life where I feel as though I am ALL ALONE!!  There “appears to be” NO ONE helping me with the troubles that I face!  I feel as though I don’t have anyone helping me with an answer to the situation that I have fought so hard to get through.  

A “perfect” example of how I managed to “get myself” through the most difficult situation I have ever experienced is the Brain Hemorrhage of 2007.  GOD placed me in an induced coma for seventeen days where I had NO ABILITY to do anything (including breathing) ON MY OWN!!!  It was ONLY THEN that HE could GET THE GLORY without my intervention and sharing HIS GLORY!!!

There is a saying that quotes “Those who leave everything in GOD’S HANDS will eventually see GOD’S HANDS in everything”!  When the ALMIGHTY is the ONLY PERSON WHO is ABLE to KEEP us, it is usually THEN  that HE WILL DO A MIRACLE!!!  Many times I have shared what my doctor wrote in my medical records on September 25, 2007, “However, he has had a remarkable recovery that could ONLY BE DEFINED AS A MIRACLE FROM GOD”!!!

Seeing the WORDS “I WILL NOT FORGET YOU” spoken by THE LORD to Isaiah is something that I HAVE TO BE REMINDED OF, even after what HE HAS BROUGHT me through!  No matter how bleak and hopeless my situation becomes, I have to be reminded that “I WILL NOT FORGET YOU” is a PROMISE that I must ALWAYS REMEMBER!!!

“THE LORD HEARS!”

 Psalm 34:17-18                 (ESV)

    “[17] When the righteous cry for help, “THE LORD HEARS”

        and delivers them out of all their troubles. 

    [18] The LORD is near TO THE BROKENHEARTED and saves THE CRUSHED in spirit.”

“THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE!”

 

2 Timothy 4:6-8                 (ESV)

“[6] For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. [7] I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the FAITH. [8] Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which THE LORD, “THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE”, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved HIS APPEARING.”

Attending a funeral is generally NOT where THE LORD speaks to me regarding a MESSAGE HE wants me to share in the future.  However, yesterday the speaker was using the King James Version of Scripture which states “For I am now ready”!  Not being “ready” for my journey to be completed, I have always been very uncomfortable writing about the text of Scripture listed above.  But yesterday my thoughts were that I had NO CONTROL over my life, and so I needed to LET GO of my reservations and YEILD to HIS LEADERSHIP!

What my judgment is of my life is definitely NOT as the Apostle Paul’s apparently??  Selling insurance for a large portion of my life was not very bold nor dangerous.  But I was doing what GOD had PLANNED for me and my prayer is that HE was PLEASED by my efforts??

One day SOON I will stand before “THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE” and give an account for all of the things everything that I have done.  My only reply that I will have to offer is that the BLOOD shed by “THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE” covers my iniquities!!!  

“HUMBLE YOURSELVES!”

 

James 4:10                 (ESV)

“[10] “HUMBLE YOURSELVES” before the LORD, and HE WILL EXALT YOU.”

Having our own frailty laid bare by our CREATOR isn’t something that most people would readily volunteer for, especially when it is totally beyond their control!  Whenever the phrase “HUMBLE YOURSELVES” is contemplated, it usually has some limitations that limit our realm of “exposure” to the entire world???

Although the journey that I have been assigned hasn’t been the easiest on record, it certainly hasn’t been the worst.  My VERY limited recollection of the Brain Hemorrhage wasn’t totally REVEALED to my recollection, I can remember some things rather vividly.  

One of those things was in the Rehabilitation Hospital during my recovery.  My faithful wife was always by my side, and one day she brought my “bed sore” (on my sacrum) to the attention of my therapist.  They told her to have me lie down on the bed in the middle of the exercise room and a curtain was drawn around me so my wound could be examined.  The bottom line is, today I doubt that I would as readily comply with the request, but I was still not able to “be proud” at the time and I did as I was told!!!

The most important thing that needs to be revealed is that GOD HAD me “in a place” where any inhibitions were non-existent at the time, HE HUMBLED me with very little effort!!!  HE can do whatever HE CHOOSES, whether it fits our plans or not!!!  When HE SAYS to HIS servant “HUMBLE YOURSELVES”, HE isn’t in the habit of giving us a lot of warning!!!  I am STILL learning to “HUMBLE YOURSELVES” before a HOLY GOD, because HE DOESN’T NEED MY APPROVAL TO DO ANYTHING!!!