“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!!!

“BUT THEY WERE SILENT!”

 Mark 3:1-6                 (ESV)

A Man with a Withered Hand

“[1] Again HE (JESUS) entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. [2] And “THEY WATCHED JESUS”, to see whether HE would heal him on the Sabbath, SO THAT THEY MIGHT ACCUSE HIM. [3] And HE said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” [4] And HE said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” “BUT THEY WERE SILENT”. [5] And HE looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and  hand was restored. [6] The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against HIM, how to destroy HIM.”

So often is it that “the enemy” is left with NO RESPONSE to the TRUTH, “BUT THEY WERE SILENT” when JESUS questioned them “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?”

There are times when DOING WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO DO doesn’t appear to be the correct thing to do!  JESUS, ON THE SABBATH, surely wouldn’t do anything that would go against “the law”???  Or would HE??

“This world” might not understand why a person “guilty” of a crime should be given a “second (or third?) chance” when they are guilty of doing something wrong?  But I have been “guilty” many times of “breaking the law” without being prosecuted for it.  GOD “orchestrated” me to NOT BE CAUGHT is the only salvation that I can claim!!!

This man with a “withered hand” was HEALED on the Sabbath (verse 5 above) by THE CREATOR, and the “church crowd” erupted with a complaint!  When I was “brought out of the seventeen day coma” in 2007, it happened on July 29, a SUNDAY MORNING!  Was it “wrong” for the doctors to make such a bold move?  You be the judge!!

All I know is there are a lot of people who think they KNOW what is best for a given situation!!  “BUT THEY WERE SILENT” when GOD shows them HIS RESULTS!!!

“BEFORE THE WORLD EXISTED!”

 John 17:1-5                 (ESV)

The High Priestly Prayer

“[1] When JESUS had SPOKEN these words, HE lifted up HIS EYES to heaven, and said, “FATHER, the hour has come; GLORIFY YOUR SON that THE SON may GLORIFY YOU, [2] since YOU have GIVEN HIM AUTHORITY over all flesh, to give ETERNAL LIFE to ALL WHOM YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM. [3] And this is ETERNAL LIFE, that they know YOU, the ONLY TRUE GOD, and JESUS CHRIST WHOM YOU have sent. [4] I GLORIFIED YOU on earth, having accomplished THE WORK that YOU gave ME to do. [5] And now, FATHER, glorify ME in YOUR OWN PRESENCE with THE GLORY that I had with YOU “BEFORE THE WORLD EXISTED”.

Humanity proceeds through its GOD GIVEN and ALLOTTED TIME to accomplish whatever it is THE CREATOR has CHOSEN for us to achieve while we are PERMITTED to consume HIS OXYGEN for the brief time we call a lifetime!  Some of are PERMITTED nowadays to exist on earth for over a hundred years, but some of us never even make it out of the womb!  Yet, in THE VASTNESS of HIS OMNISCIENCE, HE was THINKING about us BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4)!!!

GOD IN FLESH came to “this world” over 2,000 years ago (a brief time ago for HIM!) to LIVE among us, AND so that we could be permitted to LIVE WITH HIM for eternity!  HE HAD/HAS A PLAN, and HE IS FULFILLING HIS PLAN….even now!  We don’t have the capability to SEE HIS PLAN, and even if we could we WOULD NOT be allowed to convey it to others (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)!  We MUST LIVE BY FAITH and TRUST HIS PLAN, not only for our lives, but for HIS GLORY!  

FROM EXPERIENCE, humanity does not have the capability, nor possibly the desire, to SLOW DOWN our lives enough to HEAR what GOD HAS FOR US TO HEAR!!!  Our schedules will NOT permit us to get on the “frequency” to absorb from GOD what ONLY HE is ABLE to disseminate to us.  I had to be placed into a seventeen day coma before I was able to HEAR from my CREATOR WHAT HE WANTED ME TO HEAR!!!

Most of the entire chapter of John 17 is written about The High Priestly Prayer.  Our fellowship’s former Pastor took an extremely long time preaching through the book of John awhile back.  GOD needed me to SLOW DOWN and cultivate the riches of THE PLAN that HE came to earth to fulfill over two thousand years ago!  “THE GLORY that I had with YOU “BEFORE THE WORLD EXISTED”” is what HE brought to us!!!   Thank YOU JESUS!!!!

Micah 6:6-8 (ESV)

 Micah 6:6-8                 (ESV)

    “[6] “With what shall I come before THE LORD,

        and bow myself before GOD ON HIGH?

    Shall I come before HIM with burnt offerings,

        with calves a year old? 

    [7] Will THE LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

        with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

    Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

        the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 

    [8] HE has told you, O man, what is good;

        and what does THE LORD require of you

    but to do justice, and to love kindness,

        and to “WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD?”

“YOU HAVE ONLY TO BE SILENT!”

 Exodus 14:10                 (ESV)

“[10] When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and THEY FEARED GREATLY. And the people of Israel cried out to THE LORD.”

Exodus 14:14                 (ESV)

“[14] THE LORD will fight for you, and “YOU HAVE ONLY TO BE SILENT”.”

Exodus 14:30                 (ESV)

“[30] Thus THE LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and ISRAEL SAW the Egyptians dead on the seashore.”

GOD is NOT limited by how or whether humanity can fathom the OPERATIONS HE has PROMISED to us!!  

How many times in my life have I begun an OPERATION with no guarantee of the success of that endeavor?  The Children of Israel had just been delivered from a 430 year Egyptian period of captivity, and most assuredly they were just happy to be FREE!  

Imagine escaping the Egyptians and then finding out that the Promised Land (just over a seven day walking journey) was going to take them FORTY YEARS???  The PROVING of the FAITH of the Children of Israel was going to be a big endeavor, but nothing that was TOO BIG FOR GOD!!!  HE could have just killed the unbelievers off with hunger, but HE provided them with “manna”(Exodus 16), taking care of their needs.  

SEEING HIS PROVISION is very evident…..from 3,500 years ago!  But what about our (my!) FAITH in current situations??  IT IS WRITTEN over 100 times throughout Scripture that HE will NEVER leave us nor forsake us, so why do we fret about anything when THE CREATOR is on our side???

Nobody should KNOW HIS TRUTHS as clearly as this humble servant!  HE was there when I was where I was unable to even breathe on my own…..HE has NEVER left me for ONE SECOND!!! Although I may not be able to SEE precisely how HE will do it, “THE LORD will fight for you, and “YOU HAVE ONLY TO BE SILENT”!!!

“I WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL MY PURPOSE!”

Isaiah 46:8-10                 (ESV)

    “[8] “REMEMBER THIS and STAND FIRM,

        recall it to mind, YOU TRANSGRESSORS, 

    [9]     remember the former things of old;

    for I AM GOD, and THERE IS NO OTHER;

        I AM GOD, and there is NONE LIKE ME, 

    [10] declaring the end from the beginning

        and from ancient times things not yet done,

    saying, ‘MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND,

        and “I WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL MY PURPOSE”,”

Sometimes the circumstances we SEE are greatly influenced by the trials that person is going through! The TESTIMONY of my wife regarding July 09, 2007 and the following days, weeks, months and years is something that I still have to lean on for her memory, for mine still isn’t very reliable!!!  She tells me that there were some nights driving home during my hospital stay that she doesn’t remember the acts of driving, rather she would get to our house and she would have to “turn it over” to GOD, day after day after day!!  

The song GOD IS IN CONTROL was on the radio one evening during her trip to our home.  Twila Paris was the artist performing the song, but it was if GOD ALMIGHTY was letting “us” know that “I WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL MY PURPOSE”!  Of course, her FAITH never wavered and 52 days later I walked out of the Rehabilitation Hospital to the applause of most of the staff!!!  Their applause surely wasn’t for me, but ultimately for THE HEALER WHO was performing just some of HIS WORK!!!

There are OVER eight BILLION people in today’s world, and every single one of them have to have oxygen to breathe!!  ALMIGHTY GOD “grants” us all the air we need to continue living in “this world”!  But how many of those people THANK THE LORD before they get out of bed everyday for the privilege of living another day on the earth?  Worse still, what about this Brain Hemorrhage survivor???  You would think that I would be THE FIRST person to NEVER FORGET WHO permits me to continue to exist???

One thing is FOR CERTAIN, when GOD told Isaiah “‘MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND, and “I WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL MY PURPOSE” HE didn’t forget like humanity does!!!  HIS MEMORY IS FAR BETTER than mine and “I WILL ACCOMPLISH MY PURPOSE” WILL BE COMPLETED”in the not too distant future!!!

 

“WAIT ON THE LORD!”

 “WAIT ON THE LORD!”

Psalms 27:14                 (KJV)

“”WAIT ON THE LORD”: be of good courage, and HE SHALL STRENGTHEN THINE HEART: wait, I say, on the LORD.”