JANUARY 6 – RESPECT IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

JANUARY 6 – RESPECT IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Exodus 3:1-6 – Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 

2  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 

3  And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 

4  And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 

5  And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 

6  Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. 

Most of you are familiar with this passage. It is a great passage that ends with what God says He is. “I AM THAT I AM.” It also gives us a great principle that all of us should understand. God sets the standard for coming near to Him.

Today we are a self absorbed people. We are the center of our universe. Every thing, we think, should revolve around us. We set our music choices and say, God this is what I give and you must accept it. We set our worship style and God, you must accept it. We set our way of living and God, you must accept it. We set the way we talk and God, you must accept it. We do this with “attitude.”

God set some standards for Moses. God said to Moses, don’t come near to me. As I read this I understand that there are some things I need to do to approach God.

1. I need to approach God on His terms and not mine. God is Holy. Sin cannot come into the presence of Holiness. Attitude is not allowed in the presence of Holiness.

2. Notice, the term “take off your shoes.” I take that as get rid of the things that separate you from God. We know that common courtesy of the Old and New Testament was to take a guest in and wash their feet getting rid of the dust and dirt from traveling dusty roads. We see in the New Testament Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. This, to me is a statement, “you are saved, yet you have traveled in the world and have been spotted with the sin of the world.” This shows us that we are not to bring the world into our relationship and communion with God. Here is a simple statement – you cannot come into the presence of God until you; CLEAN YOURSELF UP FROM THE WORLD.

3.God will meet you where you are but He does not want to leave you there. I know this is a popular saying – God Will Meet You Where You Are. I see that all the time and I want to shout, Yes He will meet you in your sin and degradation and upon your repentance and confession He will save you. Now you are a new man in Christ. He does not leave you in that sin and degradation, His desire is to bring you out of sin and the old life. Some are so thankful that their whole life changes and others notice. Old friends leave because they love sin and you no longer love sin. There are others He has to pull kicking and screaming away from the love of the world. That causes some of us to wonder if they were truly saved. Some need to read Ephesians chapter 4, where Paul wrote about the new man.

Christians are not Frank Sinatra. We don’t do it our way. We must do it God’s way. He is our creator and sent His Son as our Savior and the Holy Spirit as our indwelling seal until the day of redemption.

I heard this statement some time ago. Well, God will have to understand. How presumptuous is that statement. Do we really think we can manipulate God? We must understand what God wants. That brings things from rebellion to humility. Are we really humble before God?

THE HUMBLED STATE HONORS GOD!

William Andrew Dillard

HEBREW HONEYCOMB

THE HUMBLED STATE HONORS GOD!

It is an ironic, but interesting turn of events deserving considerable thought and appreciation. I write about coming to grips with one’s elevated relationship with God in New Covenant discipleship. It is elevation by another that humbles man. Please think with me for a moment.
Natural man, in his hereditarily, sinful condition is most often prideful, in denial of his condemned state, and resistant toward repentance from sin to exercise faith in God. But when he is saved by the grace of God, and embarks on a life of discipleship, he rejoices in his new position as a child of the King, even though he may continue to see himself as low, largely worthless, still plagued by sin, and sometimes rebellious. He may feel this is the proper viewpoint that honors the God of his salvation. Perhaps there is a need to re-examine a couple of things: self imposed humility may not be humility at all, and the highest honor man bestows upon God is to live within the perimeters of His calling while understanding and accepting the position in life that His unspeakable gift brings.
Colossians 2:18 speaks of a voluntary humility while verse 23 speaks of fleshly, will worship and humility. There is such a thing as being proud to be humble, but that is all pride rather than humility. True humility comes through reconciliation of oneself to God. Moreover, if God exalts His obedient children to heights not often considered, then He is honored most by their understanding, acceptance, and proper handling of that exalted state, which excludes fleshly pride.
Just what is this godly exaltation that God’s children may know? First, it is the privilege of being admitted to His Bride through baptism and fellowship in a New Testament church. Secondly, it is occupying the position of mature sons of God who are destined to rule the world with King Jesus at His coming. Thirdly it is being a viable part of the present “Israel of God,” Gal. 6: 16, which is His body, the pillar and ground of the truth, I Timothy 3:15. Additionally, one is exalted to being a god, John 10: 31-36; I Cor. 8:5. Jesus used this very terminology to confound the know-it-all Pharisees about those unto whom the Word of God came, Psalm 82:6. Certainly, the Lord’s church is the recipient of His Word: the faith once delivered to the saints. As gods (little g), they constitute His body, His Bride, His Israel, His representatives and the designated supporters of the truth. Who is it then who could not be humbled by such lofty exaltation? Moreover, who then would not be totally sobered by that responsibility? But more, to the point, who would deny these God-given designations and still claim to honor Him? He is honored in truth, and in our acceptance and obedience of Heaven’s provisions and placements.

The Good Life

 

Proverbs 22:4, 5

 

“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life,” Proverbs 22:4.

 

Who in their right mind does not want the good life? No one I know. But are we ready to actually do what it takes to have it? It means that we must humble ourselves and lift God to the high place He is due, give Him full control and full honor. Or, are we satisfied with life in the status quo?

 

The fact is clear from the Scriptures, that God resists the proud. He hates a proud look, a lying tongue (Prov. 6:17). And, “Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). The proud may appear to have everything they want while on this earth. They may be wealthy in money or other earthly treasures, but one day that will be useless.

 

On the contrary, the humble person may be poor on earth, maybe because they sacrificed pleasures to give to the Lord’s work or they gave up a fine home to become a missionary in a poor country. Possibly, they worked hard in their local church, doing whatever job needed to be done without reward or accolades. Yet, their acts of humility did not go unnoticed by God. God may replace riches with joy, fame and sweet family time, the ladder of success with peace and contentment. How God rewards humility is up to Him. Whatever way He blesses will be good.

 

 

REFLECTION

 

Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud (Prov.16:19).

 

Beverly Barnett

 

Practice Humility

 

1 Peter 5:5, 6

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time,” 1 Peter 5:6.

 

Andrew Murray wrote, “The highest lesson a believer has to learn is humility.” Oh, how we fail!

Society frowns on humility and promotes arrogance and selfishness. Advertisers bait us with ads that tantalize our appetite for self-gratification. They fool us into believing that we are the most important person in our lives. That is a lie, which kills relationships. We do not resist when we have the chance to promote ourselves, gloat and bask in the spotlight. We do not humbly give praise to God.

Many men of God are guilty of humble phobia. They are afraid of not being recognized in the––you scratch my back and I will scratch your back society. Because of this fear, they lift themselves up to the point of taking God’s place. They love to be seen with others in this fraternity instead of mingling with the lowly. However, as the disciples learned, one’s place in Heaven has been chosen by God, not by men.

Indeed, humility is not a bad characteristic to practice. Jesus, King of Glory, was not afraid to humble Himself. Jesus ate with sinners. He talked with them. He cared for them. He loved them more than He loved life. He left the splendor and beauty of Heaven and was born in a lowly dirt-floored stable. He did it with complete and loving humility.

 

 

REFLECTION

We can learn humility from the perfect example, Jesus Christ.

 

Beverly Barnett

 

 

Humility—The Way to Greatness

 

Luke 14:10, 11

 

“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted,” Luke 14:11.

 

 

 

To humble oneself to be exalted is an oxymoron. James and Peter also gave the same admonition. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Since the grace of greatness is only afforded by God to those who are humble, it would benefit us to find out what it means to humble oneself. Jesus publicly accused the Pharisees of false piety for publicly advertising their fasts and disfiguring themselves to appear humble and submissive.

 

Humility that God recognizes is supernatural, a gift of the Holy Spirit, like the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23). Humility appears not to be the result of praying for it, but rather surrendering oneself to God’s control. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:10). Here, we see James, Jesus’ blood brother, advising us to humble ourselves to be lifted up by God. One basically has to lift an empty cup for God to fill. “Blessed are the poor in spirit [spiritually bankrupt] for their’s is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).

 

Greatness in the eyes of God may be opposite man’s idea of greatness. Jesus told twelve jealous apostles that the greatest people in the kingdom are those with a servant’s heart, willing to serve others rather than be served. Jesus Himself came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.

 

 

 

Just Saying

 

Here’s my cup, Lord. Fill it up and run it over into others’ lives.

 

 

Robert Brock

 

 

98 — April 08 —This Day in Baptist History Past

The Humility of a Great Man of God

An humble weaver who had seven schools named for him

William Carey believed that Indians could be authentically evangelized only by their own countrymen. He set out, therefore, to prepare converts for this task and broadened the scope of education in the mission schools. Serampore College was conceived not as a seminary but as a liberal arts college for Christians and non-Christians.

It comes as no surprise, then to read of Carey’s reaction when he had been informed that he was to be proposed as Professor of Bengali in the English Government’s Fort William College. Joshua Marshman, Carey’s close associate, recorded the following in his diary:

Wednesday, April 8, 1801. This morning Carey came to me in great haste, almost before I was awake. He had received a note from our good friend, Rev. David Brown concerning a matter of great moment, to which an immediate answer must be given. “He wishes to propose him as Professor of Bengali in the new College. Would he give consent?”

Carey has at least seven colleges named after him: William Carey International University in Pasadena, California, Carey Theological College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Carey Baptist College in Auckland, New Zealand, Carey BaptistGrammarSchool in Melbourne, Victoria, Carey College in Colombo, Sri Lanka and , Hattiesburg, Mississippi. William Carey Academy of Chittagong, Bangladesh teaches both Bangladeshi and expatriate children, from Kindergarten to grade 12.

Dr. Dale R. Hart from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 143-144. / Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

 

HOW ARE YOU KNOWN?

I Samuel 9:6
And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city
a man of God, and he is an
honourable man:…

What an honour to have a name that gendered such renown and respect. A country boy, (Saul) and a servant have heard of this man Samuel. Here was the place to ask hard questions. This man had a reputation had spread through towns, cities, and countryside. The reputation of knowledge, humility and Godliness clung to Samuel as a garment. What a blessing to carry the title – man of God. We feel proud to carry the Christian and the luster of this moniker has faded and become un-recognizable. A title of reproach that was reserved for those that diligently and faithfully followed the teaching and clean righteous living that reflected Jesus as close a possible, has been besmirch and bedraggled by being dragged through the muck and mire of unfaithfullness, infidelity and unreflective living. To be known as a man of God is an honour that few deserve. We add to this name the term – honourable man and we see one that has a superlative closeness to God.

Honor, integrity, and adhering to ethical and moral principles are the marks of an honourable man. How many would consider themselves honourable and yet not have moral principles. How many fudge on ethics and consider themselves honourable man. These are things we should all strive for and continually work on. We never attain this standard by self proclamation. Others must recognise these traits and characteristics and they will then tell others. May we desire to gain the titles – MAN OF GOD/HONOURABLE MAN.

Technorati Tags: know, honor, gender, respect, reputation, luster, fudge, ethics