| “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” – James 4:10 |
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| YOU ARE GOD AND I AM NOT For the second time in chapter 4, James calls the believer to humble themselves before the Lord. Just a few verses earlier in James 4:6 he wrote “But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” James pulls this from Proverbs 3:34. One of the contrasting themes of Proverbs is the proud versus the humble. God’s response could not be more different as He RESISTS the proud. A word to describe resists would be a stiff arm. On the other hand, God lifts up the humble. Psalm 147:6 says, “The LORD lifts up the humble;” To the one who humbles themselves and confesses their sin, He forgives and restores. To the one who humbles themselves and asks for help in doing God’s work, God empowers and enables. To humble oneself is to empty oneself of ego and declare a dependence on another. Instead of one saying I CAN they declare they CAN’T, even though they may think they can. To humble oneself is to refuse to continue to rely on oneself and resolve reliance on another. Over the years I have watched students at school declare to their teachers I CAN DO IT MYSELF and then they make a MESS of things. I have watched adults do the same thing. I have watched myself declare I can DO IT MYSELF and I make a mess of things! Hmmm. It even happens with those in ministry as we RELY ON OURSELVES, believing it is a weakness to rely on God. Oh, what a mess we make of things. The Lord calls to us to RELY on Him. We are to ABIDE in Him. We are to TRUST Him. We are to COMMIT our ways to Him. To do these actions means we need to DECLARE unequivocally that WE are NOT GOD! God is GOD AND I AM NOT HIM. God is GOD and YOU ARE NOT HIM. HUMBLING oneself releases God to do great things through you! Make the move today and LET GOD DO FAR MORE THROUGH YOU than you could ever imagine. In closing ponder why is it so hard for you to be humble, to humble yourself before God. Verse to DATE the Word on April 10 (4/10) is James 4:10. It says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.“ Humble yourselves before Him, declaring total dependence, and watch Him work! Continue Strong living humbly before God And remember to DATE the Word |