Continuing on the subject of humility, we see there is a worldly definition and a scriptural definition. A worldly definition will always have checks to keep us from succumbing totally to the Jesus way of living. There is a great truth that can put us in a right mindset when it comes to being secure in who we are in Jesus. Romans 8:1-8 says Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
If we live our humility like the world we will keep score on how humble we are and how humble someone else is also. It is all about categorizing and never letting others ever get out of the pride cycle, because we don't want them to get somewhere that we think puts them ahead of us. So in the end we can actually stimy another persons growth to keep them from what we think is them getting ahead of us spiritually. This shows just how deep the pride monster is buried in our lives and we are involved in holding someone else back. The following story illustrates how one person can be so consumed and prideful to the point of jealousy and holding back that other person's spiritual growth.
Irish novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett received great recognition for his work--but not every one savored his accomplishments. Beckett's marriage, in fact, was soured by his wife's jealousy of his growing fame and success as a writer. One day in 1969 his wife Suzanne answered the telephone, listened for a moment, spoke briefly, and hung up. She then turned to Beckett and with a stricken look whispered, "What a catastrophe!" Was it a devastating personal tragedy? No, she had just learned that Beckett had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature! I am thankful my wife encourages me to greatness and prays for me to use the gift God has given me for Him. This is just what we do when we know Jesus because His Spirit compels us to do it. His Spirit is a very important part of the whole thing. Further in the Romans 8 scripture Paul speaks to this very subject. Read what Paul says in verses 9-11 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
This "Jesus" way of living is best seen by understanding what Jesus was doing when He was walking on this earth. His disciples walked with Him, ate with Him, ministered with Him and still missed the deep understanding of what He was doing and who He was in all of it. So there is a good chance we could miss it to. We will realize that we might have missed some of His truth if we are humble enough to grasp the depth of the truth of His Word. This Word is life. It is OUR life. Further in Romans 8 Paul finishes this blog for me where he says in verses 26-27 26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
The Pilgrimage Continues.....
David Warren
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