“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:10).

Satan can use spiritual things to make you proud: It could be your ability to teach or preach the Word; your prayer life; your success in witnessing; soul-winning; your talents and good works.

A famous Christian businessman was visiting a church and was asked to give a word of greeting. He got carried away telling all that God had done for him. “I have a successful business, a large house, a lovely family, a famous name, enough money to do the things I want to do and able to give to Christian works. I have health and opportunities unnumbered. There are many people who would gladly exchange places with me. What more could God give me?” From the back of the auditorium a voice called, “A good dose of humility!”

To boast is a sin, because God gave the gift and we cannot take credit for what God has given. Satan attacks with pride and we need to surrender immediately to the Holy Spirit and let Him in to work that He may produce humility and submission before God.

A sign that one is not submissive to God or to one another is to willingly judge or quickly respond in a manner unbecoming of Christ. When one is continually confrontational with those of like mindedness then we can be sure we have locked God out. Sins of the flesh are bad but sins of the spirit are worse and cause more damage.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: When, as his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:12).

 

 Isaiah tells us, “For unto us a child is born” (Isaiah 9:6a), not just a child of human conception, but a child of divine representation. God who created all things created and condescended Himself into the span of a young woman’s womb. God took up residence, Himself, in the womb of a woman.

 

 Who would have thought of such a thing? One question would be, “Why”? Another question to ask is “How low can you go?”

 

 Would you be willing to become a cockroach to save the world of cockroaches from their filthiness? NO! We would not even think of it. But God became a baby, a child, and for this reason to die upon a cross to save us from our sins! To save us from our sins is to save us from physical, spiritual, and eternal death. To save us from our sins is to allow God back into you to be God in you.

 

“Great is the mystery of godliness,” Paul tells Timothy. God became a man so that you can become a son or daughter of God. God was born of a virgin so that you and I can become born again. Are you consciously, conspicuously, continually found with the child of the Holy Spirit within you? If not, why not?

 

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).

On January 2, 1953 Queen Elizabeth’s coronation took place at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The train of her robe flowed behind her with six maids holding the six yards of material that was exquisitely fabricated. You say, “Who does she think she is, the queen of England?” Ah, yes she does! That is why the designer went over the top to form and fashion her robe.

Isaiah saw the King’s robe and it filled the temple, not just for six yards, but the whole temple of glory. Back and forth, back and forth, doubling and redoubling until the symbol of God’s holy splendor packed the house. “Who is like you, O Lord?”

The answer to this question can not be completely answered by our finite minds. There is absolutely no one like God. No one. That’s because He is holy. He is separate. He is completely unlike us. God’s throne is high and lifted up. God is distinct and uncommon, separate, and holy. His throne is not on our level.

Don’t bring Him down for He will not or can not lower Himself. Rise up and worship Him for He will effect you and me in tremendous ways. We honor the King when we see His train and react accordingly. May we get in our position so that God may reign upon us. When we do then the showers of blessings will fall.

Father, thank you for Your Son and thank You for You. We recognize you as being above us, beyond us, highly exalted, over me, and totally separate from me. I am getting in a position for a downpour of your grace.

“And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, except we two were in the house” (I Kings 3:18).

Two women who were harlots each gave birth to a child. Each slept that night in the same room and yet one woke up the morning after to discover the child next to her was dead and he was not hers. The other woman switched the baby at death.

The case was brought before Solomon. What would he do? He said, “Bring me a sword” (I Ki 3.24). What does this mean? The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other” (I Ki 3:25). The woman whose the living child was hers said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.”

Two lessons we can learn. In every circumstance always use and wield the Word of God. It is a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). If we want to be effective cutting through this world and the words of others, let these words be upon your lips and may the Word of God be in your hand, “Bring me the sword.”

The second lesson to draw from the true event described for us: Don’t allow division. A man or woman of God will not be identified with division in a marriage, a family, or a church body, for division leads either quickly or eventually to one thing: death. Don’t be a part of tolerating division unless it is for righteousness. May we be surrendered to God’s Word as Solomon and committed to unity as this mother was.

A New Start

“For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Paul went through much of living in a culture that was antagonistic toward Christ. So many problems came and went against him, trouble on every side of him, problems that pressed hard against him, and yet he learned the secret of contentment.

Look at yourself in the mirror. Tell me what you see? I see in the mirror a man who is aging and breaking down externally. But, again,  take a look in the mirror of the Word. What do you see? Do you see the eternal springing up within you, the everlasting joy that comes from looking away from the obvious to the real?

Paul did not faint because he kept his eyes on the eternal and the internal. His daily focus was disciplined upon Christ and His Word. He learned that the outward things were temporal and could be discouraging. The things not seen were eternal and were an eternal weight of glory. What is discouragement? It is a temporary loss of perspective.

Focus on that which is unseen, the truths you know in your heart, for it is that truth that is a reality. We need to focus on the inner man. Life is passing us by. We have the opportunity to focus on the eternal and internal daily for the next 364 days of the year.

“Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).   1.  There is a devil. 2. Prayer is what God has given to obtain what we need from Him. 3. Prayer was the most important thing to the early apostles. 4. Our Lord prayed.   5. Our Lord is even now interceding for us. 6. Prayer moves God to obtain grace and receive mercy from Him.   7. Prayer gives to us God’s fullness of His joy.   8. Prayer along with thanksgiving frees us from anxiety.   9. Prayer is the means in which we keep watchful.   10. Prayer promotes our spiritual growth, brings power into the work, leads   others to Christ and gives power and blessings to the church. We cannot afford not to pray. Prayer should be the most vital part of a believer’s life. Prayer is how we talk to God and how the Word speaks to us. Prayer draws us nigh to God. Prayer is not the last thing we should do — it’s the best thing. It’s the only thing that matters until we pray.