BEGIN BY DESCENDING

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up, higher and higher and HE will lift you up!”

A familiar little lyric often sung around the campsite or at church camp back in the day.

And that song is rooted in some very solid and "tough-minded" truth. Lay yourself bare, facedown to the ground, in humility before the Lord; and He will lift your head, so you can stand tall. James 4:10 (V) That translation from the VOICE is “tough” isn’t it?

It says strip away the ego. It says lay aside the pride. It says put down the “puffery” and be reminded that WITHOUT CHRIST we are nothing yet with Him we can make it.

That is sometimes hard to swallow.  We are proud bunch.  But look what happens when we “listen and respond”.  GOD WILL LIFT us! But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. Psalm 3:3 (AMP)

Simply put friends, pride and progress in Christ can’t coexist. Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 (LB)

Yet culture says, “O Lord it is hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way”.  

And while I know that lyric is written with tongue firmly planted in cheek, we often “believe” that we are a whole lot more self-sufficient and capable than we should. We squeeze GOD out of our decisions and thoughts telling Him that “we got things under control” or worse yet that “we are in charge”.

Sadly, those attitudes do lead to "falls".  I see it daily in all of my ministries and the only way back is to humble ourselves at the foot of the Cross and again allow GOD to do the real HEAVY LIFTING.  As counter-intuitive as it feels, the key to getting back on our feet often stars with falling on our face.  

When we embrace a humble posture, GOD does HIS BEST lifting! 

Case in point. Yesterday after our Equipping Event in Highland County Ohio, I stopped by some friend’s place to get a little paperwork for my son.  And as we were chit chatting the family they like many, started to share about their loved one who is addicted to opioids.  When I told them that the first step to his recovery was humility, was surrender, they scoffed a little saying there was no way their “proud” family member would even consider such a plan.

Yet if he doesn’t, he loses out on the LIFTING!

I pray he has a change of heart.

GOD wants humility from each of us. 

He doesn’t wish to humiliate.  GOD loves us too much for that.  So much so that GOD warns repeatedly of the intoxicating effect of pride and "puffery".  Remember pride is what did SATAN in.  It isn’t something to be trifled with or entertained. 

So, the encouragement is plain. 

Don’t go into today believing you have everything figured out or that you “got things covered”.  Instead, humbly come to the throne of grace this morning. With head bowed and eyes closed with gratitude and humility give today to GOD and allow Him and His grace to lift and carry you through remembering that God gives us more grace when we turn away from our own interests.  God opposes the proud, but He pours out grace on the humble. James 4:6 (NLT)

"Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility." -  Saint Augustine

Love you all!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE