Monday, November 07, 2011

The Gift and Choice of Humility Instead of Pride - November 7

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look up to You and set my mind on things above with the first thoughts of my day. ...

"In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, and He answered him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not respond according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.... Hezekiah had very great riches and honor.... Hezekiah prospered in all his works.... God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart" (2 Chronicles 32:27-31).


Our pride draws Your wrath, yet our humility draws Your riches. In Your mercy, You allow the sicknesses and sufferings, the trials and tribulations of our lives to test us and show us the pride that remains in our hearts. And in the process, Your heart is not to condemn us, but to free us; not to break our spirits, but to crucify our flesh; not to wound our pride, but to put it death. Then we can truly live and truly prosper in the fullness of our destiny for the glory of God. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:10, NKJV).


Like the gift of faith, we need the gift of humility. We can love You because You first loved us, and we can trust You because Your Spirit first reveals Your nature to our hearts. It's the same with humility that slays our pride. We can choose to humble ourselves in Your sight because You give us the grace to see our need to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. "For it is God Who is at work in (us), enabling (us) both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).


So I thank You for the testing and the trials that come to us all in our journey of faith. They are never pleasant at the time, but they produce the fruit of Your righteousness in us-right relationship with God, with one another, and within ourselves. It's the loving guidance and holy correction of our perfect Father Who wants the very best for each one of His children (Hebrews 12:4-13).


We are Your children, as we are moved and empowered by Your Spirit to die to the pride of our independence, self-centeredness, selfishness, and desire for control apart from entrusting ourselves completely to You. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-if in fact, we suffer with Him so that we also may be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:14-17).


Christ is always our example. So Christ is our example to make our choice in response to Your gift of grace in humility as well. "Let the same mind be in (us) that was in Christ Jesus ... He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death-even death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted Him ..." (Philippians 2:5-11).


When we humble ourselves in Your sight, You lift us up. As we learn to completely entrust our lives to the One Who completely cares for us, we are set free from fear and filled with faith; we are healed from our sicknesses and forgiven from our failures. And like Hezekiah, who humbled himself from the pride of his heart, we position ourselves for You to honor and prosper our lives for the glory of Your name and the advancement of Your Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.


Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays


Friends, the more I continue the ministry of inner healing and spiritual formation, along with my own personal journey of faith toward spiritual maturity, I have a growing belief that humility is perhaps one of the greatest keys of the Kingdom of God we've been given in Christ (Matthew 16:19; Philippians 2:5-11). I pray for the humility of Christ to fill your heart and ask you to pray this for me, as we journey in prayer together. God bless you and prosper you, even as your soul prospers! (3 John 2)


Please keep us in prayer, as Sylvia and I travel to San Antonio, Texas to minister together this week in healing prayer and prophetic ministry. Please let us know if your church or community would like to make arrangement for us to come to your area as well. God bless you!


Tommy & Sylvia Hays