God Loves the Humble

Over and over again, we read in God’s Word that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humility does not deny our strengths, but correctly evaluates our weaknesses. God specifically designed and created each of us. Our physical, emotional, and psychological makeup was designed by Him to fulfill specific purposes that He has for our lives. We can and should praise and thank Him for His design in us.

Psalm 131 says, “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” True humility brings forth contentment. Humility opposes the notion that we need attention or something more. The humble person finds hope in the knowledge of God.

Speak Of What You Know

Everyone has opinions. Most people speak their opinions. Unfortunately, many times those opinions are uninformed because we haven’t taken the time and made the effort to learn more about the subject. The real tragedy is that these uniformed opinions often are able to gather an audience through seminars, conferences, television and social media. People then receive and act upon these uninformed opinions as though the speaker has authority and knowledge.

Revelation 4:8,11 records the voices of the multitudes before God’s throne as saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Get to know the God of the Bible before you form your opinion. This knowledge and His wisdom are essential for life and impact your eternity. Once you get to know Him, you will love Him. Then you will begin to practice praising God now, because you will forever joyously do so in heaven.

Marathon

We admire marathon runners for their perseverance in the face of their long struggle. In their race preparation the endure pain patiently as they trust the process to equip them to run the race.

Revelation 3:10 says, “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Sometimes keeping God’s Word is a struggle. Those are the times we should ask Him to give us patience and endurance to continue to walk uprightly. He promises to carry us through our struggles. We can trust Him, even more than the marathon runner trusts the preparation process.

Understanding the Truth

When we want to learn about finances, we go the experts and their writings. When we want to learn about science, we must go to the respected people in their fields. We don’t find understanding of the truth from social media or our friends. We find understanding of the truth from the author of all truth, God Himself.Joseph and Mary left Jerusalem after the festival, but accidently left Jesus behind.

Luke 2:46-47 says, “After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” Even young people can have amazing understanding of the truth when they listen to Jesus and learn from Him, because all knowledge and wisdom come from Him.

First Things First

The expression, “first things first”, makes a lot of sense to me. Perhaps, it’s the expression’s intrinsic truth that accounts for its widespread usage and enduring quality. For if we don’t do or consider first things first, every succeeding thing becomes harder, if they can be accomplished at all.

Jeremiah 2:2 says, “Thus says the LORD, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.” Of first importance is loving God. We must begin everything, and life itself, by loving God. Then we can and will follow Him and do good works. Many people try to do good works before loving God and find that these efforts fail or are not effective. In addition, we cannot earn God’s favor without loving Him first, and foremost. Let’s love God with earnest devotion.