November 11 2014

November 11 2014 Greetings My Friend, YouTube and the sound wasn’t working for some reason so I went to plan B. I wanted to study the word “humble” and it’s meaning in the Bible. So I googled the meaning to find that humble in the dictionary means: “not proud and not thinking you are better than other people. It also means simple and with only basic equipment or features. I then went to a thesaurus and the meaning grew deeper for me. I learned that it is” modest, unassuming, unpretentious, undemanding and a low profile. With that information I started to absorb the depth of this often used word. I was ready to read what the Bible says a bit more because I had a better idea of the word itself. Psalm 34:2 states “My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. The next reference was 1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” I am off and running with this word now. My attention span is short so I will dig into this word for a bit and learn as I grow. I heard a small portion of Joyce Meyer’s teaching on humble and that continues to stick with me also. She taught that it means “obeying” and for me I get a little huffy with words like obey and submit. The dictionary and thesaurus helped me put it in a better perspective and I find my heart desiring to be humble and to submit. When Joyce taught I saw a picture of a student and a teacher in my minds eye. The student sits under the teacher so they can learn and use this knowledge in their own life. I saw God as my teacher and He knows all the best things for me to learn. I heard again “God wants our best” and in that I find comfort and strength to go out of my comfort zone. I think the hardest lesson for me to learn is to fully “let go and let God.” It is my deepest desire but I also have “pride” telling me to “pull myself up by my bootstraps”. I believe somewhere in this thinking that “God helps those who help themselves” which means I must try first on my own. The longer I walk in faith though I learn that these things aren’t what God is teaching me at all. Some days I bring the most insignificant things to God and at first I was so embarrassed to bother Him. Today I know that God wants to guide each area of my life and it is not a bother to Him. I believe God rejoices when I “just do it” per His instructions. Sometimes I struggle to understand why He has me going in a direction and recently I have found myself saying “not my will Lord but Your will.” I tell Him where I am confused and He gives me enough information to help me to step out in faith. As I step out in faith I see God’s best working out in my life for me. Learning to humble myself is a journey also like my faith journey is. It is one step at a time and one day at a time that I grow more in the likeness of Jesus. In my heart I believe we are in redemptive time here on earth and we are learning the lessons we need to learn so we can live in eternity with God as the person God wants us to be in eternity. I feel humbled when I realize God is truly working out my best for me in this life and for the life to come. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet