In step

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Self-effacement -- to gain face
Philippians 2
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." (v.5)

We said yesterday that humility has not been praised -- except by a few -- in any age. Ancient writers regarded the quality of humility as a "servile, grovelling spirit." People today seem to view it in the same way and place it alongside the cringing spirit of Uriah Heep -- "I am so very 'umble, Master Copperfield." Perhaps it was this confusion that led to Gladstone, one of Britain's past Prime Ministers, to say: "Humility as a sovereign grace is the creation of Christianity." In choosing "humility" as the best translation of the Greek word used in the list of the fruit of the Spirit, we must be careful not to miss the thought that is contained in some of the other words used by translators, such as gentleness, meekness, forbearance, adaptability and tolerance. Threading them all together, we have a picture of this fruit of the Spirit as a gentle spirit of lowliness and humility with no arrogance but a joyous desire to serve.

Humility is not only misunderstood by the world; it is also largely misunderstood by the Christian Church. Some confuse it, for example, with self-belittlement. They think that by denigrating themselves or putting themselves down they are acting in humility. But by deliberately setting out to make themselves small, they are really trying to make themselves great. Self-effacement is their way of gaining face. They take the lowest place in order to be invited to go up higher. They express derogatory opinions of themselves in the hope that they will be contradicted. This is not real humility -- this is feigned humility: an unworthy substitute.

Prayer
O Father, clarify my understanding so that I can discern between true humility and feigned humility. Help me to have a mind that is open to Your mind so that I comprehend all things clearly. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

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Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! —Psalm 46:10 NKJV

The Bible has much to say about the attitude and disposition of solitude. The psalmist wrote, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty…He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters” (Psalm 91:1; 23:2 NKJV).
God called Abraham to a life of separation. He spent valuable time alone with God. That solitude produced the seed of faith in Abraham. Moses was 40 days and 40 nights receiving the Ten Commandments. Jesus spent days on end in the solitude of prayer. Paul spent three years in the Arabian Desert in solitude and reflection.

Solitude and silence bring with them the realization of who you are and Whom you serve. If you are never alone with yourself, you will never know yourself.
Times of silence and solitude provided Moses an opportunity to hear directly from God. When you are beset by spiritual and emotional exhaustion, carve out time to spend with Him. Surrender the chaos that surrounds you and invite God to help you sort through all the issues of your life.

 

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Gifts of Grace
Morning Encounter:
Read
Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands. In the Law there are many commands, such as, “Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others.” But all of these are summed up in the command that says, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” No one who loves others will harm them. So love is all that the Law demands.
(Romans 13. 8-10)

Reflect
Every human being is made in the image of God, so we all reveal some unique aspect of God to one another. Everyone we meet is a gift of grace, and every encounter is an opportunity to discover and love Jesus a little more. If Dallas Willard is right that “the aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons,” then each person around us is an astonishing gift revealing the heart of God’s purposes in all time and history.

Respond
Notice people today. Don’t see shop workers or drivers or colleagues - see people made in God’s likeness. See them, listen to them, give yourself to them a little more than usual. Enjoy their presence in this world as a sign of God’s grace.

Midday Meditation:
“It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour … There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”
(C. S. Lewis)

Evening Reflection:
Spend a little time praying for each person you met, spoke with, spent time with today. For each time they revealed their brokenness and pain, gently forgive as deeply as you can. For each time they revealed the life of God to you, be thankful.

 

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Humility is not a cringing, servile attitude -- although, sadly, many Christians seem to view it in this way. Philip Brooks, a great American preacher, once said: "The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is. Stand at your highest, and then look at Christ, then go away and forever be humble."The truly humble are conscious of greatness before they are conscious of humility.

The passage before us today says: "Jesus, with the full knowledge that the Father had put everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from the supper-table, took off his outer clothes, picked up a towel and fastened it round his waist ... and began to wash the disciples' feet" (John 13:3?5, J.B. Phillips). The consciousness of greatness was the secret of our Lord's humility. The small dare not be humble. But Jesus' greatness was rooted in God. Being in God made Him great -- and humble. Great because humble -- humble because great.

A Hindu said to a missionary: "I used to believe in idols but now I don't believe in them at all. I am coming round to believe that I myself am a god." He gave up his idols and made one of himself! When we lose our perspective on God, we lose our perspective on humility. It is as simple as that: no true vision of God -- no true vision of humility.

Prayer:
O God, help me, in my effort to understand humility, always to remember that it springs from a consciousness of greatness. I want my sense of greatness to be rooted in You -- then humility follows as easily as day follows night. Amen.

 

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You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.
—Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

A calm and serene mind is the mark of maturity in the Believer. The untroubled mind is a mind under God’s control. You and I are not called to control the world—only ourselves.

The person who has learned to direct his thoughts away from the worry and aggravation of his surroundings is a person functioning with Christ at the center of his being. When your mind is stayed or focused on Him, the result is perfect peace.
The disturbed mind is a distrusting mind, its fears so great that any shadow is threatening. Life is out of focus when the heart is out of harmony. But the calm, serene heart produces the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. How? In 1 Corinthians 2:12, the apostle Paul provides the answer:
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us (NIV).

 

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The Greatest Grace
Morning Encounter:
Read
Long ago in many ways and at many times God’s prophets spoke his message to our ancestors. But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son. God’s Son has all the brightness of God’s own glory and is like him in every way. By his own mighty word, he holds the universe together.
(Hebrews 1. 1-3)

Reflect
Jesus is, by a long margin, God’s greatest gift of grace to us. God gives us life and we turn from him. He gives us creation and we despoil it. He gives us one another and we trample on each other. Despite this God doesn’t hold back but sends his own Son - and “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!” (John 3.17) And Jesus came revealing what God’s grace looked like in day to day live: healing, forgiving, reconciling, welcoming, and transforming lives.

Respond
A life open to Jesus is a life open to the grace which reshapes us from the inside out. So ask Jesus to reveal himself to you in a fresh way today. Be sure to keep alert for an answer to that prayer!

Midday Meditation:
“When we learn to read the story of Jesus and see it as the story of the love of God, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves - that insight produces, again and again, a sense of astonished gratitude which is very near the heart of authentic Christian experience.”
N. T. Wright

Evening Reflection:
O Lord my God,
teach me to seek you,
for I cannot seek you
unless you teach me,
or find you
unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire,
let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you,
let me love you when I find you.

 

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A sane view of oneself
Romans 12
"... Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment ..." (v.3)

We continue trying to clear up the misunderstandings that surround the word "humility." Humility has often been confused with that sad state which we describe as an "inferiority complex." But however much humility and an inferiority complex resemble each other -- and one has to admit that superficially they do look alike -- humility is deeply different.

Humility is not the result of being badly mishandled in childhood, nor is it a nervous illness. Neither is it derived from a foolish comparison with other people. Humility is a true and absorbing view of oneself seen from God's point of view. Paul urges us in our passage today not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, "but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (v.3, NKJV).

These verses are sometimes interpreted as meaning that we should have a low opinion of ourselves, but look again at what the apostle is saying: "... not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly." We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but by the same token, we should not think of ourselves more lowly than we ought. We must have a sane and balanced estimate of ourselves -- one that is not too high and not too low. Humility, as we said yesterday, flows from a correct viewof God, but it also flows from a correct view of ourselves. These two facts need overhauling and emphasizing in today's Church, for I am convinced that a large percentage of Christians have neither a correct view of God nor a correct view of themselves.

My Father and my God, I pray once again that You will help me come to a clear understanding of this issue. Help me get my perspectives right -- my perspective on You and my perspective on myself. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

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Heard His Still, Small Voice?

And your ears shall hear a word behind you,
saying, “This is the way, walk in it”—Isaiah 30:21

Still, small voice—the words come from the First Book of Kings. The Prophet Elijah emerged from a cave on the mountain called Horeb:

“ . . a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire . . .” (1 Kings 19:11-12).

After the fire, Elijah heard a “still, small voice.” God’s voice. God taught Elijah something that day. He taught us. He demonstrated, in dramatic manner, a preferred method of communication.

So, what is the “still, small voice”? Well, it’s more about our thoughts than about an audible voice. So, thoughts . . . they can be crystallized in many ways: in words—sort of an inner voice—or perhaps as pictures, feelings, or impulses. Originating them in the mind of another is neither complicated, nor difficult. We do it every day. Engaging in conversation with someone, we direct their thinking and they ours. There are limits, of course. We need some combination of physical media—ink on paper, pixels on screens, ones and zeros flowing over wires, vibrations of vocal cords, waves of electromagnetic radiation. Does God need physical media to originate thoughts in our minds? No, of course not. If we follow the King, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is there already—he dwells within us (Romans 8:9-11).



Could’ve God already been at work in your mind, originating thoughts? I’ll bet. Could it be that you didn’t notice, didn’t recognize it? Begin today, brother, to sift. Begin to note which thoughts are likely yours alone, which were clearly originated by others . . . and which just might’ve been originated by God.

 

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Consuming Grace
Morning Encounter:
Read
God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God’s wonderful kindness is what saves you. God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. God did this so that in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done. You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own.
(Ephesians 2. 4-8)

Reflect
Everything is a gift: creation, our lives, other people, Jesus himself. Our life in Christ is no different. It’s by grace that we come to God, that we are forgiven, that we are reconciled to God, that we grow in prayer and service, that we are healed and restored. No wonder, as Richard Foster once said, “Christians consume grace the way a jet plane consumes fuel!” God freely gives us, every moment, what we are unable to give ourselves: new life in Jesus.

Respond
Reflect today on whatever God has already given you which has helped you grow in your faith: perhaps Christian friends, a good pastor, fruitful spiritual practices, a supportive family, or freedom from sins you’ve struggled with in the past. Take time to give thanks for the gift of a renewed life.

Midday Meditation:
“God can make a new beginning with people whenever God pleases, but not people with God. Therefore, people cannot make a new beginning at all; they can only pray for one. Where people are on their own and live by their own devices, there is only the old, the past.”
Dietrich Bonheoffer

Evening Reflection:
Confession isn’t just about admitting our sins; it’s about letting go of old ways of living so we can allow God’s grace to fill us afresh. Take a little time this evening confessing your weaknesses and failings to God so their grip on you becomes a little looser.
“Let me die to myself so that I may serve you;
let me live to you who are life itself.”

 

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Humility is a teachable spirit
James 1:17-27
"... and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." (v.21)


Some Christians confuse humility with lack of ambition, but here, too, they are mistaken. The Christian in whom the "harvest of the Spirit" is being reaped may lack worldly ambition, but in the spiritual area of life, he is the most ambitious person alive. Titles,honors, distinctions, money ... his heart is not set on them but on God. If these things are placed in his hands, they are seen as a trust; they are not, however, the things that he deeply covets. For the true Christian, life comes to fulfilment, not in things but in God.

Having spent a few days focusing on what humility is not, it is time now to focus on what it is. "Humility," says William Barclay, "is a gentle, gracious and submissive spirit." He suggests that in order properly to understand humility, we need to look at five significant passages of Scripture. When we have looked at all five, we shall then get a composite picture of this beautiful virtue which the Holy Spirit seeks to bring to fruition in our lives.

The first is James 1:21: "Humbly accept the message that God has planted in your hearts, and which can save your souls" (J. B. Phillips). Humility is a teachable spirit -- an attitude that recognizes one's own ignorance and a humble acceptance of the fact that without God's help, one cannot understand the depths or profundities of truth. Every Christian who has a good understanding of Scripturewill, to some degree, be humble, for those who approach the Bible with a proud and know-all attitude will find it will shut like a clam and reveal nothing to them.

Prayer:
O Father, give me a teachable spirit -- especially in relation to Scripture. Help me to lay aside my own ideas when I come to Your Word, so that I might be able to absorb Your ideas. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

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Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. —Luke 10:19 NKJV

No one can pray effectively out of a disturbed and troubled heart. If the heart fails because of fear, our world seems to fall apart as well. The effective life is a life under God’s control and in submission to His will. A peaceful heart enables us to walk with God through difficult situations. It is learning to use all things for good. (See Romans 8:28.)

People and organizations are searching for a calm and serene heart. Strength, assurance, and confidence stem from serenity. Most people are looking for someone on whom they can lean in times of distress. Only the serene can bear the burdens of others.
Jesus walked on troubled waters and called out to His disturbed disciples, “Peace, be still.” Walk in peace and serenity with Christ, and you will be able to support others who are in need.

 

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More Grace
Morning Encounter:
Read
God blesses those people who refuse evil advice,
and won’t follow sinners or join in sneering at God.
Instead, the Law of the Lord makes them happy,
and they think about it day and night.

They are like trees growing beside a stream,
trees that produce fruit in season,
and always have leaves.”
(Psalm 1. 1-3)

Reflect
Spiritual practices - all of them - are simply ways of opening ourselves more fully to grace. They are means of pursuing Jesus and putting our lives in his hands. To open ourselves to Christ in prayer, fasting, service, reflection on Scripture and other ways is to put down deep roots into rich soil, and the nourishment we soak up comes from the rivers of grace pouring from God’s presence. Grace makes us able to come to God, and grace is what we receive when we come. Our whole Christian life is grace, a gift, from end to end, from head to toe.

Respond
Spend a little time today reflecting on the opening verses of Psalm 1. How have you experienced spiritual practices as a means of soaking up God’s gracious presence? Ask God to help you see your prayer and service of others in a fresh light.

Midday Meditation:
“A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then the natural forces of the earth take over and up comes the grain … This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines - they are a way of sowing to the Spirit … By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done.”
(Richard Foster)

Evening Reflection:
“Take, Lord, and receive,
all my liberty, my memory, my intellect, my will,
all that I have, and all I possess.
You gave them to me: Lord, I return them to you.
Everything is yours; do with it as you wish.
All I ask for is your love and your grace -
these are enough for me.”

 

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A means to hope
Micah 6
"... what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (v. 8)

Another passage we must look at if we are to understand the deep meaning of humility is Galatians 6:1 -- "If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently" (NIV). Paul's advice is that if someone is overtaken in a fault, he must be corrected in a spirit of humility. Correction can be given in a way which discourages or in a way which sets a person on his or her feet with the determination to do better. Humility is the spirit which makes correction a stimulant and not a depressant, a means to hope and not a cause of despair.

The third passage is 2 Timothy 2:25: "Those who oppose him he must gently instruct." Paul is saying here that when we meet up with those who disagree with us, and whom we think to be mistaken, we must not attempt to bludgeon them into changing their minds, but treat them with the utmost gentleness and respect.

Suppose we go into a room on a bitterly cold day and find the windows are frozen on the inside -- there are two things we can do. One is to try to rub away the ice on the inside of the window panes, or we may light a fire in the grate and allow the window to clear itself. Heat does quickly what rubbing may take a long time to do. When dealing with those whom you believe to be in error ormistaken, always remember that gentle humility will accomplish what no amount of bludgeoning or battering could ever do. The sun can get a man's coat off his back much more quickly than a fierce wind.

Prayer
O God, I sense that the ways You teach me through Your Word are also written in me. I am only at my best as I follow Your best. Help me, dear Lord, always to follow You in the path of humility. Amen.

 

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The Value of Trials
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! —1 Corinthians 9:24 NLT

If there is no race, there can be no winner. If there is no battle, there can be no victory. Winners are the people who have entered the conflict and run to win the prize. The joy of crossing the finish line begins at the starting line.

Strength grows from weakness. Your greatest opportunities lie in the midst of your most severe trials. Welcome the problems. They come to make you wise. Salute the hills; the climb only makes you stronger. Look to Him, the author and finisher of our faith. (See Hebrews 12:2.)

Paul cried, “When I am weak, then am I strong.” He had learned the most vital lesson in life. He knew that through his weaknesses he gained the strength he needed to achieve the victory. Opposition became his opportunity; his hindrances only made him stronger.
There is a way through your darkness, for Jesus is the light. Move toward Him.

 

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Cycle of Grace
Morning Encounter:
Read
“Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me.”
(John 15. 4-5)

Reflect
Everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God, but there is one meaningful gift we can offer in return, the one thing God desires but will never take for himself: ourselves. The twelfth century writer Bernard of Clairvaux wrote that love grows as we love God first for our own sake, then more for his sake - but above and beyond this is the ability to receive in gratitude the gift of renewed life, then immediately offer it back in love. This creates a kind of cycle of grace: God gives, we give back, he gives in return - just as Jesus and his Father continually offered themselves to one another.

Respond
Find some time today to sit quietly in the Father’s presence. Don’t fill the silence with words, and don’t seek any new insights or messages. Just waste a few minutes with God, giving him the gift of your time without asking anything in return.

Midday Meditation:
“Each of us can come close to God, with the assurance that he will come close to us … Remember: he wants your fellowship, and he has done everything to make it a possibility. He has forgiven your sins at the cost of his own dear Son. He has given you his word and the priceless privilege of prayer and worship. He will come near to you if only you will come near to him.”
(Billy Graham)

Evening Reflection:
Father, I abandon myself into your hands.
Do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you …
I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands
without reserve and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

 

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The drawing power of humility
Proverbs 18
"Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor" (v.12)

In 1 Peter 3:15 we read: "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you ... But do this with gentleness and respect." Real Christian witness always has a gracious gentleness about it which is far more effective than the aggressive approach which tries to ram the Gospel down people's throats. As someone has put it: "To win some you must be winsome."A final text we explore is James 3:13 -- "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom." The real ornament of life which is precious in the sight of God is a meek and quiet spirit. Those who think they are not gifted by temperament to relate to people in this way need not despair. The Spirit who dwells in you will, if you allow Him, transform your temperament into the image of Christ.

Paul's spiritual progress may be measured by the fact that in 1 Corinthians 15:9, he says: "I am the least of the apostles," and writing later to the Ephesians (3:8), he says he is less than the least -- not now of the apostles -- but "of all God's people." Still later, when writing to Timothy (1 Tim. 1:15), he says that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners -- "of whom I am the worst." Oh, the wonder of humility. God said through Isaiah: "I dwell ... with him who has a contrite and humble spirit" (57:15, NKJV). James said, "God resists the proud" -- He repels their advances. The haughty He knows only from afar: it is the humble whom the Almighty respects.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I can have too much of many things but I cannot have too much of You. I cannot be too much like You or have too much of Your Spirit. Fill me to overflowing so that I become more and more like You. Amen.

 

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Preparing for the Good Fight
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV
Being a Christian does not mean you are problem free. Even though you are a child of God, you will still have to deal with difficult situations throughout your life.
As children, many of us sang this song in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School:
I may never march in the infantry
Ride in the cavalry
Shoot the artillery
I may never fly o’er the enemy
But I’m in the Lord’s army!
Yes Sir!

Battles will come. Persecution will come. You will have to fight deception, guard yourself against occasional unforgiveness and bitterness, and struggle against unbelief. You will have to dislodge fear before it disarms you and makes you vulnerable to further assaults.
You have been drafted into the army of God, so be prepared to fight the good fight of faith!

 

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Rule of Life: Scripture
Morning Encounter:
If we desire a deeper life with God, then we need to be intentional. Following Jesus in our everyday lives and becoming more like him, doesn’t just happen – especially when our lives are distracted, busy and overwhelming. We need to work out ways to create space to be with God, so he can transform us by his Spirit. Christian tradition has a name for this intentional rhythm; it is called a Rule of Life. St. Benedict introduced this concept to help monks living in community to order their days around prayer, study and work. Over time, as we surrender ourselves to new practices of being with God through regular ‘habits’ we will find our lives increasingly shaped and transformed by God. Each day this week we will explore a different spiritual practice. At the end of the week, you will have an opportunity to reflect on your experience and create your own rule of life.

Read:
Your teachings are sweeter than honey. They give me understanding and make me hate all lies.Your word is a lamp that gives light wherever I walk. Your laws are fair, and I have given my word to respect them all.
(Psalm 119.103-106)

Reflect:
Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in Scripture. Here the Psalmist expresses his love for the word of God. Scripture is divine revelation, revealing to us who God is, who we are and why we are here. Immersing ourselves in Scripture shapes our life with God. Jesus knew the Scriptures well, he used them to answer testing questions, resist temptation, encourage and comfort others. Meditation, study and memorisation can help us to be immersed in God’s word and keep company with Jesus.

Respond:
Take a Bible with you today, either on your phone or book version. Read it as often as you can in spare moments throughout the day. If you have time, read a whole book such as Colossians, in one sitting.
Midday Meditation:
‘Never lose sight of the fact that the Bible exists to draw you beyond itself into the presence of Jesus. He longs for you, yearns for you, desires you. Read like a lover. Allow your desire and longing to draw you to him. Don’t be afraid.’
(Chris Webb Fire of the Word)


Evening Reflection:
Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen. He is the first-born Son, superior to all creation. Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities. All things were created by God’s Son and everything was made for him. (Colossians 1.15-16)

 

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Christ-control
PProverbs 16:20-44
"Better ... a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city."(v.32)

We come now to the last of the nine fruits of the Spirit -- self-control. The King James Version uses the word "temperance" but in most translations the Greek word (enkrateia) is rendered as self-control. Underlying the word is the idea of self-restraint, a fine mastery of one's personality, a controlled and disciplined nature. It is noteworthy that Paul puts self-control last. Most systems of thought, both ancient and modern, would put it first. Consider the various philosophies that have fascinated man over past centuries, and what do you find?

They all seek to produce a happy and contented person through self-control. Some advocate thought control, some breath control, others will-control. The Christian way is different -- it produces happy and contented people, not primarily by thought control or even will-control, but by Christ-control. The Christian is a self-controlled person, but he becomes that, not by self-effort alone but by the gracious supply of the Holy Spirit who indwells him. You do not gain God, Christ or the Holy Spirit through self-control: you gain self-control through God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.

You see, if you begin with self-control, then you are the center -- you are controlling yourself. But if you begin, as Paul does, with love, then the spring of action is outgoing and you are released from yourself and from self-preoccupation. When you begin with love, you end with self-control. But it is not a nervous, anxious, tied-up self-control; it is a control that is natural and unstrained -- hence beautiful.

Prayer:
Gracious Father, help me grasp the thought that self-control is not really myself in control, but Christ in control of myself. I put You in control and You then put me in control. It is indeed beautiful. Thank You, dear Father. Amen.

 

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Heard God Through Others?

The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me;
his word is on my tongue—2 Samuel 23:2

God speaks through his people. He empowers us as agents to carry his messages—as Ananias did to Saul, as Cornelius did to Peter (and Peter did back to Cornelius). This method, human agency, is the second of God’s two preferred methods of communicating with us. Examples of it abound in Scripture. And, of course, Scripture itself is an example: the Biblical authors were his agents in communicating his precious words to us.

How does it work? Well, while God uses his still, small voice to reach us directly, speaking into our minds, originating thoughts there instantly, he uses that very same voice to also reach us indirectly—that is, by speaking directly into the minds of others, directing a few of their thoughts, and then allowing them to use their spoken or written words to take his messages the rest of the way, to us. It may be that one of us, one in need of hearing from God, isn’t used to hearing from him, or doesn’t recognize his voice or just isn’t listening . . . or maybe doesn’t want to listen. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that God uses people who are listening and do want tohear to reach others who need to hear. It could be the inspired words of a pastor in the pulpit or the encouraging words of a friend at a coffee shop or the challenging words of brothers in a men’s group . . . or any one of many, many other possibilities.



Do you want to hear God’s voice? Does your busy calendar allow for it? Have you committed yourself to a group of men who are willing to speak his truth into your life? Think about these questions, brother—and commit today to figuring out how to begin to answer them affirmatively.