A Prayer for Humility

Jesus, I need you. I need you to help me to give more of myself to you. I cannot hold to anything of this world; it is all worthless. I want to build treasures in Heaven and to spend eternity with you and I ask that you transform me to be more like you! Help me and encourage me on this: My time here on earth is just a passing; I am here only to serve my purpose you have for me. What greater reward is there than to spend eternity with you? Thank you for what you have done for me though I deserve none of it. Amen.

 This is my prayer from an older post: Transformation. I wanted to write about what Jesus has done for me and through me. I wanted to write about He has done WITH me. He is constantly working with me, molding me, and working in the the intricate details like the potter with clay. Also in the post was this passage of C.S. Lewis' about transformation, the process of killing the old man:

The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning...to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin...Put it right out of your head the idea that these are only fancy ways of saying that Christians are to read what Christ said and try to carry it out - as a man may read what Plato or Marx said and try to carry it out. They mean something much more than that. They mean that a real Person, Christ, here and now, in that very room where you are saying your prayers, is doing things to you...It is a living Man, still as much a man as you, and still as much God as He was when he created the world, really coming and interfering with your very self; killing the old natural self in you and replacing it with the kind of self He has.

 After reading this in a friend's post and praying the above mentioned prayer, I waited on Jesus to start this work in me. I came to realize that He had already been at work on me; it's just that I've been unyielding, just like bad clay that needs to be thrown away. But, instead of throwing the bad clay out, Jesus adds water and starts to work on it again. The water of the Word starts to soften me and I become yielding, yielding to the hands of Jesus. There is significant importance of reading His Word and it isn't just memorization, but the actual sitting down and concentrating on each word.

Before, when I would read the Bible, I would read it at random and hope that something would help. It didn't always help and the verses I read weren't of any significance to the day or circumstances at hand. No matter, it was still important to read it when I did. It was just me sitting on the fence of lukewarmness. I wanted to be a slave of God, but I didn't want to let go of the world and it's pleasures. So, I just straddled the barbed wire fence and it hurt me more than anything else, in fact, Jesus had the pleasure of spitting me out for I was worth nothing to Him. But, thank God! He still loves me despite that and He gives me a chance to yield to Him. I finally have stopped looking for myself or trying to define who I am with the things or my status in this world. I am already defined by God and there is a real name waiting for me in Heaven that defines exactly who I am. The only status God requires of me in this world is that of a lowly servant filled with humility. Even then, if I were to become a ruler of some sort, either President of the U.S. or a large company, I am still required to put on the humility of a lowly servant; it would not have been I myself, but God, that exalted me, either here on earth by status or in heaven, in my humility. The greatest (and upright) leaders are also humble servants.

But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:12 NLT)

But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but favors the humble." (James 4:6 NLT)

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. (James 4:10 NLT)

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. (1 Peter 5:6 NLT)

Through my transformation, I ask the Lord daily to walk with me and to remind me each time I need to check myself and my reaction to circumstances and see that it is pride in play. By no means is my pride gone, nope. Not close. I still carry a bit of weight around, but it is less than when I was not in walking communion with God. I ask in my daily walk that I exercise more humility! I ask the Lord to humble me because I have exalted myself, made myself a little higher or a lot higher than others around me.

Sometimes when I think of doing good deeds or helping others in time of need or support, thoughts flash across my mind. These thoughts are sometimes of myself being exalted through my own eyes and through the eyes of others because I do these good deeds. It must not be so. Some people, including myself, are at fault for going and looking for good deeds to do so they may be exalted in the eyes of others. This is not the purpose of practicing humility, neither is it humility! It could be martyr's syndrome. I won't go into detail on that, though. The Scriptures above say to humble yourselves first, and you will be exalted. God will bring others to me and to you, He will bring opportunities to you, the Holy Spirit will nudge you to take action and help someone in need, Jesus will speak through you. Only God can and will exalt a humble man and though your exaltation may not be a rank of higher position in an earthly job, but you will be exalted to a very high position in God's eyes and in heaven. That matters more than anything else on earth and you will have respect as a humble man here on earth. I want that. I don't want a high rank at my job because I fought my way there or I thought I was better at some tasks than others. I just want to serve the company and give them what they want provided it isn't contrary to any of God's laws. If I am projected to a higher rank, so be it. I shall serve in my position with humility and serve my boss and co-workers and God will take care of the rest.

Let God deal with you. He only asks you to be humble. A question: How am I to conquer this pride? The answer is simple. Two things. Do what God says is your work: Humble yourself. Trust Him to do what He says is His work: He will exalt you. You can read the excerpt to this question by clicking the link above.

Appreciate a little humor.

So, yes, Jesus has been working with me, on me, and through me. I am a different person today and I continue to let Jesus do His work. It is taking time. I have to consciously think about God and about doing His will. I must obey Him, even when someone would ask me to do something that is against His will. It may cost. Loss or life. I know I'm for God and I will always have Him or be with Him. I have not really run into a situation like that as of yet, but I may. I know the choice I will make. I fear no loss or death. This kind of thinking needs to become a part of life, a good habit. I mustn't let negative thoughts take a dominant place in my mind. The devil loves to throw thoughts like that into my mind and I must battle them, push them aside. Sometimes I can get selfish and I feel like I just want to go Home and be done with the chaos on earth. But God put me here to finish a job, just as He did Jesus. Even Jesus wanted the cup of suffering to be taken away, but He only asked that God's will be done. God's will in Jesus' life had the higher priority.

Pride is the easiest way for the devil to tempt people and it rears an ugly face. I must keep going forward in humility, die to self and live. I am asking God to show me anything that I need to fix, any restitutions, and any walls I need to break down. I want it all fixed now, but it can't be. It takes time. I place my trust in God and continue to walk with Him.

Lord, I ask you to walk with me today and to show me where I need to go and what to do. Thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Only your will matters and the only requirement you have of me is to be a humble servant, filled with humility. Please continue to give me power with Jesus' blood to have victory over struggles and pride. Amen.

Sanctification

I just had to write something about a moving sermon my pastor preached on Sunday night, March 25th. I have a copy of his notes and I've studied and highlighted it. I'll post a few Scriptures about sanctification before expanding on it.

19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. Romans 6:19, 22 NLT

1 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. 2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT

24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God -- truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:24 NLT

13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 NLT

 7 God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 NLT

10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they know how. But God's discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in holiness. 14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Hebrews 12:10, 14 NLT

     The above Scripture teaches us that the standard of life for the believer in Christ is holiness. Holiness by sanctification is the second work of grace where the first is when we believe on Jesus Christ and we are saved by grace through faith. The second work of grace is implied; it isn't listed as "second work of grace" anywhere in Scripture. We can also prove that it is the second work of grace because those who experience it, know it. It makes a difference to be sanctified.

It does. I know it. I know it makes a difference. I see things from a different light, through the eyes of God. The world is a nasty place. My own body is nasty. I am also but still a nasty, filthy rag in the eyes of a perfect God, but I am made perfect through the cleansing of the blood of Christ. God looks upon me through the filter of Jesus Christ and sees a perfect heart. And I relinquish control of myself to God. I don't want my own body or desires anymore. My struggles, my past, my future is all under the blood of Christ.

     Some say it isn't required to be sanctified to get to heaven. Being saved is enough. Perhaps that may be so when one is on the death bed or breathes a last breath of prayer of confession and asking forgiveness. Even the thief next to Jesus made it home to heaven with no chance of living a sanctified life. He simply believed on Jesus and who He was.

     It isn't about what is required to get to heaven, but rather about the will of God and what He calls us to do. That is what is required for us to get to heaven. When we are saved and before we are sanctified, we are to do the will of God and being sanctified, or separated from the world, is the will of God. It is the will of God for one to be saved AND sanctified. There is no getting around it, no compromise. One does not compromise with God. We may bargain with God, but we cannot compromise.

One doesn't compromise with God.

     If you have seen the sanctified life in someone else, don't you want it for yourself too? I get so tired of battling the desires of the world and the lusts of the flesh. It just wears me out. Feeling saved one day and feeling fallen the next day. Feelings are so fickle. Being saved puts you on a roller coaster. The devil plays so many tricks on you, discouraging you and pulling you in all directions, until you reach despair at times. The Holy Spirit does dwell in you, but you haven't given full control to Him. The worldly desires are still there. The lusts are still there. It's a battle after battle. At least it was for me. I wanted complete VICTORY!

     Alas! I have found the victory! I relinquish complete control to the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God. It makes a difference! My walk with Jesus is that much easier. I'm no longer riding a roller coaster. There are a few bumps here and there and a few ups and downs, of course, but the spiritual life is more stable. The desires have changed and I want nothing of this world and more of the next. I want nothing more than to see more people won to Jesus. I want nothing more than to grow closer to God and to do the will of God. I want to be in His will. I realize that I have more work to do and I am determined to spend time in prayer and reading the Bible. I have this thing called pride. I feel that I still have it lurking around in me and it is preventing me from complete humility. I need to go to people and ask forgiveness, make amends, apologize, whatever it is that the Spirit nudges me to do but I am balking a little. Well, maybe not a little. It depends on who I have to go to. Some people, I could probably just walk up to them and just get it over with and be in the clear in my conscious, and others, it's not so easy. Why? I don't know. Pride prevents it. It's gonna need to be taken care of...I don't want to straddle my precious balls on the wire fence as shown below. It isn't without pain and Jesus Himself will spit out the lukewarm. That's painful. So, I gotta pick a side. Guess which one I pick.

    
     So it's all for God or not at all. It's either play with the fire of lukewarmness and get yourself hurt or use the fire in a good way and purify your life. Burn your desires for the world and what it offers. Fuel your desires for ministry and humble service for God.

I elect Jesus as Lord of me. I will answer to Him.

    

 *I understand that I may stumble, but God will be there to pick me up.

*I understand that I may find myself in a tempting situation, but I shall be strong.

If I do fail to be strong and I give in, I humbly ask God to forgive me and any hurting parties.

*I understand that grace flows freely, but it does not give me any excuse to sin.

*I understand that I am free from sin, not in sin. I am also free from the law.

*I understand that I am not my own, but God's. 

*I understand that He gave His creation to me and I will take care of it.

*I understand that there are many who need Him and it is my job to bring them to Him.

That, on my part, will take courage and humility. Like Jeremiah and Moses, I pray

God will work through me and speak through me. Plant the seeds.

*I understand that I am in a binding contract to fulfill my purpose here on earth and 

that His will be done here as it is in Heaven, my future home. 

*I understand that I would never have written these things a year ago and if I did, it

would have been all hot air from stifling embers.

*I understand that I am now accountable. I understand that anyone can read this

and that it is possible that I will see these people face to face. I do not want 

to fail to be an example or to fail, but it's possible. It's what grace is for

and that's where humility comes in. If I have failed, I shall ask for 

forgiveness and take hold of God's hand again. It's always there, outstretched.

*I understand that I must put in my effort to keep the fire blazing hot for God.

I DO NOT want to be spat out. 

Now, I understand that I need to close for now and go. I have had this open as a draft for a week. It's time to wrap it up!

Praise the Lord! Just in time for Easter! I can now truly, truly understand what God has done for me and what His Son gave Himself for. Me. All for me! 

Oh, and for YOU too. Isn't that wonderful? 

Come to Him.

Love you all.

Stanley

What I realized about myself after Justice Ride

In my previous post, I mentioned that I hoped that my life will be changed after I completed my trip with Created Equal, a pro-life activist group. I can attest to this. I did not realize the impact this trip would have on me until I had been home for a few hours. It was overwhelming. I communicated with God for a while and I felt a sense of peace wash over me. I cried. I prayed. I praised God from my heart. I totally opened up and let God have me. I am His. I am not my own.

I’ve had to admit a few things to God and make confessions. I had to take complete responsibility for my wrong choices and actions. I have been blaming, either directly or in my mind, people in my life for the wrong choices I’ve made. This has to stop. It is affecting my relationships with people I love and the creation of new relationships.

 I will never be whole and I will never reach the complete manhood every man so desires if I continue to live in “adolescence”. This adolescence I speak of is the fantasy world a man lives in where he does not take responsibility for his actions and continues to chase after things that may only temporarily please himself and where he thinks he knows everything and is right about everything, never taking advice or constructive criticism from elders, children, (Yes, children. We fail so many times to see through the eyes of children), wives, best friends, co-workers, and our bosses and ultimately, God. I draw a few of these facts from a book I am currently reading, Fatherhood Aborted, written by Guy Condon and co-author David Hazard, pages 25-26 (?). I recommend this book to men, whether post-abortive or not.

Man was created to have intimate relationship with God. Man was also created to have intimate relationships with our fellow beings, women and men both. Man, for the most part, has failed in this area. Man in America and other developed countries has been taught to hold emotions in a sealed package, to carry secrets and burdens on his shoulders, to prevent others from seeing into himself, to not share any of these feelings, burdens and secrets with others. Man is taught to just be the stereotypical (emotionless and adventure-less) man, to tough it out, to not cry, to not share, to pursue only the things in life that will make him a better man in the eyes of the world and other men. Man is either tyrannical (sense of control) over his family or intimidated (sense of failure) by his wife and children, failing to set his foot down and taking up his Biblical responsibility to be a leader who is a servant as well. Bottom line, man thinks he has failed God and that he can never restore his relationship with the people in his life and with God. The devil works diligently to discourage man and to make him think he is nothing more than a stumbling block to himself and others, destined to fail again and again.

Last month, I posted that I prayed to Jesus that he would come into my heart and go straight into the wounds I have in there and I will meet him there. I asked for a new beginning, for healing, for divine inspiration to a path to wholeness, to manhood. No, our sexuality and associated endowment or the lack of or sexual prowess do not define our true manhood, though our sexuality is powerful & potent and affects many areas of our lives. I wanted to be the man Jesus himself was. He was lowly, humble, lived a life of compassion, and was a servant to the people he lead. Yes, a leader is one who is a servant, the one and the same. I do not see myself as a leader (a huge leap of faith here), but I know I can become a better servant. My pride prevents many of these things. I hate it so much. I hate my pride. I hate it. It prevents me from complete humility. I have to get rid of it and it will take a conscious effort to do it. Many negative thoughts, such as anger, envy, jealousy, and pride come into my mind involuntarily and I must make a habit of thinking on the good thoughts of forgiveness, generosity, compassion, and humility at ALL times to counter these negative thoughts. They are the work of the devil. I ask for the grace of God and power to help me with this.

Now, having said this, I have a burden lifted off of my shoulders. I basically got rid of more of my pride when two different people, a man and a young woman came to me last week during my trip. As I was talking to them, the subject shifted to my faith and my walk with God. The young man at the University of Florida questioned me about my faith and my belief that God existed. The young woman at the University of Central Florida, Grace was her name, questioned me about what I defined as true repentance and whether I knew and practiced the Great Commission (Ezekiel 3:18-21). I had to admit that I did not know the Great Commission, though I had heard of it and that I did not practice this. I had only merely tried to be a witness through my actions and I have failed in this area. My actions have not very often been void of carnal reactions to situations. I was quick to anger, quick to blame others, quick to sulk when I did not get my way, and quick to negative thoughts that affected every area of my life. Realization began to dawn on me as I was reading Fatherhood Aborted (I have never participated in an abortion of a child. I read this book to understand so I can help others.), that I must take responsibility and to stop letting my carnal flesh control me. I must turn my carnality over to God and be accountable to God. I know full well that He can restore me and make me whole again. I know He will make me a man, His son.   

My faith in God has increased. My prayers were answered last week. He never fails me. I want to get closer to Him through dedication to daily devotion and prayer. I understand the risks of following Jesus, but I am willing to take the risks!!

I need to go. I am going to work on my journal this week and will transfer everything to the blog about the Justice Ride. Check back later this week, if you will.

God bless! Have a wonderful Sunday and week!