A day (or two) late. That's what you get when you misremember what you clearly thought you remembered. Good thing this week is all about the outward disciplines, which includes submission, which is at its root humility. The other three are simplicity, solitude and service. You are welcome to post your thoughts on any or all of those disciplines. I will be focusing on submission and that will be the main thrust of this week's message (although the others might be tossed in there as well, since they are for the most part all based on humility). Watch here for more posts as I humbly seek to catch up!
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before[a] me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." (Exodus 20:2-4)
In my own experience most of us do not worship "other gods" in the sense that we have a statue out back we bow down to when the moon is full that no one knows about. No, most of us vacillate between worshiping the one true God and the one we find in our bathroom mirror. We think we can do and have it all, and all under our own strength. Unfortunately that is not the case and ruling ourselves never ends well. The Lord tried to warn the Israelites about that, and we all know how well that went. He tries to warn us about that too, but He knows us as well as He knew the Israelites these commandments were first given to, so He gives us a way out. When we catch ourselves bowing down to our own image, the Lord of hosts invites us (and the Israelites of old) to humble ourselves and “return to [God], and [He] will return to you,” The outward disciplines we will look at this week all revolve around humility, as I noted above. The beginning of humility is to know that we are not God and to resist the temptation to act as if we are. How are you doing when it comes to resisting that temptation today?
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” (Matthew 26:36)
As the time for Jesus' death drew near, He sought solitude with the Father in order to pray. Even though He prayed alone, the twelve were asked to support Him in His prayer...to "keep watch" with Him. During that prayer Jesus humbled Himself before the Father, asking that the cup be taken from Him if possible. But it was not possible; the sacrifice of God's only Son was the only means through which all who belong to the Lord could be saved. When we struggle with our own temptations and difficulties, the discipline of solitude can help us to draw near to God and humbly seek His help. Drawing away from the noise that surrounds us, from the electronic devices which would consume our every waking moment, we are able to speak to and hear from God more clearly. Take a moment or two today to spend with the Father, that you might better hear His voice.
James 4:7- 10 Essence of submission is humility 7 Therefore submit to God: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Exodus 20:2- 4 Submission is to worship God alone 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
Psalm 110 Honor promised to Christ subsequent to His Submission The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 4 The LORD has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
Matthew 26:36-46 Christ’s ultimate submission to the Father’s will “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
In Matthew 26:36-46 Jesus evinces all of the disciplines we're looking at this week (submission, simplicity, solitude and service). Submission was outlined in Dr. Vic's post above and I mentioned solitude in an earlier post. But we also see simplicity in the sense that Jesus lived a life founded on simplicity. There was nothing "extra" in His life. There were no trappings of power or success. Instead, Jesus did what needed to be done in the simplest, most direct way possible. We also see service, for Jesus was preparing to go to the cross in order to save those who belong to Him from their sins. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. We are Jesus' friends, and through His acts of submission, solitude, simplicity and service we have been saved.
Submit yourselves, then, to God...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:7, 10)
Here is the essence of what we have been considering all week. We should also remember that when we submit to God, we submit to the One who seeks the best for us. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) In this world we will serve someone; we will submit to someone. But the Lord alone always, without fail, wants what is best for us. Given that we will submit, it is best to submit to the One who is gentle and humble in heart.
"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom." (James 4:8-9)
I wouldn't want you to think that I stole a base on the last post. There are a couple of verses between 7 and 10 which we should consider in context. James reminds us that the Lord seeks humility from His people. We must be willing to recognize that our sin separates us from God. The Lord cleanses us from sin, but He also calls us to live a life of grateful obedience in response. We must repent of our sin...turn from our sin and turn toward God, conforming our will to His so that we might not continue in sin. Hebrews 10:26 tells us "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left." The "in between" verses simply emphasize the need for us to humbly submit to God so that we can be freed from and remain free from sin.
Good morning and good Sabbath. See you at worship, where we will worship the One of whom the Lord says, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
A day (or two) late. That's what you get when you misremember what you clearly thought you remembered. Good thing this week is all about the outward disciplines, which includes submission, which is at its root humility. The other three are simplicity, solitude and service. You are welcome to post your thoughts on any or all of those disciplines. I will be focusing on submission and that will be the main thrust of this week's message (although the others might be tossed in there as well, since they are for the most part all based on humility). Watch here for more posts as I humbly seek to catch up!
ReplyDelete“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before[a] me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." (Exodus 20:2-4)
ReplyDeleteIn my own experience most of us do not worship "other gods" in the sense that we have a statue out back we bow down to when the moon is full that no one knows about. No, most of us vacillate between worshiping the one true God and the one we find in our bathroom mirror. We think we can do and have it all, and all under our own strength. Unfortunately that is not the case and ruling ourselves never ends well. The Lord tried to warn the Israelites about that, and we all know how well that went. He tries to warn us about that too, but He knows us as well as He knew the Israelites these commandments were first given to, so He gives us a way out. When we catch ourselves bowing down to our own image, the Lord of hosts invites us (and the Israelites of old) to humble ourselves and “return to [God], and [He] will return to you,” The outward disciplines we will look at this week all revolve around humility, as I noted above. The beginning of humility is to know that we are not God and to resist the temptation to act as if we are. How are you doing when it comes to resisting that temptation today?
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” (Matthew 26:36)
ReplyDeleteAs the time for Jesus' death drew near, He sought solitude with the Father in order to pray. Even though He prayed alone, the twelve were asked to support Him in His prayer...to "keep watch" with Him. During that prayer Jesus humbled Himself before the Father, asking that the cup be taken from Him if possible. But it was not possible; the sacrifice of God's only Son was the only means through which all who belong to the Lord could be saved. When we struggle with our own temptations and difficulties, the discipline of solitude can help us to draw near to God and humbly seek His help. Drawing away from the noise that surrounds us, from the electronic devices which would consume our every waking moment, we are able to speak to and hear from God more clearly. Take a moment or two today to spend with the Father, that you might better hear His voice.
James 4:7- 10 Essence of submission is humility
ReplyDelete7 Therefore submit to God: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Exodus 20:2- 4 Submission is to worship God alone
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
Psalm 110 Honor promised to Christ subsequent to His Submission
The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 4 The LORD has sworn And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
Matthew 26:36-46 Christ’s ultimate submission to the Father’s will
“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
In Matthew 26:36-46 Jesus evinces all of the disciplines we're looking at this week (submission, simplicity, solitude and service). Submission was outlined in Dr. Vic's post above and I mentioned solitude in an earlier post. But we also see simplicity in the sense that Jesus lived a life founded on simplicity. There was nothing "extra" in His life. There were no trappings of power or success. Instead, Jesus did what needed to be done in the simplest, most direct way possible. We also see service, for Jesus was preparing to go to the cross in order to save those who belong to Him from their sins. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. We are Jesus' friends, and through His acts of submission, solitude, simplicity and service we have been saved.
ReplyDeleteSubmit yourselves, then, to God...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:7, 10)
ReplyDeleteHere is the essence of what we have been considering all week. We should also remember that when we submit to God, we submit to the One who seeks the best for us. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) In this world we will serve someone; we will submit to someone. But the Lord alone always, without fail, wants what is best for us. Given that we will submit, it is best to submit to the One who is gentle and humble in heart.
"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom." (James 4:8-9)
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want you to think that I stole a base on the last post. There are a couple of verses between 7 and 10 which we should consider in context. James reminds us that the Lord seeks humility from His people. We must be willing to recognize that our sin separates us from God. The Lord cleanses us from sin, but He also calls us to live a life of grateful obedience in response. We must repent of our sin...turn from our sin and turn toward God, conforming our will to His so that we might not continue in sin. Hebrews 10:26 tells us "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left." The "in between" verses simply emphasize the need for us to humbly submit to God so that we can be freed from and remain free from sin.
Good morning and good Sabbath. See you at worship, where we will worship the One of whom the Lord says, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
ReplyDelete