{"id":18688,"date":"2014-03-25T00:45:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-25T04:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=18688"},"modified":"2014-03-25T00:54:24","modified_gmt":"2014-03-25T04:54:24","slug":"humble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/03\/25\/humble\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Humble"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words. \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p>\n

During this season, here on the\u00a0Seeking Him<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus\u2019 instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 5\u2014the Beatitudes. \u00a0Jesus said, \u201cBlessed are\u2026\u201d and He went on to give instruction as to how to be \u201cblessed<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0To be \u2018blessed\u2019 is to \u2018be happy, or to be envied.\u2019 \u00a0 Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed\u2014oh, how very blessed we are! \u00a0Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed\u2014and that we KNOW it! \u271e \u2665<\/p>\n

Please consider Jesus\u2019 instructions along with us. \u00a0We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection! \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blessed are the meek (those who are humble) for they will inherit the earth.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>
\nMatthew 5:5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The meek<\/strong> <\/em><\/span>are those who are humble<\/span> and submissive<\/span> before God. \u00a0They are more concerned about God\u2019s Word and God\u2019s people than about what might happen to them personally. \u00a0The meek<\/em>, rather than the aggressors, ultimately inherit the earth.<\/p>\n

But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.
\nPsalm 37:11<\/p>\n

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. \u00a0Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.
\nPhilippians 2:3-4<\/p>\n

Humility<\/em> <\/span>is a selfless regard for the needs and desires of others over your own, and maybe even at the expense of your own. \u00a0It is first and foremost looking at others as more important, more worthy, and more significant than yourself. \u00a0Instead of saying \u201cI deserve this,\u201d say \u201cWhy should I deserve this more than someone else?\u201d \u00a0Paul continues on in Philippians 2<\/a> to put Jesus forward as the ultimate example of humility and selfless sacrifice.<\/p>\n

This attitude doesn\u2019t mean we never try to achieve goals, or advance in the world. \u00a0I believe God blesses people with material advancement so that they can be a blessing to others. \u00a0Wealthy Christians and successful Christian businesses are in a position to use their wealth and resources for the advancement of God\u2019s Kingdom, and the nurture and encouragement of the Church. \u00a0So humility<\/em> <\/span>doesn\u2019t mean \u201cnot getting on in the world,\u201d but it dictates how<\/em> we get on\u2014not at the expense of others. \u00a0And, of course, our humility must always be in the context of our relationship with God. \u00a0We must always humbly recognize God\u2019s ways as superior to ours, and accept our place in God\u2019s decrees.<\/p>\n

Another underlying meaning for humble<\/em> <\/span>is \u201cthe oppressed\u201d\u2014i.e., those who have been humbled. \u00a0In this sense, this beatitude mirrors the first (verse 3): the poor in spirit receive the Kingdom of heaven…the humble (or humbled) inherit the earth. \u00a0God promised Abraham that he and his children would be heirs of the world through faith (see Romans 4:13<\/a>), and clearly God had a greater plan than merely the spread of His people over a piece of land. Rather it is the spread of the gospel amongst every tribe, tongue, and nation, where countless numbers of people will receive an eternal inheritance unconstrained by national boundaries.<\/p>\n

Think of it in this way: those who humble themselves before God and embrace the gospel…who then consider others more important than themselves…show their willingness to become servants in obedience to the gospel…will become co-inheritors with Christ of eternal life and the Kingdom of heaven. \u00a0Does that include you?<\/span><\/p>\n

Father, we thank You for the right Word at the right time. \u00a0Make this Word be alive in our hearts. \u00a0Make us conscious of our weaknesses and quick to give credit to You, Father, and others for what we accomplish. \u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name I pray. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[3188,3367,1287,425,1305,1397,1491,5894,5907,5906,5905,3174],"class_list":["post-18688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-ann-mwafulirwa","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-humility","tag-matthew-53","tag-matthew-55","tag-meek-inherit-the-earth","tag-philippians-23-4","tag-psalm-3711","tag-romans-413","tag-seeking-him-devotional","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s39pHp-humble","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18688"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18694,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18688\/revisions\/18694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}