Blessings Through Humility - 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

    Humility commonly gets a bad rap. Too often it is incorrectly defined as weak, indecisive,
uncertain, and powerless. Humility is much greater than those paltry descriptions. True humility brings with it rewards that cannot be imagined, let alone be obtained, by any other method. “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.” - Proverbs 22:4. But we must not misconstrue what ‘riches’ means. We are not promised prosperity by the proverb or anywhere else in the Bible. Its meaning manifests itself in a more spiritually reverent life.
    Imagine the honor we would show our parents if we were humble toward them. We would respect humanity showing no strife, or anger, or violence. We would never engage in adultery or sexual sin. We would respect what belongs to our neighbor, never stealing what is rightfully theirs. We would never suffer the consequences of untruthfulness. And we would never show envy or jealousy. We would truly be living according to the second greatest commandment - “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” - Philippians 2:3. Would this not be treating others as we want to be treated? Can we even imagine a world where all mankind displayed such humility?
    We know that we live in a fallen world simply by introspection in our own lives, dealing with other humans, watching the news, or simply considering the history of this world. Paul speaks to us in Galatians - “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” - Galatians 5:19-21. To each of the fallen behaviors that Paul lists, all could be avoided by practicing humility because these are all sins of pride and true humility conquers pride!
    We are fooling no one, least of all, God, when we imply that we have no moral compass for our worldly behavior. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8. God truly loves a humble heart. There is almost no better definition of a Godless person than one who is ruled by his pride.“Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” - Proverbs 16:5. God abhors pride in the strongest sense.
    The world we live in demands that we respond to every slight with a slap, every slap with a punch, and every punch with a kick but is that really how we are to show wisdom, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness? We know how Christ told us to respond to insult. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:38-39.
    Humility is the pathway to peace and tranquility. We show our knowledge and understanding through our humility And without it, all we will ever experience is hostility, friction, and discord. “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” - Proverbs 11:2.
    The blessings associated with humility will only come to us if we are indeed truly humble and never while we are consumed with our worldly pride.

Doctrine Must Divide - Romans 16:17-18

    
 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. - Romans 16:17-18

    Truth, for it to actually be the truth, must divide itself from the lie. Commingling the truth with error will always end up in more error. The chasm between the two should be as apparent as day is to night. The difference between truth and error should not be obscured by clever articulation, emotion, or falsehood of any kind. This is why doctrine must divide. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” - 1 John 4:1-3
    The current state of Christianity in the 21st Century is rife with distortion, leading the faithful into misjudgment and confusion. Every conceivable lie is perpetrated. From the health-wealth gospels to the one-dimensional Jesus who preaches nothing but love for all men, even in their sin. These ever-present heresies ignore the perspicuity and evidence of God’s justice, wrath, and judgment. “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine . . .” - 1 Timothy 1:8-10. Those who preach a doctrine different from that of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (the Bible) are preaching heresy.
    Holy Scripture has never promised to be comfortable by the world’s standards. Those who promise comfort, health, and prosperity are not preaching from the Word of God! “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” - 1 Timothy 6:3-5. These are the heretics who preach all manner of ungodliness as ‘the truth,’ against the very Word of God. We have long been warned of such people “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” - 2 Timothy 4:3-4. And we have been given certain instructions regarding them. “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.” - 1 John 10-11.
    There is only one way. As we have been taught, we must be like the faithful Bereans. It is our Christian duty to test the veracity of the Word thru Scripture. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” - Acts 17:11. The Word of God is our litmus test. No church tradition, no Roman papacy, no Apocryphal writing, and no ‘emotional experience’ can or will ever replace the holy doctrines found within God’s revealed Word.
 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Holy Scripture must be the division of God’s true Word from all others so that we may be complete and equipped for every good work.

The ‘Why And What’ Of Our Salvation - Matthew 1:20-21

    
 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” - Matthew 1:20-21

    It is Easter, to most Americans. To some, just another ‘religious holiday.’ To others, a time to hide eggs from the children in the morning and to entertain family and friends with a festive meal in the afternoon. Still, for others in their ‘Sunday best’ and their gaudy ‘Easter bonnets,’ it is often the one day of year they attend church.
    I won’t get into the details of such spiritual mediocrity. What I want to address this fine Spring morning is the reason we recognize the day - the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was, in fact, the only reason Jesus was born at all. “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” - 1 Timothy 1:15.
    To understand this fact we need to know why we need saving and what we need saving ‘from.’
    First of all we need saving because in our natural state we are sinners from birth. If we were to go about our lives indifferent to salvation our lives would prove to be nothing but enmity with God. Proof? Every creature on earth fulfills it’s natural role as God has ordained. Every creature but man. Because of man’s sinful transgressions we need borders, armies, police, courts, jails, fences and doors with locks. No other animal requires such corrective stop gaps because of the transgressions we commit as humans. We must have moral laws to protect us from ourselves.  
    “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” - Romans 1:28-31. Clearly, we can see ourselves in this sinful state if we are honest with ourselves.
    What we need saving from are the wages of our sins, spiritual death - eternity in hell. But ours need not be a lost cause. Hell need not be our eternal judgement because of what Jesus Christ has provided for us. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” - John 3:18.
    There are those who believe that there are many roads to heaven. “Certainly,” they say, “Jesus can’t be the only way to heaven.” Then they rattle off the names of a dozen or so idolatrous religions. But Jesus has already told us in His own words - “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” - John 14:6. Only through Jesus! This is why He came into the world; for this reason and this reason alone: to die for our sins. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11. When we take a moment to reflect upon our lives we come to the realization that not only did Jesus die for our sins but He also rose for our salvation. Happy Resurrection Day!