"Pride or Humility? Distant From God or Close to God?" (Charles Spurgeon's Sermon on Humility) - Inspirational Weekend

"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility."  -  Proverbs 18:12

Believe me, I know how to spell "honor", but the above Scripture is from the King James Version of the Bible and they spelled some words differently back then than we do now.   But more than being able to spell honor, do we know how to live a life of honor ......to bring honor and glory to our Lord?

Let me say up front, that some of my blog posts here are triggered by what happens to me personally; I look up Scriptures and information on the subject to help myself in whatever area I am having difficulty in and then I realize it is good information to post here.   So what about pride ?   It is something that affects us all from time to time.   We have to be on guard because our adversary the devil is seeking to devour us; to influence us for the bad.   Remember, pride was satan's downfall; he wanted to be equal to God or to put God entirely out of the picture; the devil thought more highly of himself than he should have and exalted himself above the Lord God Almighty.   Is it any surprise that satan would try to bring about a person's downfall by inflating that person with pride?  As Christians we do not want to imitate the devil but instead to follow and imitate Jesus Christ.   Most of you are thinking, "Well, that's a no-brainer!"   But pride can sneak up on you without you realizing it for what it is.   If you feel proud of your humility, then you are not humble.

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."  -  1 John 2:16

Below is a song about the "poison of pride"; it is a prayer to God for deliverance.

One way to avoid the sin of pride, besides prayer, is to remind yourself that all you are and all you may have is a gift from God;  even your very salvation is a gift from our Creator.   Who are we to exalt ourselves above anyone or anything ?!!  We are but dust and our life is like a mist, which soon disappears.   Another way to avoid pride is to spend time in serving others, especially the poor and the infirm and those who cannot help themselves.   Jesus is speaking here at Matthew 23:11-12,   "But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant;   And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. "   

"A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and of course, as long as you're looking down you can't see something that's above you."  -  C. S. Lewis

"But He giveth more grace.  Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.  Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." -       James 4:6-7

"Though the LORD be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly:  but the proud he knoweth afar off."  -  Psalm 138:6

So if God seems far away from you and your fellowship with Him is now broken, ask yourself if the reason might be the sin of pride.   

Following is a wonderful song titled "Who Am I"  :

As we all know, humility is the opposite of pride. Humility has been described as "a prominent Christian grace.  It is a state of mind well pleasing to God; it preserves the soul in tranquility and makes us patient under trials."

Remember, even Jesus was humble.   "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."  -  Mark 10:45 .    As followers of Christ, we should imitate His humility, in all sincerity and with a pure heart.   "And being found in fashion as a man, He (Jesus) humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. "

-  Philippians 2:8

One of the hindrances to humility is the fact that most people want to feel in control of everything.  That sometimes includes spouses, which can lead to big trouble.   The key is to surrender all to God and Jesus because, after all, He is the only one in absolute control of everything.   Pray for Him to teach you how to surrender all to Him; to guide you in the choices you make and in everyday affairs.  It is really your choice to be distant from God or to be close to Him .    

Below is a 4 part sermon on humility by Charles H. Spurgeon.  Each part is only about 11 minutes long, so the entire sermon is around 45 minutes.   It is well worth the time to listen to it.

"By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life."  -  Proverbs 22:4

"Time Heals All Wounds - Or Does It?" - Inspirational Weekend

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."  -  Romans 8:18

True believers realize and hope for the time when we will be in heaven with the Lord and "...God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away."  Revelation 21:4

Just contemplating on that verse makes you feel good and gives you hope and patience to endure various trials here on earth right now.    But what if the emotional or physical pain seems impossible to overcome ?  Or to endure?  What if the hurt and the reason for the hurt keeps playing over and over in your mind......even years after it first occurred?   "Time heals all wounds". so the saying goes, right?    Or, as some would say, "Time will tell" when we cannot comprehend the outcome of a situation.    

When I was in my senior year in high school,  I wrote an essay titled "Time Heals No Wounds".  It was rather negative in content as I was going through (and had previously gone through) some very difficult and heartbreaking times at that young age.   My English teacher liked the essay, however, and insisted that I read it in front of the class, to my horror, as I was extremely shy about things like that.    I did as she asked, and kept that essay for several years and then it got lost in moving to another state.   

My relationship with the Lord has grown and He has "renewed my mind" (Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:23) in these latter years of my life.   However, time may not heal all wounds, but it can make the memory of past hurts dull with time, if you will let it and not be bitter and resentful and nurse the hurt for years and not let go of it.    Forgiveness is the key.   Actually, the good Lord is the key!

"Leave the broken, irreversible past in God's hands, and step out into the invincible future with God."

- Oswald Chambers.

"God uses broken things.  It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength.   It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume.  It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever."  - Vance Havner

So if you are broken, God can still use you.   You can use your experience to help others in their afflictions; to share your faith of how, if God can help you,  He can help them as well.   God can heal our broken hearts.   Psalm 147:3 says,  "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds."  It is God's great and merciful love that heals us.   If you focus on God and Jesus and pray about your situation, you are taking positive action towards leaving the brokenheartedness behind you.   

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:  but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."  -  Philippians 3:13-14

Following is a song for the broken hearted.  Just pretend it is God speaking in the verses.

We must also remember that sometimes God uses heartbreak and afflictions to shape and mold us and teach us some lessons.....the number one lesson is that we turn to Him in prayer and in total surrender to Him and to His will.   Hardships and trials and heartache will cause us to look to God for help and guidance.   God is our Healer, the Master Physician.   If we handle suffering God's way, we bear witness to the Lord more so than we could have otherwise.  Remember the apostle Paul's thorn in the flesh :  "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."            -  2 Corinthians 12:9      Whatever Paul's thorn in the flesh was,  God still powerfully used Paul.   

"Afflictions, though they seem severe, in mercy oft are sent."  -  Unknown

A few months ago, I painted a landscape scene from one of my reference photos, which is shown below:

This is the reference photograph I took of Wind River in Dubois, Wyoming.  I titled the finished painting  "Brokenness Amid Beauty."   The brokenness of course refers to the broken log in the foreground.    Our life can still be beautiful, despite some brokenness in it from time to time.   Keep a close relationship with God and Jesus and you then can always see the sunshine poking through the dark clouds.

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:  but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken."  -       Proverbs 15:13

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."  -  Romans 8:28

"A Sound Mind Amidst All The Turmoil" - Inspirational Weekend

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"This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all; yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil,  and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead."  -  Ecclesiastes 9:3  (KJV)

That is not starting this weekend post on a very joyous note, but stay with me because I am leading up to something good!   The New American Standard Bible says of the same verse, "....full of evil and insanity in  their hearts..."    In other words, to think and do evil is insanity;  sin is insanity.  Yet the same stubborn, habitual, hardened sinners call Christians mad and crazy for their beliefs.   The insanity spoken of in Ecclesiastes  is moral, that of the heart.  By the heart here is meant the will -  a person's voluntary power.  "The conduct of impenitent men is the perfection of irrationality."

Because punishment for their sins seems to be delayed, it only encourages them to more wrongdoing, as stated in Ecclesiastes 8:11.   God is patient and at times delays punishing the sinner because He is long-suffering and does not wish any to perish  (2 Peter 3:9)

As for true believers, 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  That is pretty positive !   A sound mind from God, a mind focused on Him and Jesus and good works and holy conduct.   Believers may not be perfect, as they still occasionally sin, but they repent and are "washed in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ."  

It has been said that if you can keep your wits about you when everyone else is losing theirs, then you do not have a complete understanding of the situation.   That should not be true of Christians and followers of Christ.   We know the world has gone crazy and is full of violence, wars, crime, crooked and evil governments, and the threat also of global economic collapse.   But we have a blessed hope, and know what the future holds for us later in eternity.   We can weather the storm now because of our faith and because of God's promises.   

"And there shall be signs in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken................And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh."

Luke 21:25,26,28

A hymn that fits here and that encourages me follows:

Yes, the world situation is explosive right now; but things are not falling apart, they are falling into place.   Bible prophecy teaches you that.   Many Bible prophecies are being fulfilled all at once now in these last days; and at an accelerated pace, a convergence, if you will. as I have stated previously  here  and also at this post  

Read and study God's Word, pray without ceasing; it will build your faith and also enable you to have a close, personal, and intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ.   And filling your mind with good things and God's Word has the bonus of God giving you a sound mind.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all things; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  -  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."  - Romans 12:2

"Reasons To Pray and Charles Spurgeon's Sermon on Prayer" - Inspirational Weekend

Someone once said, "Prayer is the highest use to which speech can be put."  That is true, but prayer goes so much deeper and heartfelt prayer draws you closer to God.  It is communication with the Almighty God; you acknowledge Him and thereby give Him credit and honor that is due Him.   If you never talked with your spouse about anything, the relationship would suffer and eventually die.  The same is true where the LORD is concerned; if we never communicate with Him in prayer, there is no relationship with Him, no closeness.   Charles Spurgeon said, "A prayerless soul is a Christless  soul."    Without Christ, you will never have eternal life in heaven.   You will never be able to have a close, personal, intimate relationship with God the Father, because Jesus is our advocate to/with God.  "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.  And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."  - 1 John 2:1

Someone may say, "I don't know how to pray."   Jesus gave us an example to follow at Matthew 6, called "The Lord's Prayer".   Below is a video with blind artist Andrea Bocelli singing a beautiful rendition of the Lord's Prayer.

One of the reasons we pray is to make our requests known to God.   Sadly, sometimes that is the only way we pray.   We should pray to draw close to God,  to give Him thanks in all things. to intercede for others, and of course to confess our sins to Him, repent, and ask for His forgiveness.  If you notice in the Psalms, often a Psalm will begin with moaning and groaning and complaining, but as the attention is focused on the LORD, the Psalm will end in praise to Him and in thanksgiving.   So prayer can help clear out all the garbage in our minds and life as we focus on God.  It is important to pray in Jesus' name, however.  Sometimes we may think God will not listen to us or answer our prayers, but rest assured he does listen and, more than that, He always listens to His Son.   

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."  -  John 14:13-14

We need to pray to find out what God's will is, and to ask for discernment.  To find that out, we need to spend time "listening" to what God says.   That happens when we read the Bible, because it is, after all, God's Word.   Listening to God happens when we spend quiet time with Him, and we can "hear" a small, quiet voice within our soul  that we will know is God speaking by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.   It may direct us to a Scripture, or prod us into an action the LORD wants us to take.

"God does nothing except in response to believing prayer."  -  John Wesley.   We need to have faith and believe that God will answer our prayers, because without faith it is impossible to please God as stated in Hebrews 11:6.  Keep in mind that you need to pray in agreement with God's will for Him to answer your prayers.   God is sovereign and knows what is best for you; He has plans for you, if you are a true believer, and He will not answer a prayer of yours that goes contrary to His plans and His will for you.  

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."  -  Romans 8:26-27

Below is an excellent sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon, a Baptist preacher who lived in the 1800's and who is known as the "Prince of Preachers."  The sermon is about pleading prayers.

Prayer is Powerful !!