REACHING HIGHER BY GETTING LOWER

SCRIPTURE:
Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed 
with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to 
the humble”. 
(1 Peter 5:5b)  
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. 
(James 4:10)

MEDITATION:
When you think of a boss, what thoughts do you have?
Chances are you think of someone with a huge ego 
who is unwilling to listen to those beneath him.
He lacks understanding of everything required to complete a task.

Now, compare those thoughts with the ones you have of a leader.
It’s quite different isn’t it? Bosses boss, but leaders lead.
A leader is someone who is not driven by ego 
but applies a team concept when tackling a project.
The ‘team’ includes the leader, who understands the magnitude of the task.
There is a major difference between bosses and leaders – it’s called humility.

Humility is a virtue that God wants to see in believers.
He loves those who are humble in their thoughts about themselves,
but are lofty in their thoughts about Jesus.
Humility is attainable when we come to know Jesus 
and receive His life-changing power.

When we are humble, we realize that we can accomplish nothing 
without the Spirit of God active and moving through us.
We have to come to the end of ourselves 
in order to give the Lord His rightful place in our lives.

Becoming humble defies everything 
the world tries to teach us about being our own person.
However it puts us into a favorable relationship with the Trinity.
As a result, we receive God’s grace and the Lord will lift us up!
We are never lifted up until we are cast down before Him.

If God resists the proud, then by default He embraces the humble.
Our egos must go, and self must be destroyed 
in order for God to lift us up for His service and calling. 
God is not interested in our flesh, He is interested 
in our spirit person being totally dedicated to Him.
He is interested in the natural person being in subjection to the things of God. 

The world may view us as being at our lowest position, 
but the good news is, this is when God lifts us up.
I think we could all agree that being lifted up by God 
surpasses (by a large margin) being lifted up by the world.

Humility makes it possible for us to have a desire to do God’s Will, 
and to take no personal pride in what we do, but instead, 
we give Him all the glory for our accomplishments. 

ACTION:
Wouldn’t you like to receive God’s grace and be lifted up by Jesus?
Have you lowered yourself in the eyes of the world 
so the Lord can lift you up?
Have you humbled yourself?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promise of grace to those 
who are humble. Help me to set aside my selfishness, egotism, 
and arrogant pride so that I can become humble and receive Your 
grace. Thank You Jesus for Your promise to lift up those who are 
humble in Your sight. You know if we are truly humble or not. Help 
me to be humble in Your sight so that I can be lifted up by You. I 
know that when you are lifting me up, I can get through anything that 
tries to bring me down. Teach me to die to myself so that I can answer 
Your call to service.”