God Giveth Grace To The Humble

I Peter 5:5

If we read the whole verse, we find that ". . . God resisteth the proud,. . .".

Humble, humbled, humbly, humility, and humiliation" are mentioned some 72 times in the Old & New Testaments. Unquestionably, as we read some of the passages, it is an important matter for a Christian to ponder. The natural inclination of the flesh is to be proud. Some other factors such as education, wealth and genealogy can foster natural pride into an unacceptable level.

There are ways in which folk are "humbled". This is usually a heart wrenching experience. In the case of when the Lord by His Spirit convicts a sinner of his sin, so he will repent, it's done as the result of love and in view of glorious salvation. Depending on the person under conviction, it may be short or long in duration. The one who rebels to the end will surely be humbled by judgment as they are cast ". . . into the lake of fire.", Revelation 20:15.

One may becomed humble as the Lord deals with him di- rectly, or thru His servants. Sinner, you may be 'in good hands' with that insurance company; but you are 'in better hands' with a loving God.

One of the 'tell tale' indications that we need to humble ourselves is when our conversation seems to be well punctuated with the "Big I". Another might be when we draw attention to our good deeds, on recurring occasions. A principle is seen in Matthew 6:1, as Jesus tells us to beware of actions done "to be seen of them". If we do it to be seen of men, we notice how it will cancel any reward that the Father would normally give.

One of the marks of a mature saint is to be humble (and that doesn't mean being weak). It does mean we realize our weakness and God's strength. Let us, you and I, both let Him give us grace, as being an humble receiver. DDH