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November 24, 2024
- By Ed Powell
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"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant....He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him."
Philippians 2:5-9
Have you ever asked yourself why you get so upset or offended when someone crosses you or rubs you the wrong way? Have you ever thought how little of the love of Christ we manifest to others, or how indifferent we are to the devastating need of others when they are hurting? How about our hasty criticism and judgment of others when they don't measure up to our standard of conduct? When you stop long enough to think through these selfish actions, you will find they are but the response of the hateful pride that has controlled us. We have yielded to the "pride of life" that has dominated our thoughts and actions. How sad!
How different is the heart that reacts in compassion and kindness, tenderness and meekness, longsuffering and gentleness. These virtues are the fruit of His indwelling that finds expression through our life, because the love of God has its rightful place "enthroned" in our heart. They are the fruit of being humble before God. Peter said, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:6). Our pursuit toward a life of holiness will be in the same proportion as we are clothed in humility.
How awesome was the vision of Isaiah when he "saw the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted up and his train filled the temple." When he heard the seraphim crying one to another..."Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory" He recognized, as never before, the majesty of God, and his immediate response was complete humility. "Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:1-5).
One of our greatest spiritual problems is that we are so occupied with self that we cannot see the King! When we, in a measure, see the King in all His majesty, have a glimpse as to who God is, we will, as Isaiah, recognize the wretchedness of our own selves, bow in humility at the foot of the cross and confess the hateful pride that encompasses our hearts. Only then can the Holy Spirit move fully and freely in our lives to make us what God wants us to be.
Job went through this same encounter and he finally cries out to God, "I have heard thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6). Abraham, Moses, Paul, and all those whom God mightily used had seen the King and their response was all the same. They saw the awfulness of their own sinful pride and self-righteousness and bowed in full surrender to the sovereignty of God.
As long as pride reigns within our hearts, faith is impossible. Faith recognizes our "nothingness" and places unwavering confidence in the all-sufficiency of our Almighty God. O, that we might find our place at the foot of the cross with contrite hearts, laying before Him the sin and wretchedness of our life and receiving from Him the fullness of His grace to embrace the whole of our life. May the desire of our hearts be that the Holy Spirit fill the whole of our personality with the adequacy of Christ!
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...."
© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission.
This page was reprinted by permission from: http://litmin.org/dare.php?date=2024-11-24&print=1
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