CULTIVATING A LIFESTYLE OF THANKSGIVING

Part Eight - Connecting to Humility

Volume XIII Number 8                                                                                                                                          May 28, 2010

 

Thanks be to God who ALWAYS gives us the overwhelming victory - 2 Corinthians 2:14

                                                                                                                                             

Greetings in the name of Jesus!

                                                                               

We're still on the subject of THANKSGIVING and by way of introducing today's article, we want to reiterate why this is an important topic for the Body of Christ. More to the point: why is it an important topic for YOU? The quick answer is that GIVING THANKS TO GOD connects us to His GRACE and we need God's GRACE not only to get born again (Ephesians 2:5) but to also deal with life's difficulties (Hebrews 4:16). If you're NOT walking in victory today the essential missing ingredient is that you haven't fully connected to God's GRACE, to His undeserved FAVOR and EMPOWERMENT to help you deal with the particular trials and problems you're presently facing.

Scripture says that we connect to GRACE by releasing our FAITH. We have to be confident in the fact that God makes His GRACE available to everyone because of what Jesus did on the Cross. There's nothing we can do to deserve it. The GRACE to get born again is already available to everyone on the earth but it has to be accepted, it has to be received by each person through FAITH (Ephesians 2:8). Then, once we've accepted His offer to take over our lives, He makes additional GRACE available to those who've become Believers in order to make it possible for us to deal SUCCESSFULLY with the issues of life. The more GRACE we can connect to, the greater the victory we experience in our present lives.                                                      

And since GRACE is essential for obtaining New Testament victory, we ought to be pursuing the things that increase GRACE or make it stronger, avoiding the things that decrease it or make it weaker, and then doing the things that make our FAITH stronger so we can make the vital connections to it. One of the things that increase the flow of God's GRACE toward the individual Believer is the quality called HUMILITY. Humble Believers who're strong in FAITH are the ones who enjoy the greatest benefit from God's GRACE with continuous, ongoing victory in life.

God Opposes the Proud 

This point is made very clear in scripture: "God is opposed to (resists) the proud, but gives GRACE to the humble" (Proverbs 3:34 and 1 Peter 5:5). Friend, it's evident that God doesn't like pride and He RESISTS those who manifest it. But how does He actually do that under the New Covenant, i.e. how does He RESIST born-again Believers who happen to also be full of PRIDE in view of the fact that He's already made His GRACE available in response to what Jesus accomplished on the Cross? Can't the prideful Believer simply take up all that available GRACE by FAITH?

 The truth is the "system" that the New Covenant operates under is set up to RESIST the proud; God doesn't have to take a personal case-by-case interest in it anymore. Indeed, the Bible says He's FORGOTTEN our sins (Hebrews 8:12) because FORGIVENESS has already occurred. But PROUD Believers are those who've professed belief in Jesus but have had trouble coming "under the mighty hand of God" (1 Peter 5:6) and are unwilling to "cast their cares and anxieties on the Lord" (1 Peter 5:7) instead of dealing with them in their own strength. If we can't or won't trust the Lord to resolve our problems then we're not trusting in the Word. And if we aren't trusting the Word, then the strength of our Faith is GREATLY diminished (Romans 10:17) which means we'll be unable to RECEIVE a sufficient portion of the GRACE God has already made available. So the system of GRACE God has instituted does itself oppose the PROUD.

Now some people will read this today and think the system we're describing here is just too complicated, that it can't be done by average Christians. But friend, this is the way it works; it's the way God has set it up. If it were really too complicated for us to do then why would the Word tell us to do it and then make the consequences of not doing it so severe? No, the correct response is: "I really need to understand this system because if I'm anxious and fearful about events in my life, then according to the Bible I'm manifesting PRIDE and cutting MYSELF off from the GRACE that God wants me to have, the very same GRACE Jesus died on the Cross for me to be able to RECEIVE by FAITH." The truth is the FAITH of a prideful person is under-developed because they've neglected the Word and have preferred to walk out their lives in the Flesh making decisions according to the assessments they make with their five carnal (physical) senses instead of by FAITH. The Word says, "the just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17) and that's the way New Covenant life has been designed.

Only the Humble are Really Thankful

Since HUMILITY is a key connector to God's GRACE, let's take a closer look now at the connection to THANKSGIVING. Have you ever noticed that HUMBLE people are grateful and THANKFUL for everything God's doing in their lives? They give Him the praise and glory for everything and almost never complain about their trials and tribulations. They don't speak negatively or critically or judgmentally or get angry at their circumstances. They NEVER get mad at God. They have problems too but they're confident that the Lord truly is working things out for them. They're confident that those problems will turn out for the best and they refuse to focus on the negative things the enemy and the world and other people have sent against them. Their overriding characteristic is that they're generally THANKFUL about everything. They know they don't really deserve any of the good things they receive so they receive them in Spirit-led gratitude.

Proud people on the other hand are unable to truly be THANKFUL. Not even proud Believers are THANKFUL. They think they DESERVE every good thing that happens to them and most of those things they take credit for instead of giving God the glory.  They also think they don't deserve any of the bad things in their lives and blame God for them even though their own decisions and the enemy and the World are the real causes of all those bad things. It's not possible to be truly THANKFUL if you think this way. Whatever THANKSGIVING does actually manifest is mostly fake, hypocritical and acted out to impress others. And the lack of legitimacy is usually going to be obvious to the truly HUMBLE Christians who witness it but they probably won't say anything. They know true THANKSGIVING and they easily discern the imitations.

Some people will be surprised to find out that according to their Bible real HUMILITY starts with a willingness to give over their cares to our CARETAKER God. A whole lot of other people will be surprised to also find out that HUMILITY doesn't have anything to do with poverty. Some poor Believers may be HUMBLE but lack of economic prosperity is not the biblical measure of HUMILITY and that includes the New Testament which is a better Covenant than the old one (Hebrews 8:6). A lot of economically poor Believers, probably most, are just as prideful as the rich ones. Also, Jesus became poor so that we Believers can be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).  Before He became poor he WAS rich and He was certainly HUMBLE before He became poor. And friend, this scripture written by the Apostle Paul is talking about taking up an offering so please resist the temptation of religious TRADITION that the use of the word RICH here is reserved for some higher spiritual meaning. It could certainly incorporate a higher meaning but the Apostle was taking up an offering so it stands to reason he was also referring to money.

In sum, true THANKSGIVING comes from the HUMBLE and HUMILITY is a function of trusting in God. It has nothing to do with money. HUMILITY puts "self" aside and seeks to defer to others. It puts God and other people first. HUMILITY is characterized by "submissiveness" and wants to serve others. It respects and never disrespects or judges. It loves all things and is ALWAYS THANKFUL. The truth is always:

"Grace leads to faith and faith leads to victory and victory leads to thanksgiving and thanksgiving leads to humility and humility leads to more grace." In other words, whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11 and Luke 18:14). What a great system God has made.

© Make A Way Ministries, Inc.