BOASTING TO BROKENNESS
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 10:18 - For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he who the Lord commends.
We live in a world which enjoys commending itself about all its achievements. Yet every record and landmark achieved by one is broken in subsequent years. Someone always comes up with greater achievements, and the world goes after them. But man loves to boast about himself and his achievements all the time. We find wild atrocities expressed by a person and his supporters when one scores a goal, wicket or run. Soon they find that someone else has outclassed them. Nebuchadnezzar and Uzziah had this problem of boasting and God had to deal with them in sad ways to teach lessons in humility. This boasting and self pride is the original sin of Satan and those who belong to him continue to live in this sin of self esteem and ego. But God knows those who truly deserve commendations. He commended Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and others who were men of faith against all odds. They obeyed God in everything and earned reputation even among heathen in the Hittite country, Egypt, Babylon and other places. But if we examine their lives, they all had great humility and never boasted or tried to earn or seek recognition from people around them. People like Paul who did tremendous things for the Lord felt that they were unworthy servants. They all had a spirit of brokenness and could not boast in any thing in themselves because they never found any thing good in themselves. They cried out like Isaiah about their unworthiness. This spirit continues even in Heaven where the elders around the Throne are seen casting their crowns at the feet of the Lord and worship Him, declaring that He is the only worthy one.
Our self desires recognition for itself and its achievements and that is why we are admonished to crucify and kill the self with all its desires continuously. We should not feed the flesh and give it any importance and continuously pray that the Lord break us in our self. Satan and the world will try to entice us to be boastful and seek recognition. This sin of pride is very serious even in the Christendom where we find people who seek after position, prominence, prestige and popularity. Our self gets gratified when it is given importance. So we need to pray that the Lord would spare us from the temptation to seek importance and must denounce all attempts at gaining recognition in this world or in the church. Even after serving the Lord to the best of our abilities and on the basis of our spiritual gifts, we must confess that we are all unworthy servants. Our self should be trained to fall prostrate in the dust and repent of our unworthiness and allow Jesus Christ to be exalted in and through us and all that we do for Him. We should seek the Lord's approval in what we are called to do and so must do everything only in the power of His Spirit and according to His Word. Our goals should always be the glory of God and not self seeking and boasting. When we do what would please Him, He would in turn give us all we need to serve Him because He is the true shepherd who leads us. When we are thus truly dead to our self, we would not react negatively to any one who tries to deprive us of any thing that we have or ought to get, and simply praise God for such experiences that He allows us to go through. There will soon be a day when we will stand before His bema when He will openly recognizes us for our service for Him. Let us wait for that blessed occasion to get recognition, and even then, as He gives us crowns, let us be prepared to cast it all at His feet.
2 Corinthians 10:16 - But let him who boasts boast in the Lord.
Thought for Today
Fear of the Lord, conviction of our own weaknesses and a true vision about the glory of the Lord will keep us far from ever boasting in ourselves.
Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 10:18 - For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he who the Lord commends.
We live in a world which enjoys commending itself about all its achievements. Yet every record and landmark achieved by one is broken in subsequent years. Someone always comes up with greater achievements, and the world goes after them. But man loves to boast about himself and his achievements all the time. We find wild atrocities expressed by a person and his supporters when one scores a goal, wicket or run. Soon they find that someone else has outclassed them. Nebuchadnezzar and Uzziah had this problem of boasting and God had to deal with them in sad ways to teach lessons in humility. This boasting and self pride is the original sin of Satan and those who belong to him continue to live in this sin of self esteem and ego. But God knows those who truly deserve commendations. He commended Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and others who were men of faith against all odds. They obeyed God in everything and earned reputation even among heathen in the Hittite country, Egypt, Babylon and other places. But if we examine their lives, they all had great humility and never boasted or tried to earn or seek recognition from people around them. People like Paul who did tremendous things for the Lord felt that they were unworthy servants. They all had a spirit of brokenness and could not boast in any thing in themselves because they never found any thing good in themselves. They cried out like Isaiah about their unworthiness. This spirit continues even in Heaven where the elders around the Throne are seen casting their crowns at the feet of the Lord and worship Him, declaring that He is the only worthy one.
Our self desires recognition for itself and its achievements and that is why we are admonished to crucify and kill the self with all its desires continuously. We should not feed the flesh and give it any importance and continuously pray that the Lord break us in our self. Satan and the world will try to entice us to be boastful and seek recognition. This sin of pride is very serious even in the Christendom where we find people who seek after position, prominence, prestige and popularity. Our self gets gratified when it is given importance. So we need to pray that the Lord would spare us from the temptation to seek importance and must denounce all attempts at gaining recognition in this world or in the church. Even after serving the Lord to the best of our abilities and on the basis of our spiritual gifts, we must confess that we are all unworthy servants. Our self should be trained to fall prostrate in the dust and repent of our unworthiness and allow Jesus Christ to be exalted in and through us and all that we do for Him. We should seek the Lord's approval in what we are called to do and so must do everything only in the power of His Spirit and according to His Word. Our goals should always be the glory of God and not self seeking and boasting. When we do what would please Him, He would in turn give us all we need to serve Him because He is the true shepherd who leads us. When we are thus truly dead to our self, we would not react negatively to any one who tries to deprive us of any thing that we have or ought to get, and simply praise God for such experiences that He allows us to go through. There will soon be a day when we will stand before His bema when He will openly recognizes us for our service for Him. Let us wait for that blessed occasion to get recognition, and even then, as He gives us crowns, let us be prepared to cast it all at His feet.
2 Corinthians 10:16 - But let him who boasts boast in the Lord.
Thought for Today
Fear of the Lord, conviction of our own weaknesses and a true vision about the glory of the Lord will keep us far from ever boasting in ourselves.
Make a contact with us: todayintheword@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment