Mat 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
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Rom 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited.
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Zep 3:12 But, I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD,
Jesus, You came in humility and lowliness, as a servant.
I ask for this humble and lowly spirit that will bring glory to God.
There is strength and joy in humility and meekness.
Help me to trust in you and rest in you.
Though people should rage all about me, let me have the peace and quietness that comes from confidence in you.
I want to have simplicity of faith like a child.
Mat 18:3 and said, "I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Psa 10:17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
Blest are the humble souls that see
Their emptiness and poverty;
Treasures of grace to them are giv’n,
And crowns of joy laid up in Heav’n.
Blest are the men of broken heart,
Who mourn for sin with inward smart;
The blood of Christ divinely flows,
A healing balm for all their woes.
Blest are the meek, who stand afar
From rage and passion, noise and war;
God will secure their happy state,
And plead their cause against the great.
Blest are the souls that thirst for grace
Hunger and long for righteousness;
They shall be well supplied, and fed
With living streams and living bread.
Blest are the pure, whose hearts are clean
From the defiling powers of sin;
With endless pleasure they shall see
A God of spotless purity.
Blest are the men of peaceful life,
Who quench the coals of growing strife;
They shall be called the heirs of bliss,
The sons of God, the God of peace.
Blest are the suff’rers who partake
Of pain and shame for Jesus’ sake;
Their souls shall triumph in the Lord;
Glory and joy are their reward.
--Isaac Watts, 1710
Amen, bperiwinkle7. What a lovely poem!
BTTT
While Herod to all appearances was the more powerful, living in a luxurious fortress, surrounded by acolytes and memorials, with one decree killing hundreds, Jesus came to a dark, smelly, dirty cave and was laid in an animal's feeding trough; His only admirers were his simple parents, some smelly shepherd children who were outcasts in their society, and a group of stargazers from foreign lands - and angels, whom most never saw or heard. Yet Jesus' Kingdom and Temple are ever being built, and Herod's lie in ruin. The most Herod is remembered for (if he is remembered at all) is the killing of the innocents, and he has no followers today. Jesus, who did not appear in majesty, reigns ever more powerfully and gloriously as each day goes by - "of His Kingdom and Righteousness there shall be no end." (Isaiah 9:7) Reality is not bound by or married to appearances! Yes, man judges by the outward, but God sees very differently; we must have His eyes to see what is real and true - O Come, El Roi, our God of Seeing! For eyes to see are a gift from Thee alone!
Your meditation on humility, periwinkle, along with Luke 2:8-11, Rte66, brought these things to my mind. Thank you for every reminder and all this Glory to God through His Word and Truth, through prayer and proclamation and preaching, through the Name above all names, the King of kings and Lord of lords, our born of a virgin, crucified, buried, risen, ascended, ruling, soon coming Messiah!