Posted on 08/29/2019 6:41:40 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit” (Proverbs 29:23).
“A man’s pride shall bring him low,” the way down is up.
“And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).
The way down is up. On the other hand, the way up is down. James has got the greatest passage on it, as far as pride and humility: “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:6-10).
Notice that when a person submits to God, that's how they resist the devil. You don’t resist him by formulas, like “I resist you in the name of Jesus Christ!” and all that business. You get that out here at the healing meetings, and all those other charismatic crowds. You resist the devil by submitting to God. “Draw nigh to God,” how are you going to do that? That's an interesting statement. “Draw nigh to God,” God is in the third heaven; how are you going to draw nigh to God? What does He tell you to do? Prayer, Bible, Church, fellowship of Christians, witness, put out the gospel. That's how you draw nigh to God.
When you are doing the things that the Holy Spirit's involved in doing, you are drawing nigh to God, and what you're doing at the same time is submitting yourself to God. You don't draw nigh to God by just getting a warm feeling all over; getting into a religious situation and listening to religious music. You draw nigh to God by doing things that God is involved in doing, with the Holy Spirit's help. And He is involved in all those things.
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw night to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners and purify your hearts, ye double minded,” double minded people are those that are trying to play both ends against the middle, trying to live a little bit for the world, and a little bit for the Lord.
“Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” That's the whole formula, right there.
Let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread!
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