hey guys,
well..internet has been down at work so i figured i should do this before taking off this morning. Felt like these past few weeks, God's been talking to me quite a bit about humility. I dont mean humility in the sense of "oh im not really that attractive" or ""i only got a 98% on my last midterm" or "im not that fit, i can only do 20 pull ups "(^__^v). Those three examples are really the result of either a very distorted self views, or pride being disguised as false modesty. By humility, i mean opposite of pride, i mean struggling daily against vanity, against thinking i can take care of things myself, against believing i am better/more important than everyone around me, i mean tearing down this idol i've been worshipping called Edward when i shouldve been worshipping God.
couldn't really pull out any one particular lesson from 1 chron, but as i found myself closely examining the life of david in chron, the two kings, and my brief peek into psalms, i started getting an idea of what a man who chased after God's own heart looked like. He was a man who would commit adultery and murder, a man who wept and trembled for fear of his life (/lose man card), a man who had multiple wives, a blood drenched warrior, and one who, however briefly, took pride in his army - 1.5 million strong. At the same time, i also see a man who repents EACH and EVERY time he stumbled and took full responsibility for his sins. I see a man who would dance before his God with the kind of joyful abandon that would piss off his first wife (/fist bump david), i see a man who was told that the role of building the temple (originally his idea) is to be passed onto his son - and surrendered that honour without complaint. I saw a man who did his best to walk step by step with his God. Wehn i look at david's life, I see and hear a man who would genuinely say the words "who am i lord that you have brought me this far," he understood that everything he had, all that he's accomplished, is not a result of his own efforts and skills but only by the grace of his God.
i guess in terms of application, there must be a daily reminder that the world does NOT revolve around us (even for kings). more importantly, there must also be a parallel reminder that the world DOES revolve around christ. There must be an understanding that you are here - where you are in life and in Him - by the grace and mercy of God. That He loved you first, before you loved Him. It means that there must be a difference in how you care for ppl, versus how a nonbeliever cares for ppl (phil 2:5-11 - read it). it means realizing in ministry, that it's not by your effort that ppl are healed, comforted, or saved, but by the loving grace of God that should be evident in your own life - "ppl dont need you, they need Christ in you" (thx again to the person who sent that to me =). Lastly, i think it means that there should be a HUGE difference in how we perceive God - no one strolls or struts into heaven, as if they've earned their way there. I think the humble soul realizes daily how much trespass is forgiven of them, how much mercy they are under, and because of all this, fall all the more in love with Christ with every passing day.
Before closing, i wanted to apologize to everyone i've hurt w/ my own pride and self addiction, please be patient with me, i think im slowly getting the hang of this.. Also to thank everyone (yes, i mean you) who, whether they realize it or not, are constantly being used by God to teach me so much more about humility than can be learnt in a thousand sermons/trips to yosemite. I love you all.
Have a blessed and humbling wednesday and a great rest of the week =)
edward
oh no'es!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyRYgrYnaU4
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