Be Humble

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/31/2012 8:51:02 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Be Humble

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Peter 5:5-7

            Message of the verses:  My Spiritual Diaries have taken a new course for a little bit as I study some passages in the NT.  My desire is to finish studying the book of 1Peter which I began sometime in 2003, but did not finish my study.  I seemed to need a break from the book of Psalms as I have been studying it since December of 2011. 

            In Dr. Warren Wiersbe commentary on First Peter, which he entitles “Be Hopeful” he writes the following from the twelfth chapter of his commentary, which he entitles “From Grace to Glory, “ Peter knew that a ‘fiery trial’ was about to occur, and he wanted the entire church family to be prepared. As he closed his letter, Peter gave the church three important admonitions to obey if they were to glorify God in this difficult experience.”

            Be Humble (1Peter 5:5-7):  “5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

“5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  (ESV)

I wrote in yesterday’s SD about a crisis that I was and to some degree am still facing, and for reasons only known to the Lord, and I suppose that His providence has a lot to do with it, this portion of Scripture seems to follow well with what I wrote about in yesterday’s SD.  I can say that I am thankful for the Lord guiding me to this passage on this day.  I have been mentioning in my “Steps of Faith for Today” that my desire is to remain or abide in the Vine, and when I do this the Lord has promised to bring into my life what He desires that will help me grow and bring glory to the Lord.

When we look back at earlier verses in 1Peter we will see that Peter writes about submission, being submissive to government authorities in 1Peter 2:13-17, and then he writes about slaves being submissive to their masters in 1Peter 2:18-25.  Since we live in a world where there are not a lot of slaves this passage can surely apply to workers being submissive to their bosses.  Peter writes about wives being submissive to their husbands in 1Peter 3:1-7, and now he writes about younger people being submissive to their elders and actually writes about all believers be submissive to God and to each other.  I know that this can be scary stuff to be submissive to others, but I believe that there is a wonderful example in the trinity.  Was not the Lord Jesus Christ submissive to His Father in coming to earth to purchase those who would believe by paying for their sins?  Was not the Holy Spirit submissive to the Lord Jesus Christ in being such a wonderful part of all who believe in Jesus Christ by bringing them into the Church?  When we study the trinity we realize that it is a difficult subject to wrap our arms around, for we worship One God in three persons.  It is something we have to take by faith.  However we know that the Three Persons who make up the trinity are all God and One is not more God than the other even though there is submission involved in the trinity.

Now just because a believer is older in age does not mean that he is more mature in the Lord.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Too often there is a generation war in the church, with the older people resisting change, and the younger people resisting the older people!”  I know that this statement is true for I found it necessary to leave a church after being there for over 32 years and the reason that I felt it necessary to leave was for reasons that Dr. Wiersbe stated. 

What is the solution to this difference of opinions between the younger believers and the older generation?  The solution is twofold and begins with having all believers both young and old being submissive to each other and the second thing is that all should be submissive to God.  Humility is the answer and when we look at the example of Jesus Christ laying aside His outer garments to wash the feet of His disciples we get a picture of what true humility is.  When we read Philippians 2:5-11 we see what true humility is:  “5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  (ESV)  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Humility is not demeaning ourselves and thinking poorly of ourselves.  It is simply not thinking of ourselves at all!” I have also heard that a good definition of humility is “power under control.” When we look at the humility of Jesus Christ from the passage in Philippians we can surely see that.

How can we truly be submissive to other?  First we have to be submissive to God.  Peter along with James in James 4:6 quotes Proverbs 3:34 in order to defend his point.  God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to those who are humble.  We don’t see the word “grace” in the OT too often.  In the NASB95 version the word “grace” is found only eight times, and in the AV it is found 37 times.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “It takes grace to submit to another believer, but God can give that grace if we humble ourselves before Him.”

What is the antidote to pride? It is grace, and we receive that grace when we yield ourselves to the Lord.  We will see an evidence of that grace in us when we yield to others, something in and of ourselves is a difficult thing to do. 

I want to go to a verse that helps me in circumstances like we are discussing from this passage and that is Colossians 2:6, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,.”  Now let us look at Ephesians 2:8-9 which tells us how we were saved and then we can apply those verses to Colossians 2:6 to see how were to walk:  “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”   Paul is saying that our salvation is a gift of God given to us by God so that we have nothing to boast about.  God gives us the faith in order for us to believe that the grace is a gift from God.  How then are we to live the Christian life?  We live it by grace through faith.  Grace is God giving us something we can never earn and we don’t deserve, but God gives it to us.  Dr. Wiersbe writes that “submission is an act of faith.  We are trusting God to direct in our lives and to work out His purposes in His time.”  We see a connection with submission, grace and faith.  Humanly speaking it is a great risk to be submissive to others, but this is where it takes faith to obey the Lord.  We have examples other than Jesus that are found in the Scriptures to give us encouragement.  Moses is a good example for God led him into the wilderness and he was submissive to the Lord for 40 years before He used Moses to led Israel out of Egypt.  Joseph was submissive to the Lord for over 13 years as He taught Joseph how to rule in Egypt.  David ran from Saul for ten years, hiding in caves and writing many psalms before the Lord placed him on the throne of Israel.  They all were submissive to the Lord as the Lord humbled them before lifting them up.  “6Ttherefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”  (1Peter 5:6)

Dr. Wiersbe writes “One of the benefits of this kind of relationship with God is the privilege of letting Him take care of our burdens unless we meet the conditions laid down in 1Peter 5:5-6, we cannot claim the wonderful promise of 1Peter 5:7.  The word translated ‘care’ (AV) means anxiety, the state of being pulled apart.’  When circumstances are difficult, it is easy for us to be anxious and worried; but if we are, we will miss God’s blessing and become a poor witness to the lost.  We need His inward peace if we are going to triumph in the fiery trial and being glory to His name.”

This next statement from Dr. Wiersbe is very important to remember:  “According to 1Peter 5:7, we must once and for all give all of our cares—past, present, and future—to the Lord.  We must not hand them to Him piecemeal, keeping those cares that we think we can handle ourselves.  If we keep ‘the little cares’ for ourselves, they will become big problems!  Each time a new burden arises, we must by faith remind the Lord (and ourselves) that we have already turned it over to Him.” 

At the end of his commentary on this section Dr. Wiersbe explains how God shows His love and care for us when we give our cares to Him.  “(1) He gives us the courage to face our cares honestly and not run away (Isa. 41:10. (2) He gives us the wisdom to understand the situation (James 1:5). (3) He gives us the strength to do what we must do (Phil. 4:13). And (4) He gives us the faith to trust Him to do the rest (Psalm 37:5).  Some people give God their burdens and expect Him to do everything!  It is important that we let Him work in us as well as work for us so that we will be prepared when the answer comes, ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee’ Psalm s55:22).”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I wish once and for all to give all of my burdens, past, present, and future to the Lord, and pray that the Spirit of God will remind me when I want to take care of them by myself.  I believe that if I remember that Jesus is the Vine and I am the branch and I submit to Him in order for Him to produce fruit through me then I will remember to cast my cares on Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

5/31/2012 11:01:47 AM