The Power of Humility
"Let the seas roar, the earth be shaken, and all things go to ruin and confusion; yet, the soul that adheres to God will remain safe and quiet, and shall not be moved forever." ~ Robert Leighton 1613-1684
For the past several days there has been a word engraved by the Holy Spirit onto my soul. It seems as though at every turn and conversation, this word comes to my heart. When I pray, it surfaces again and again.
It began as I was praying for someone who is going into a spiritual battle for their soul. His destiny quite literally hanging in the balance. Literally. The Spirit spoke to me concerning the battle he's facing, saying to tell him this one word, because it is the key to winning any spiritual battle. This caught my attention. So what is this word? Humility.
If humility is the key to winning any spiritual battle, I want to check my own heart and see where I am. No one has arrived at a place where they can say they have achieved perfect humility.
The reason, the Spirit showed me, that humility is so important is found in the book of James, which says "Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you." The word "submit" could also read "humble yourself". It means to choose the ways and commands of another ahead of your own. In this instance, it means choosing God's ways and commands over all else. When you have done the very thing that Satan refused to do, the power of God can move through you.
Pride is the opposite of humility and was at the very core of Satan wanting to exalt himself over God. He wanted the worship and adulation of heaven, so a person humbling himself or herself before God looks very familiar to the devil. Satan remembers the throne room. He remembers the angels, bowed low before God, worshipping God. He remembers the voices lifted to God, giving glory and praise to Him alone. He remembers. When a man or woman takes on that position before God, bowed low in submission and humility, he recognizes this scene and knows that this person is one in whom the Spirit of God will back up when they tell him, the devil, to leave. So he leaves.
He knows the spiritual truth behind humility and has tried hard to keep the people of God puffed up and arrogant. Un-teachable. A person mightily called and anointed to reach multitudes begins to believe that he/she is important because he/she is winning many souls to the Kingdom. A person called and anointed to worship begins to listen when people repeatedly tell him/her that the worship they lead is so good and they feel so free in God. A man or woman called to teach people the word can begin to think themselves something great as people repeatedly tell them, week after week, how much they have grown since they began listening to their teachings. Slowly they begin to accept the praise of the people and the glory that was meant for God alone. No one should think himself as God's person of faith and power. God is the one that faith and power originate from.
That is why the Bible says pride comes before a destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall. It says God resist a proud person but gives grace to the humble. If you are walking in pride, even a small amount, and you are in a spiritual battle, there is a lot of resisting going on. The Bible says in essence that God is resisting you, (God resist the proud), and you are resisting the devil yet nothing is changing. It is like a tug of war with you in the middle.
But if you bow yourself, your will and heart, in submission to God in all you do, then the grace you need to pull that devil into the mud hole will suddenly surge through your soul like lightening!
Is there any area that you can say you are doing your thing and not God's thing? Is there a place where you are fulfilling your desires and not God's? For the remainder of this week, become "humility conscience." Check out your thoughts and motives. What about your responses? Since no one can say they have arrived, I dare say that all of us should repent and take on the cloak of humility afresh each day. Submit to God. Humble yourself in the sight of God and HE WILL LIFT YOU UP. Choose His ways over your ways. Bow to His presence and His presence will lift you out of the place the enemy thought to bury you in.
For His glory alone!
Michelle Molina
"Let the seas roar, the earth be shaken, and all things go to ruin and confusion; yet, the soul that adheres to God will remain safe and quiet, and shall not be moved forever." ~ Robert Leighton 1613-1684
For the past several days there has been a word engraved by the Holy Spirit onto my soul. It seems as though at every turn and conversation, this word comes to my heart. When I pray, it surfaces again and again.
It began as I was praying for someone who is going into a spiritual battle for their soul. His destiny quite literally hanging in the balance. Literally. The Spirit spoke to me concerning the battle he's facing, saying to tell him this one word, because it is the key to winning any spiritual battle. This caught my attention. So what is this word? Humility.
If humility is the key to winning any spiritual battle, I want to check my own heart and see where I am. No one has arrived at a place where they can say they have achieved perfect humility.
The reason, the Spirit showed me, that humility is so important is found in the book of James, which says "Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you." The word "submit" could also read "humble yourself". It means to choose the ways and commands of another ahead of your own. In this instance, it means choosing God's ways and commands over all else. When you have done the very thing that Satan refused to do, the power of God can move through you.
Pride is the opposite of humility and was at the very core of Satan wanting to exalt himself over God. He wanted the worship and adulation of heaven, so a person humbling himself or herself before God looks very familiar to the devil. Satan remembers the throne room. He remembers the angels, bowed low before God, worshipping God. He remembers the voices lifted to God, giving glory and praise to Him alone. He remembers. When a man or woman takes on that position before God, bowed low in submission and humility, he recognizes this scene and knows that this person is one in whom the Spirit of God will back up when they tell him, the devil, to leave. So he leaves.
He knows the spiritual truth behind humility and has tried hard to keep the people of God puffed up and arrogant. Un-teachable. A person mightily called and anointed to reach multitudes begins to believe that he/she is important because he/she is winning many souls to the Kingdom. A person called and anointed to worship begins to listen when people repeatedly tell him/her that the worship they lead is so good and they feel so free in God. A man or woman called to teach people the word can begin to think themselves something great as people repeatedly tell them, week after week, how much they have grown since they began listening to their teachings. Slowly they begin to accept the praise of the people and the glory that was meant for God alone. No one should think himself as God's person of faith and power. God is the one that faith and power originate from.
That is why the Bible says pride comes before a destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall. It says God resist a proud person but gives grace to the humble. If you are walking in pride, even a small amount, and you are in a spiritual battle, there is a lot of resisting going on. The Bible says in essence that God is resisting you, (God resist the proud), and you are resisting the devil yet nothing is changing. It is like a tug of war with you in the middle.
But if you bow yourself, your will and heart, in submission to God in all you do, then the grace you need to pull that devil into the mud hole will suddenly surge through your soul like lightening!
Is there any area that you can say you are doing your thing and not God's thing? Is there a place where you are fulfilling your desires and not God's? For the remainder of this week, become "humility conscience." Check out your thoughts and motives. What about your responses? Since no one can say they have arrived, I dare say that all of us should repent and take on the cloak of humility afresh each day. Submit to God. Humble yourself in the sight of God and HE WILL LIFT YOU UP. Choose His ways over your ways. Bow to His presence and His presence will lift you out of the place the enemy thought to bury you in.
For His glory alone!
Michelle Molina
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