Four Verses to a More Humble You!

I can just hear Billy Mays (if he were still alive) now...

"That's right!  Get lifted up by God himself!  Call 1-800-4-VERSES now, and we'll give you verses that will change everything for you!

"Jimmy from East Lansing Michigan ordered the Four Verses Program, and he's incredibly humble...in just one week!  And he also dropped three inches from his waist!

"Just plug in the Four Verses Program, watch them do their thing, and start counting those blessings from the very first time you use them!!

"Martha from Shreveport says the Four Verses Program helped her daily walk IMMEDIATELY, and she went on to be debt-free and make $12,000 a month...working five hours a week from home!!

"Call 1-800-4-VERSES now to change your life!  And if you call within the next thirty minutes, we'll throw in ANOTHER FVP for you.  But wait, there's more!  We'll also throw in a free bucket of Oxy Clean and..."


Can't you see him with that uber-black hair and beard, screaming at you?

I would give anything to be able to pass along some scriptures that would instantly change your life, humble you down, and get God moving to lift you up.  I wish it worked that way, but it doesn't.  I can give you the verses, but that's just the beginning...

The four verses I'm talking about are in James 4.  Remember, in James 4:10, we're told to "humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up"?  Well, that's the last verse of the four.  The three that immediately precede 4:10 are almost a road map to a humble life.  Almost.

"Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God, and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn, and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom."

James, in his typical in-your-face style (that I love, BTW), lays out several directives that, when adopted, will lead us to more humble lives.  Please note that these items are NOT part of a one-and-done checklist; these are aspects of life which need to be worked on every day.

1. Submit to God.
2. Resist the devil.
3. Come near to God.
4. Wash your hands.
5. Purify your hearts.
6. Grieve, mourn, and wail.
7. Change laughter to morning/joy to gloom.

Well, there you go.  My work here is done.  You've got the Four Verse Program, now have at it.

Just kidding.

In my next several posts, I'm going to dig into each of these items, and with the Spirit's lead, we'll both be able to move closer to a humble life.

But if you call now...  :)

Humbled...or Humiliated?

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."

James 4:10 served as a centerpiece of my last post, and serves as the foundation of everything I'm going to write here.  Here's the problem: that word 'humbled' is in there.

Earlier in the chapter, James quotes Proverbs (3:34, to be exact), and says,  "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).  Incidentally (but certainly not coincidentally), Peter quotes the same passage in 1Pet 5:5, right before he tells us to - you guessed it - humble ourselves.

And let's not forget Jesus (like we would).  In Mt. 23:12, he fumes: "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."  That's Jesus, in the middle of laying some brutal truth on everyone in Jerusalem.  Sounds bad, and the Pharisees would certainly agree; in fact, after he was done tearing them apart - humbling them, if you will - they began to plot His assassination in earnest.  So humbling is bad, right?

Not if you're the one doing the humbling!  Humbling yourself doesn't mean humiliating yourself.  Humility is born of truth, and your realization and acceptance of it.  When you realize who God is (as much as you can realize, anyway), who you are, and how you stack up, humility is a natural response.

I really like the way the Amplified Bible breaks down Mt. 23:12, because it points out the difference between being humbled and being humble.  When you're humbled, you're brought low, like Jesus did the Pharisees.  He cast a cruel, but true, light on them and their hearts; for them, it had to have been humiliating.  However, Jesus' message for us was wonderfully uplifting: if you "have a modest opinion of yourself and act accordingly", you'll be exalted.

God exalted Joshua (Joshua 4:14).  God exalted David (2 Sam 5:12).  Solomon, too (1 Chron. 29:25).  In Acts 5:31, Peter told the Pharisees that God exalted Jesus, too (like you didn't see that one coming).  And God is going to exalt you.  Pretty great company to be in, isn't it?  Certainly nothing humiliating about it, that's for sure.

Coming to terms with the reality of the situation is the key to humility, and when you've humbled yourself, incredible things begin to happen.  Count on that.

Talk to you soon.

Need a Lift?

6pm seemed like an eternity away.

Both kids were determined to drive each other over the edge, and seemed delighted in the prospect of taking me with them. They were constantly picking at each other, starting fights, breaking things, causing problems, and badgering me about everything under the sun. If I would have fed my four year old every time she asked for a snack, she would have exploded by 2:30, and her nine year old brother would have howled at the mess. Ugh.

The chores around the house were piling up, too; laundry, vacuuming, dusting, dishes, garbage, and more. To make matters worse, that was just the daily stuff - I had plenty of long-term 'projects' lurking all over the place, waiting to jump me whenever I innocently meandered into the bedroom, kitchen, garage, or, heaven help me, the back yard.

It was one of those days, and I really needed a lift. I got it...by sinking lower.

*DISCLOSURE WARNING* I wouldn't be telling you the truth if I said that the Bible was the first place I always run to for a pick-me-up. I'd also be fibbing if I said that prayer was always my first option in any given situation (it's more like 'act rashly, ask forgiveness later'). However, over the years, I've gotten a little better at turning His way first.

On this particular day, it took me several hours to be still and hear His voice, but I did hear it. "Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:10, NIV). Then I read The Message's version, and it really hit home: "Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet."

If you need a lift, if you need to get to your feet again (or for the first time), if your heart needs a new start, you've got to humble yourself. Now, how you do that is for another entry (lots of them, actually), so stay tuned.

Oh...in case you were wondering, 6pm didn't turn out to be an eternity away after all.