Humility

"...for I am gentle and humble in heart..." Matthew 11:29

In John 1 John the Baptist says that he is unworthy to loosen the thongs of Jesus' sandals. The NIV note says that although disciples did many tasks for their teacher, the loosening of sandal thongs was expressly excluded. This was a job only for a slave. I wondered about Jesus washing the disciples feet in John 13. Did he loosen the thongs of their sandals? And what could be more lowly than washing their feet? Grandma says that most people who reject Christ do so because of pride. And I think it is our pride that keeps us from depending on the Holy Spirit each day to help us. Perhaps learning to be humble is our most difficult lesson.

New Year Resolutions

My verse for this year is Psalm 119:37: Turn my eyes away from worthless things and revive me in Your ways.

Don't waste time on worthless things. Proverbs says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Guard your heart from worthless activities. Everything has a consequence.

And don't put worthless things into your body. We have one body to last a lifetime and we should take care of it.

I also want to focus on God's grace. I cannot earn His favor - He gives it freely.

Grace changes everything. Rely on God's goodness and grace. "By grace are you saved, through faith. It is a gift of God, not of works, so that no man can boast."

Love,
Mom

Proverbs 3:13-18

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

Drifting

One of the most striking evidences of sinful human nature lies in the universal propensity for downward drift. In other words, it takes thought, resolve, energy, and effort to bring about reform. In the grace of God, sometimes human beings display such virtues. But where such virtues are absent, the drift is invariably toward compromise, comfort, indiscipline, sliding disobedience, and decay that advances, sometimes at a crawl and sometimes at a gallop, across generations.

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.--DA Carson

Seven deadly sins according to Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi:

• Wealth without Work
• Pleasure without Conscience
• Science without Humanity
• Knowledge without Character
• Politics without Principle
• Commerce without Morality
• Worship without Sacrifice

The Snare

In Luke 7 John the Baptist was imprisoned and sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the One or should they expect someone else. Jesus sent back the message of observable evidence - that he had healed the sick and lame, raised the dead, and preached the good news to the poor. The NIV Study Bible says that "Jesus did not want discouragement and doubt to ensnare John." I had never thought of doubt and discouragement as snares, but if you think about it, they are deadly ones. Doubt questions the goodness and power of God. Discouragement takes our courage away and keeps us from doing those bold things that bring glory to God and help to men. Don't let yourself be ensnared. God is who He says He is and God can do what He says He can do. Read the Scriptures and find words of faith.

Encouraging words

Acts 15:31-2: The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. Judas and Silas...said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.

We are all in need of encouragement. Most of our encouragement comes through words. Ask the Lord to give you words of encouragement for others.

The ill-timed truth we might have kept --
Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?
The word we had not sense to say--
Who knows how grandly it had rung?
--Edward Sill (The Fool's Prayer)