Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift my eyes up to you Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God, for you are my help and my hope.
I watched the news and the stories of people who were affected ny Hurricane Mellissa, the wars in Palestine, Ukraine, and the Sudan. As I watched people devastated by the storms and war, who are struggling to survive, to press on and persevere, you remind me that none of us our in control in life. The words of James speaks into this. “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”
You remind me to release any perceived control I have and dry near to you. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.... Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:8-10 ). You remind me to humble myself before You, so You can lift me up. You remind me to remember You. Because apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5).
To humble ourselves is to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. It's the opposite of pride, which says I can do all things in my power, in my wisdom, with my resources. Pride says, "I will survive; I will thrive; I will restore; I will rebuild, all in my way, all as I will, all by myself." Humility says, "I need You, Lord; I'm desperate for You; apart from You, I can do nothing; and I praise You, that I never have to be apart from You, for You are my Help and my Hope."
Pride, in this sense, is an unholy independence from You, manifested in rebellion from Your presence and rejection of Your ways. But humility, in this sense, is a healthy, reverential fear of the Lord to honor You, embrace You, and desperately depend upon You to be our provision and protection, our loving Father who always knows what's best and who is always near and always ready to help through whatever we endure. So Lord, slay our pride and give us humble hearts, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
My family, I pray you abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, as you humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, willingly choosing to be desperately dependent upon Him alone, allowing Him to lift you up and bring you through whatever you're enduring, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
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