August 5, 2022 -- Isaiah 66:1-2 -- One of the toughest topics: Humility

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Thus says the LORD:
“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
Isaiah 66:1-2 ESV

Dear family in Christ. Today’s devotional reflection is taken from Andrew Murray’s book: “Humility”. The whole devotion is a quotation. It was inspirational to me, so I share it with you. Shalom Richard

Under the banner of the truth, give yourself up to the meek and humble spirit of the holy Jesus. Humility must sow seed, or there can be no reaping in Heaven. Look not at pride only as an unbecoming temper, nor at humility only as a decent virtue: for the one is death, and the other is life; the one is all hell, the other is all heaven. So you as you have of pride within you, you have of the fallen angels alive in you; so much as you have of true humility, so much you have of the Lamb of God within you.

Could you see what every stirring of pride does to your soul, you would beg of everything you meet to tear the viper from you, though the loss of a hand or an eye. Could you see what a sweet, divine, transforming power there is in humility, how it expels the poison of your nature, and makes room for the Spirit of God to live in you, you would rather wish to be the footstool of all the world than want the smallest degree of it.

Spirit of Prayer. Pt. II, page 73. Edition of Moreton, Canterbury, 1893

O LORD,
I marvel that thou shouldst become incarnate,
be crucified, dead, and buried.
The sepulchre calls forth my adoring wonder,
for it is empty and thou art risen;
the four-fold gospel attests it,
the living witnesses prove it,
my heart’s experience knows it.
Give me to die with thee that I may rise to new life,
for I wish to be as dead and buried
to sin, to selfishness, to the world;
that I might not hear the voice of the charmer,
and might be delivered from his lusts.
O Lord, there is much ill about me – crucify it,
much flesh within me – mortify it.
Purge me from selfishness,
the fear of man, the love of approbation,
the shame of being thought old-fashioned,
the desire to be cultivated or modern.
Let me reckon my old life dead
because of crucifixion,
and never feed it as a living thing.
Grant me to stand with my dying Saviour,
to be content to be rejected,
to be willing to take up unpopular truths,
and to hold fast despised teachings until death.
Help me to be resolute and Christ-contained.
Never let me wander from the path of obedience to thy will.
Strengthen me for the battles ahead.
Give me courage for all the trials,
and grace for all the joys.
Help me to be a holy, happy person,
free from every wrong desire,
from everything contrary to thy mind.
Grant me more and more of the resurrection life:
may it rule me, may I walk in its power, and
be strengthened through its influence.
"CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION", The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions.  Ed Arthur Bennett, Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 2020, page 172.

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