Title: God Seeks the Humble and Rejoices
God seeks the humble and delights
Text: Psalm 149:4
“The LORD is pleased with his people, and he beautifies the humble with salvation.”
St. Brother Lorenz was appointed abbot one day, known for being the most troublesome and quarrelsome. When he knocked on the door of the troubled monastery, the young monks rushed out. When they saw the old monk with full of gray hair standing there, they said, “The old monk is here! Hurry up, go to the restaurant and wash your dishes!” It seems that it has become a tradition for the first monks to do that. Monk Noh discovered that the problem with this monastery was right here. The Noh monk said, “Yes! I'll do that." and walked straight into the restaurant silently. The old monk washed the dishes for a month, two months, three months. The contempt, humiliation, and humiliation were great. Three months later, the director came in a streak. The young monks were stunned. However, the manager was nowhere to be seen. asked the director. “Where did you go?” answered the monks. “The director hasn’t been appointed yet.”
The director was surprised. “No, what are you talking about! I appointed Monk Lorenz three months ago!” The young monks were stunned at the director's words. I immediately ran to the dining room and knelt before the old monk. Everyone was moved by the old monk's extremely low level of humility. Since then, the monastery has become an exemplary monastery. God does not honor the proud.
Because it is so obvious that such a person will not glorify God when anything is accomplished. The Bible says, “Pride is the beginning of destruction, and a haughty heart is the beginning of a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). It is not easy for a person to be humble. Therefore, when pride lifts its head, let us Christians remember the humble Lord.
A 19th-century Old Testament scholar wrote: “The thing that God hates the most is pride, and the humility of thinking that you are nothing is the most praised virtue. This humility is not a momentary or occasional feeling, but a habit, one that should be worn from the toes of the person to the top of his head. God pours out grace upon the humble heart.” There is nothing that clings to us more tenaciously than pride. Like Paul's confession, they are born of infertility and are like the dead. It's amazing what they are proud of. Nevertheless, pride is always hidden. Pride does not appear publicly, but secretly manifests in our achievements, positions, power, appearance, interpersonal relationships, and our tendency to rule over people.
This pride is the destroyer of unchanging grace from time immemorial. Remember that God does not bless anything that comes from pride (Proverbs 3:34). When God takes us by His mighty hand, we stumble and struggle, and finally we grab hold of grace and surrender. What a blessing it is to surrender before God! God Himself deals with our weak parts and makes it happen.
God, who was looking for Adam in the Garden of Eden, is also looking for humble people today. God is not looking for people because they do not exist. He is looking for people worthy of God's heart. Therefore, being used by God is a wonderful grace and blessing. Our lives are very different depending on what we do and live on this earth. It is a wonderful blessing to be used in God's work.
One day a man came to the famous Saint Francis of Assisi and asked. “Mr. Francis! You reveal the miracles of Jesus Christ. And everyone who meets Mr. Francis, who reveals the glory of Jesus Christ, is changing. How do these amazing ministries come about? Please tell me the secret.”
Upon hearing this, Saint Francis replied: “Almighty God one day looked at so many people living on this earth. And he looked at the weakest, the most ignorant, and the most foolish man in the corner of the earth among many and many. And he said, 'It's that person. I want to show my wisdom and power through him.' This is why God chose me, Francis.”
God wants us because we are weak and we are weak. Let's earnestly long for the Lord. Let's pray that moves the heart of God. It's important to live life to the fullest in everything you do. Being a Christian should never be seen as weak. We must excel in all fields and live a life that reveals the glory of God. God is looking for humble and sincere people.
Although King Saul lacked in humanity, God forsaken him because he was arrogant and wanted to reveal his glory. And he made David, a mere shepherd, king. Because David was a man after God's own heart. Judas Iscariot was a man of quick calculations. But he was abandoned. Peter was weak and betrayed the Lord. However, because he repented and returned to the Lord, he was changed through the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and became one of the greatest figures in Christian history.
During the American Revolutionary War, a sergeant was making his men lift a large lever. The sergeant arrogantly gave orders without raising a hand.
“Come on, push everyone! Pull it up!” The soldiers pulled it with all their might, but the heavy lever almost reached the desired position, then slipped again and rolled down. I tried again, and just as the lever was about to roll off again, a man in plain clothes jumped in and pushed him with all his might. So the lever finally took its place. The soldiers who worked hard were truly grateful. But he turned towards the sergeant. "Why didn't you help when the soldiers needed help lifting this heavy thing?" he asked. The sergeant pointed to his rank insignia and said, "I am the commander." The person who asked the question took off his coat, showed his uniform, and said, "I'm Commander-in-Chief Washington, and if you have work to do, call me!"
The Bible says, “God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Humility is perhaps the most important of the virtues that we Christians should possess. In fact, the fact that our Lord came to this world is the ultimate in humility. If we are faithful to death in the world and do not get a reward after all our hard work, it must be due to our lack of humility.
To whom should we be humble?
First, we must humble ourselves before God.
William Carey was a great missionary and an excellent linguist. He translated the Bible into 34 Indian dialects. When he came to India as a missionary, some looked at him with disgust and contempt. At a dinner party, a perky man tried to disgrace Carrie and said, loudly, in a loud voice, "Mr. Carrie, you used to be a shoemaker?"
Carrie then said, "No. Sir, I was a shoemaker, not a shoemaker.” He humbly replied that he was nothing more than a shoemaker. When he finally met his death after the missionary work, the person next to him asked, "Which Bible text would you prefer to use for your funeral sermon?" Then he said, "I think it's overdone to say something to a sinful human like me, but if you say