HUMBLE AND INDUSTRIOUS

PROCLAMATION

“And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, ‘Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace.  And she said unto her, ‘Go, my daughter.’  And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers …”  Ruth 2:2-3 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The Bible Book of Ruth was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Prophet Samuel.  After leaving Moab, Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem just as the harvest was beginning. (Ruth 1:22)  As two women alone, they had no means of support.  They were so poor that Naomi told those who knew her to call her Mara because The Lord God had made her life very bitter. (Ruth 1:20-21)  But Ruth did not just sit by, she humbled herself and went into the fields, and followed the harvesters, and gathered the grain which they dropped or missed. (Ruth 2:2-3)  She worked in the fields from morning until evening, then she threshed the grains she had gathered, and returned to Naomi and shared it with her. (Ruth 2:17-18)  She told Naomi about her meeting with Boaz, the owner of the field, and the kindness that he showed to her. (Ruth 2:19-22)  Ruth continued to glean the fields until the harvests were finished. (Ruth 2:23)

 

APPLICATION

Bad things can happen to good people, but that does not have to get them down.  Naomi seemed to be a little bit depressed by her situation but Ruth remained positive. Ruth humbled herself and got busy doing something that she would not normally do.  We should do likewise.  Whatever the current situation we are in, which is beyond our control, we can choose how we respond to it.  We may have to do some things that we would not ordinarily do, but we do not have sit by idly and complain.  All things happen for a reason, they may be a blessing or a test.  Whatever it is that occurs, all things work together for the good of them that love The Lord. (Romans 8:28)

THE HUMBLE WILL BE EXALTED

Proclamation:

"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:12 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke to the crowd and to His disciples warning them against hypocrisy as recorded by the Apostle Matthew under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God. 

Application:

Some people do things just for show, to be seen by others, to draw attention to themselves, to make themselves appear to be much more important, greater, or whatever, than they actually are.  Don't do things just to be seen by men and praised by men. (Matthew 23:5)  Do what you do because it is the right thing to do, not to get the praise of others for doing it.  Whatever we do should not be done to glorify ourselves in the eyes of others.  We should do things in such a manner so as to give God the glory. (Matthew 5:16)  Whosoever lifts himself up before others will be humbled, and he who humbles himself before others will be exalted.  It is better to be invited up to a seat of honor than to sit in a position of honor and be asked to move. (Proverbs 25:6-7)   Everyone is not who they claim to be.  There are even some people who claim to be a Child of God but they are not one.  Jesus said that there would be those who claim to be His followers but He will tell them to leave because they are evil and He does not know them. (Matthew 25:33 and 41)  We should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. (Romans 12:3) 

SOME BLESSINGS ARE CONDITIONAL

Proclamation:

"If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin ..." 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of The Lord God which He spoke to King Solomon when He appeared to him in a dream after he had finished building the temple of The Lord and the royal palace as an answer to his prayer. (2 Chronicles 7:12)  God wanted His chosen people to change their behavior before He would answer their prayers and forgive them.

Application:

We are blessed by The Lord God in more ways than we can count.  We receive some blessings without asking for them.  We are blessed when our hearts keep on beating and we keep on breathing.  However, some blessings are conditional; we only get those blessings after certain conditions are satisfied.  We only get the specified "then" blessings when the "if" conditions are satisfied.  Some of our prayers will not be answered until we, as believers, humble ourselves, and pray, and seek The Lord, and turn from our wicked sinful ways.  We should not expect that God will forgive us and bless us if we continue to commit the same sins over and over again.  If we honestly cannot help ourselves, then we need to pray to Him for His help and strength to change our ways.  The Bible says that the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)  We don’t have to be perfect but we must believe and be sincere when we pray.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and then He will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) 

The Humble Will Be Exalted

"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."  Matthew 23:12 (NIV)

These are the words spoken by Jesus, The Christ, to His disciples, to the crowd, and to the Pharisees and Sadducees in the temple in Jerusalem, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew.  He said this after telling them not to do things just to be seen by men.  He also said that they should not seek lofty titles, or call themselves "Rabbi", or "father", or "teacher".  The man who exalts himself will be brought down, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.

We should not promote or exalt ourselves, true promotion and exaltation comes from The Lord, He puts up one and puts down another. (Psalms 75:6-7)  He will honor and bless whomever He chooses, for whatever purposes He chooses.  The proud shall be brought down and the humble shall be honored. (Proverbs 29:23)  It is better to be invited up to a position of honor than it is to be asked to move or step down after taking a position or seat on your own.  It is better to be humble than to be proud. (Proverbs 16:19 and 1 Peter 5:5)  If we humble ourselves before The Lord, He will lift us up. (James 4:10 and 1 Peter 5:6)

The Meek Are Humble And Exercise Self Control

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."  Matthew 5:5 (NIV)

The Apostle Matthew recorded these words of Jesus as He taught His disciples, and the surrounding crowd, the beatitudes in His Sermon on The Mount.  This verse, the third of the beatitudes, states that the believers who are meek are blessed, and they will inherit the earth.

People often mistake meekness for weakness.  The meek are not weak, they are humble.  They would rather suffer a wrong than do wrong, and therefore they enjoy God's favor.  They have the ability and power to respond as most humans would respond when they have been wronged.  However, they choose to act in a Christ-like manner and thereby please The Lord.  The meek are exhibiting the fruit of The Holy Spirit and they are actually demonstrating supreme self-control through the power of The Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:23)  They have chosen to submit themselves unto The Lord and to follow His directions.  In keeping with The Word of God, they show a gentleness towards all men. (Titus 3:2)   They can bear provocation without being upset by it.  They can disagree with others without being disagreeable.  The Lord will guide and teach the meek (Psalms 25:9)  The meek enjoy the favor of God because they are like Christ.  Jesus said that He was meek. (Matthew 11:29)  These are the people who will inherit the new earth.  The fact that the meek shall inherit the earth is not only stated here, but it was also stated by King David in the Psalms. (Psalms 37:11)  

Receiving Special Conditional Blessings

"If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

It was at night that The Lord God appeared in a vision to King Solomon, the son of King David, and told him that He had heard his prayer. (2 Chronicles 7:12)  He told Solomon that He would hear the prayers of His people, and He would forgive them of their sins, and He would bless them.  But, He said that He would do this if they would first humble themselves, and pray to Him, and follow His commands, and turn from their wicked sinful ways.

We are all blessed in more ways than we can count.  However, there are additional conditional blessing which we could receive if we would first satisfy the stipulations that The Lord has placed upon them.  In this case the healing of the people, the nation, and the land, would not occur and the prayers for this would not be heard or answered.  Personally, our individual and collective sins would not be forgiven unless we changed our behavior.  As believers we are His people and He wants us to act more Christ-like.  We need to be more humble when we approach Him, and when we deal with others.  We need to sincerely pray many more times each day.  We need to confess our sins, ask to be forgiven, and submit to and follow His Word.  We also need to turn from our wicked sinful ways and stop repeatedly committing our favorite sinful bad habits.  Then, and only then will He keep His promise to hear our prayers, forgive our sins, and heal us.  Again, some blessings are conditional.

Be Compassionate And Humble And Be Blessed

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."  1 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV)

The Apostle Peter encouraged the believers to live in harmony, to be sympathetic, to be compassionate, to be humble, and to love one another as brothers.  By being a blessing to each other they would receive a blessing themselves.

The concept of "being a blessing to others and then receiving a blessing," is not a new one.  Peter may have been paraphrasing Proverbs 11:25 which states "he that watereth shall himself also be watered."  As Christians, we are to treat our fellowman with love and compassion.  We are to be sympathetic to the plight of others, and humble in our dealings with them.  Jesus said that as we treat our brothers, we are doing it to Him. (Matthew 25:40 and 25:45)  So let us be very careful about how we treat each other.  Treating others in a non-Christian way may cause us to miss out on a blessing.

Fear The Lord And Be Blessed

"Humility and the fear of The LORD bring wealth and honor and life."  Proverbs 22:4 (NIV)

According to King Solomon, the wisest man ever, the way to wealth, honor and long life is by being humble and fearing God. 

Fear in this case is complete reverence to God.  Fearing God is showing Him reverential awe, admiration, and submissiveness.  According to John MacArthur, "The fear of The Lord is a state of mind in which one's own attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals are exchanged for God's."  Being humble and reverent to God leads to being blessed.  The length of our days is determined by The Lord  (Psalms 21:4), and every good and perfect gift comes from The Lord.  (James 1:17)  These blessings are brought about by walking with God.  His favor, blessings, and rewards are poured out on those who reverence Him.  (Luke 2:14 & Revelation 11:18)  Fear the Lord and be blessed.

Be A Blessing And Inherit A Blessing

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." 1 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV)

Writing to "the pilgrims", the scattered Christians now strangers in a land that is not their own,
The Apostle Peter provides them with instruction on how to live honorably before unbelievers, before fellow believers, and in the midst of suffering.

We would do well to also follow these guidelines for Christian living. Because of their words and actions, some people are just plain hard to love. However, we must learn to live in harmony with all of God's people. We need to be sympathetic when sympathy is needed, compassionate when comfort is needed, and to be humble and loving at all times. We should show Christian love to others regardless of what is displayed to us. How do we bless folk who are not kind to us? We pray for them, speak well of them (find something good to say), and pray for their salvation and well being. By doing that, we will be blessed.

Why Are Times So Hard For Us?

To Adam God said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life ... By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." Genesis 3:17-19 (NIV)

After the original sin in the garden of Eden, man blamed the woman, and the woman blamed the serpent. God gave us free will and we did not choose wisely. For this reason we will suffer
hard times all the days of our lives. In sin we are conceived (Psalms 51:5), and we are servants to sin (Romans 6:6) until we give our lives to Christ. Every man born of a woman woman will live but a few days and those will be full of trouble (Job 14:1).

Things will not really get better for us until we change, humble ourselves, and pray, and turn from our wicked ways, and seek Him (2 Chronicles 7:14), then God will hear and answer our prayers.

Don't Brag Or Boast About Yourself

"Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips." Proverbs 27:2 (NIV)

Do not brag or boast about who you are or what you have. Jesus told the parable about the certain rich man who said to himself "... you have plenty of good things laid up for many years ..." and told him "You fool, this very night your life will be demanded from you." Luke 12:16-21 (NIV) Brag about what you have and you may not get to enjoy it.

"As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil." James 4:16 (NIV) Arrogant boasting about your accomplishments leaves God out. You are taking credit for what He allowed and caused to happen.

"It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to to seek one's own honor." Proverbs 25:27 (NIV) Self-seeking and pride can lead to one's downfall.

"We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." 2 Corinthians 10:12 (NIV) "For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom The Lord commends." 2 Corinthians 10:18 (NIV)

Be humble and lift The Lord up, and He will lift you up.

Let Him Lift You Up

"Humble yourselves in the sight of The Lord, and He shall lift you up." James 4:10

All too often we brag and boast about ourselves, even to the point of exaggeration. Some of us will even go as far as to tear down our fellow man in order to make us look good in comparison.

However, none of that is necessary, God knows all that we do. It is Him that we should be trying to please and not trying to impress mankind.

As long people exalt themselves, God will not exalt them. We cannot lift ourselves up very high anyway. We only consider ourselves great in our own minds.

Remember that in the presence of God, we are all insignificant so be humble.

God Cares For Us

"Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time; Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

Don't brag, boast, of exaggerate to make yourself look good and appear better than others. It is much better to humble yourself and let The Good Lord exalt you.

Humility is "low mindedness" when it comes to thinking of one's self. Thinking that one is not worthy and not good enough to serve The Lord. We are not important, He is. We are woefully inadequate and insignificant by comparison.

Rather than trying to lift ourselves up, we ought to lift up the name of Jesus.

God can lift you up out of whatever, place you above whatever, and He can keep you safe from whatever. He cares for you and He can take care of you.

God's Grace Is Sufficient

No matter what it is that we are going through, or dealing with, God's grace is sufficient to to get it us through it.

The Apostle Paul said, "... there was given to me a thorn in the flesh ... I besought The Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. Hand He said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

The Lord can demonstrate His strength when we are weak and have faith and turn it over to Him, whatever it is.

The Lord does not have to remove the mountain that is in front of you, He can give you the strength to climb over it.

Paul also said that the thorn was placed in his flesh "... lest I should be exalted above measure." We can think too highly of ourselves and our abilities and not give God the proper credit for what He did through us. The "thorns in the flesh" can help to keep us grounded and focused upon The Lord. The "thorns" of life can humble us.