Grace For the Lowly

Today I would like to post a few scriptures to express what it is that God is looking for, and who it is that he will bless. All of these passages will be saying the same exact thing, but each one in a little different way: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 5:3). “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (I Pet. 5:5). “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick” (Mk. 2:17). “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth” (Jn. 9:39-41). “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isa. 9:2). The point here is that you simply cannot get anywhere with God by acting like you know what you’re talking about, when in fact you do not. And you will never grow in Christ by your mouth saying something different than what your heart is feeling and saying.

Too many folks try to mask their depraved spiritual condition by talking as though they are flying high in the Spirit. God addressed the condition that I’m talking about in Jeremiah, saying; “And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord” (Jer. 9:5,6). The result of putting on a facade of righteousness when your heart is not truly pure from this world’s influence and persuasion is always going to be further spiritual blindness, hardness, and destitution. Someone who truly has overcome sin and the spirits of this world needs no facade. What they are speaks for them, and is manifested to the conscience of everyone around them (II Cor. 4:2). And anyone who truly is free from sin and from the spirits of this world got that way and stays that way by knowing their own neediness and their total dependency on God to impart his righteousness to them. Neither do they measure themselves by others whom they deem less righteous than themselves, but rather they measure themselves continually with the holiness, love, and peace of Christ (Lk. 18:10-14; II Cor. 10:12). Friend, when you truly get free from this world of sin, there really is nothing left but God’s love, and a merciful spirit toward those who are failing (Gal. 6:1; I Jn. 5:16). Amen.