humility

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Mercy Seat Mother – Touched By An Angel Christmas Series

Mercy Seat MotherGod chose angels to be His messengers on earth. We can see in His Word many accounts of angels visiting people to share the heart of God. Powerful! This message is not about angels but more about looking at why the angel came to the individual and how we can apply it to our lives.

Do angels visit people on earth today? This has been a subject of much controversy. Everybody has their opinion, but I remember a time when I was praying alone in my bedroom many years ago. I was laying prostrate on the floor crying out to God. Actually feeling like a worm because of some bad choices I had made in my past. I didn’t like myself and thought I had blown any chance of doing anything with my life. Then, as I was praying, I sensed an angelic being hovering over me. Now I didn’t see them with my eyes as I was laying with my face to the ground, but in my spirit I could see one of the cherubim that hovered over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant above me. Their wings were so long and wide they went through my bedroom walls into my living room and out the outer walls of my house. Again, I saw this all in a vision in my spirit. As they were hovering over me I knew I was in the presence of holiness. It took my breath away. I worked up some courage and asked, “Why are you here?” and the cherubim replied, “I hover over holy things.” I began to weep. My mental opinion of myself was terrible and now this angelic being was telling me they “Hovered over holy things.” I was calling myself “un-holy” and God wanted me to get the message that I was holy because I was forgiven and he washed all of my impurities away. This message brought by the angel visiting me that day changed my view of myself and actually changed my life.

We can learn from the angelic event that happened to Mary, the mother of Jesus, let’s read Luke 1:26:38.

What we can learn from the Mother of Jesus

1. Favor comes from God.

Luke 1:28 – 30 Amplified Bible
“And he came to her and said, Hail, O favored one [endued with grace]! The Lord is with you! Blessed (favored of God) are you before all other women!! But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled and disturbed and confused at what he said and kept revolving in her mind what such a greeting might mean. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace (free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving-kindness) with God.”

Mary was just an ordinary young lady with an extra ordinary assignment. She was favored by God. This means that she was endued with grace. She was favored as the Lord was with her. She was human just like you and I. But I believe she received favor because she lived doing the right thing. She was highly favored among women. She was beautiful inside and out.

Grace is “unmerited favor,” meaning something we receive despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Mary needed grace from God just as the rest of us do. Mary herself understood this fact, as she declared in Luke 1:47, “. . . and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. . .” Mary needed a Savior just like you and I.

God gave His unmerited favor to us when He forgave our sin through the sacrifice of His Son. We can ask for His favor to go before us where ever we go. We are His children.

The word Favor means “to grace, that is, indue with special honor: – Make accepted, be highly favored.”

This is our portion too. Sometimes we receive God’s favor when others think we shouldn’t. I love it when God uses the foolish things to confound the wise. When He uses me in spite of what others think I deserve or what they think I should be doing.. God brings promotion not man. We can receive a promotion that we were not even qualified for. That’s God’s favor! When God gives you favor He puts you somewhere you have no qualifications, or maybe even no right to be there and it is God who keeps you there. Trust in God for His favor.

Remember when God does promote you that you are nothing without Him. Tell yourself: “I am everything in God and I am nothing without Him!” This will keep you humble which is what Mary was and I believe that is why God favored her so highly.

2.  Be teachable.

Luke 1:34 Amplified Bible
“And Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I have no [intimacy with any man as a] husband?”

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be?” It is what Mary does not say that I find remarkable.  She does not say, “You have got to be kidding me. That is not going to happen!”  She just asks a question in a posture of learning. We too should be teachable, ready to learn even when it seems impossible.

How many times have you questioned God? Maybe God has asked you to do something and your brain just can’t seem to wrap around it because it doesn’t make sense in your natural reasoning.

Can you imagine being in Mary’s situation? You are young, and you’ve never been with a man and now an angel comes and tells you that you will be pregnant and give birth to the Son of God. Mary’s character really shined at this moment because she didn’t shrink back in disbelief. She was in for a lot of ridicule and shame from people who would think the worse in her situation; either she was unfaithful to Joseph, was pregnant before they were betrothed, or even worse, that they had sex out side of marriage. In those days it was the worse evil a woman could do. Yet, Mary was open to what was going to happen. It messes with our natural thinking. This is where a lot of people turn their backs on accepting Jesus because of His miraculous conception. This is why so many atheists fight in our nation to get Christ out of Christmas. It doesn’t make sense and they don’t believe.

Doesn’t make sense

Often God doesn’t make sense. Did it make sense when the Israelites finally were freed to go into the promised land and they came to the Red Sea and water was on one side and the Egyptians were on the other and yet the Israelites prevailed and walked on dry land and their enemies were destroyed and drowned? Did it make sense when the blind man needing to see and Jesus spit in the dirt and put it in the blind man’s eyes and he could see? Did it makes sense that Jesus lingered a few more days while his close friend, Lazarus was very ill and died? Did it make sense that Jesus raised him from the dead? Did it make sense when Jesus died and then rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for you and me?

We all have had “How can this be” moments in our life. This leads me to my next point…

3.  Jesus is our Mercy Seat.

Luke 1:35 Amplified Bible
“Then the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining cloud]; and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God.”

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining cloud];…” The word “overshadow” is really interesting when you find out more about it.

Other versions of the Bible state;

CEV – “God’s power will come over you.”
GNB – “God’s power will rest upon you.”
ISV – “Holy Spirit will come over you, and the power of the Most High will cover you.”
LITV – “Holy Spirit will come upon you.”
Message Bible – “Power of the Highest hover over you.”

“Come over,” “rest upon,” “cover you,” “come upon you,” “hover over you”… all these statements are what happened to Mary in the conceiving of the Son of God. The Holy Spirit overshadowed or hovered over Mary to make her fruitful.

Overshadow is translated in the Greek (G1982 Strongs Hebrew and Greek Definitions): “to cast a shade upon, to envelope in a haze of brilliancy; (figuratively) to invest with preternatural (Supernatural) influence.”

God supernaturally investing Mary with His power, his life, and she was divinely impregnated. This makes me think of the Cherubim who hovered over the covering or lid of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark represented God’s presence, the most holy place. The lid or covering was also known as the mercy seat. Read Exodus 25:17 – 22.

In the Old Testament, Leviticus 16 talks about how the Priest were to approach the mercy seat. How they were to bring a cloud of incense to cover the mercy seat so that they wouldn’t die. They were to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifices and on the mercy seat for atonement for the uncleanness of the children of Israel sins (Lev. 16:12 – 17). God spoke to Moses in the Holy place from the mercy seat (Numbers 7:89).

Mercy seat is translated “to cover, to condone, to cancel, appease, make an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon; to pitch or to purge (away), (make) reconcile (-liation).” (Strongs #H3722)

Jesus Christ, was the ultimate High Priest appearing before the throne of God after His making atonement or covering of the sins of humanity, and He is our mercy seat (Hebrews 9).

The very act of the Holy Spirit hovering or overshadowing over Mary, who would give birth to the “mercy seat” (Jesus) to pardon, cleanse, conceal, cover, disannul to pitch or purge away our sins has brought the Old Testament to the New Testament as Jesus Christ covers us all. He is the mercy seat of atonement! Mary was the Mercy Seat mother.

We need the Mercy Seat (Jesus) in our relationships with people to pardon what they have done to us and help us forgive them. We might even need the Mercy Seat to pardon what we have done to others. It is a place of mercy. How many of you need mercy today? We all do.

Getting back to Mary’s teachable question: “How can this be?” It was the Holy Spirit that made Mary’s womb fruitful. The Holy Spirit makes us fruitful (Fruit of the Holy Spirit Gal. 5) and equips us with His power (Acts 2) to do what God has called us to do.

When we have those “How can this be” moments in our own life remember no matter the task; be it great or small, public or private, physical or spiritual, God is faithful to equip us with His power through His Holy Spirit. We can stand and remember that “Nothing is impossible with God!”

Luke 1:37 Amplified Bible
“For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.”

4.  Be obedient.

Luke 1:38 Amplified Bible
“Then Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what you have said. And the angel left her.”

Mary could have refused to be pregnant and NOT carry the Son of God. I am sure she was surprised that the angel told her she would give birth, let alone to the Son of God. It was unexpected. Something she didn’t even expect or think could happen to her. Yet, she trusted God and His plans and purposes.

Mary had an immediate response of obedience.  She had and exemplary attitude of servanthood in the face of a crazy word from an Angel!  She knew that she would get looks, loose friends, get ridicule, and receive persecution.  She was about to be pregnant as a Virgin!  She is not married yet!  She knew this would be very difficult and the community would shame her, BUT despite this, she said, “I am the Lord’s Servant!”  Q. Can you say that?  Are you quick to obey God no matter the circumstances?  Are you sticking close to his Word, not wavering from the Truth no matter what others might say or do?  Let’s be like Mary!

Has God ever asked you to do something you never expected to do? Mary’s trust in God, and her obedience and cooperation with God’s plans and purposes, is a great example to follow. Allow God to work in you as He wants to, and know that all His plans for you are for your good. When unexpected things happen, keep trusting Him!

5. Mary knew how to be quiet and trust God.

Whatever Mary may have thought or felt, she controlled it because she said to the angel who first brought the news, “…let it be done to me according to what you have said.”

I believe that when God speaks something to us, many times we need to keep it to ourselves. He gives us the faith to believe what He has said to us, but if we try to tell it to others, they may think we have lost our minds. Other people do not always have the faith to believe what God has told us.

Luke 2:19 NKJV
“But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

When God spoke to Mary through the angel, there was a gift of faith that came with that word to her from the Lord so that she was able to say, “Let it be done.” But she was also wise enough not to go around knocking on doors saying, “I just had a visitation from an angel who told me I am going to give birth to the Son of God. I am going to get pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and the Child I will bear will be the Savior of the world.” Mary knew how to keep her mouth shut and her heart open. I encourage you to do likewise.

Allow the Holy Spirit to equip you. Spend some time with Him as He hovers over you to do great and mighty things. God can use anybody and He wants to use you. Don’t think less of yourself. Know that since God created you, He has good plans for your life. Have you given up on a dream God gave you? It is time to resurrect that dream and believe all things are possible with God. He will help you fulfill what He has called you to do. Don’t give up!

Your sister in Christ,
Pastor Kris Belfils

http://www.krisbelfils.com
http://www.HopeFellowshipSpokane.com
http://www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Play Nice

Play NiceChildren are taught to “Play Nice’ in school and on the play ground, but when we grow into adults, we tend to be less kind and more selfish.

We have to approach relationships and getting along with people differently then having the attitude of “what can I get out of this.” We have to put our big boy and girl pants on as adults and be mature when getting along with others. It is easy to decline and fall back into our old nature habits of only thinking of ourselves, but once you have conquered something, once you have grown and matured naturally, we are responsible for our behavior. Actually we are responsible for our behavior all the time.

It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian or not; people hurt people. We all have hurt someone in our life. No exceptions. Often it comes when we don’t get our own way or we feel rejected. Looking at the United States Government and how the Democrats and Republicans seem to not get along, in essence they haven’t learned how to “Play nice” with others. Playing nice means that you don’t always get what you want. It means thinking of the other person’s needs beyond your own. This is hard for us, especially when what the other person thinks or wants is contrary to what you want or even believe is right.

So what do we do?

Matthew 7:12 Message

“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get.”

How would you like to be treated? If you were the other person receiving your behavior how would you react? One thing is for certain we should never behave badly because someone else behaves badly. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Learn to maintain good behavior in spite of your coworker’s or your family’s actions. Take the higher road. Negotiations can never happen if rather party is unwilling to budge from their opinions or viewpoints. Compromise is not a bad thing when it comes to working out differences. Compromise is an extremely bad thing if it means compromising the Word of God and your morals. We all should be people of integrity. But there is still room for working things out even when we are standing up for what we believe. Fighting doesn’t get us anywhere.

PLAY NICE

1. Understand that everybody is different.

More fights are had all because we are expecting people to be just like us. Don’t expect people to be like you. God has made us all different for a reason. He even works out circumstances so that we are with people that rub us the wrong way all to build our character. We might not like it. We might actually hate it, but what are you going to do? I have learned to say to myself, “It’s okay, that is how they are and I can’t change them.” I remind myself (if the person is a Christian) that the same Holy Spirit who works on my heart and character is working on their heart and character too.

Do you have multiple children, with different personalities, and wonder how they all came from the same place? How many of you have kids you get along with better then some of the other kids you have? How many have a child you love but don’t get along with them very well? Is the one you don’t get along with a lot like you? Usually that is the case. This makes my point of how would you respond if you were the one receiving your own behavior?

When you have a strong personality and you have a strong-willed child the war is on! Give them something to be in charge of that you are okay with. Then, don’t meddle in their business. If they fail at what they are in charge of it will be a learning experience for them. If they succeed, which is what we hope for, then it will help build their character of being responsible.

God gives us all a temperament and they are all different. We can look at all the personalities of the Disciples. Peter and John were so different. Peter was like a fireball who couldn’t keep his mouth shut for two seconds, and John just hung out with Jesus. He even referred to himself, in the book that he wrote, “I am the disciple whom Jesus loves.” I am sure that grated on Peter. Remember when Jesus was teaching on forgiveness it was Peter who said, “How many times am I to forgive someone for the same thing?” These guys were people just like us. They got offended at each other. They were constantly dealing with that stuff.

Jesus had opportunity to be offended. Jesus came to do a job, He was anointed to do that job, He had to maintain that anointing on His life. Let me tell you He needed an anointing to go to the cross. He needed the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to get through Gethsemane. We have to have the power of the Holy Spirit to get through these things.

What would have happened if Jesus would have gotten offended at John the Baptist when he began to doubt rather He was the One.” What if Jesus hid that offense in his heart and dwelt on it? What if He got offended a the religious leaders because they were always giving Him trouble and Jesus didn’t let it go but dwelt on it? What if He got offended at His own family because His brothers thought He was stock raving mad? Even though Jesus kept on trying to do what God called Him to do He was carrying heavy weights and bondages because of the un-forgiveness in His heart. You know what? We wouldn’t be here today! You wouldn’t be having this message today. We wouldn’t have believers today because He could not have finished what God had called Him to do. He was tempted every time He turned around to take offense but He didn’t.

I hope you are seeing something here! I have to work constantly to keep offense out of my heart. Deal with it violently. Don’t think that I am any different then you. I can be going through my day or even praying and a thought goes through my mind about what someone said or did towards me and start to think, “Well, I can’t believe they said that!” or “I can’t believe they did that to me!” We all have to be aggressive in dealing with being offended. This is learning how to play nice.

The devil is the devil in everybody’s life. He is not easier on one person compared to another. Sometimes I have to say out loud, “No! I am not going to dwell on that junk.” “I refuse to dig up that stinking garbage any longer.” Often I Pray, “God help me!” You know why? Because I don’t belong to myself. Neither do you. we don’t have the privilege of acting like an ordinary person. Paul told the Corinthian church, “You are carnal, fleshly babies because you are acting like mere unchanged men.

1 Cor. 3:1 – 3 Amplified Bible

“However, brethren, I could not talk to you as to spiritual [men], but as to nonspiritual [men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates], as to mere infants [in the new life] in Christ [unable to talk yet!] I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough [to be ready for it]; but even yet you are not strong enough [to be ready for it], For you are still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?”

Let me say it again, “We don’t have the fleshly privilege of acting like everybody else.” The whole rest of the world can get mad and stay mad, but we don’t get to stay mad! We get mad, but we don’t get to stay mad. We have to let it go, drop it and leave it and not be stumbling over that stumbling block all the time.

I am determined to finish what God has called me to do. And you need to be determined to do what God has asked you to do! Whatever that is you need to be determined to finish it. If it is nothing more then serving the Lord with gladness then be determined to do that! Everybody is not like us and we need to understand and look at a person and say. “you have just as much right as I do to think like you do. We don’t have to answer for anyone else, we only have to answer for ourselves.

Life would be pretty boring if we were all alike. Just think about making a pizza with just the crust? Adding more ingredients makes the pizza a pizza. Sauce, cheese, pepperoni, olives, … etc. We need to learn to appreciate the differences in people. Appreciate the value they are to us stop thinking about how different they are. Amen!

Stop trying to be somebody else and just be fully and completely you and let everybody else be who they are!

2. Be humble. 

No one likes an arrogant person. Don’t over or underestimate yourself.

Romans 12:3 Amp

“For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.”

Learn how to say I am not always right. Learn how to say, “Yes its ok if we do that, I don’t have to get my way all the time!” Always wanting your way is childish. That is how we were when we were toddlers. They don’t understand sharing or thinking about the other person. But we are adults and we know better. Only a dictator gets their way all the time. Don’t be a dictator. A dictator is someone who has complete power and no one can trump it. Usually a dictator is oppressive and demands their own way. They have unrestricted power and control. This is NOT the case with any Bible believing Christian. We are all subject to God and His authority.

Being around a person who is a leader and they act like a dictator is oppressive bondage. “My way or the highway!” Does this describe you? We should have freedom our creative selves. Are you a dictator in your house? In your work? With other Christians? We need to learn to be humble and realize we don’t have all the answers. Remember in marriage that you and your spouse are a team. Each have important things to bring into the marriage. Love will be patient and kind and not self-seeking. What have you contributed to your relationships lately?

James 4:10 KJV

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

If you are being oppressed don’t try and seek revenge or feel it will be like that the rest of your life. God sees. He will lift you up. He will bring deliverance. God is your vindicator. He fights for injustice. He is fighting for you so you don’t need to fight but just to remain stable and keep your ground.

Exodus 14:14 NKJV

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

God will fight for you so stop fighting for yourself. Learn to play nice with others and know that God keeps the books.

3. Give criticism sparingly. 

People don’t respond well to criticism but they respond well and are motivated by encouragement. You can have a student who has one teacher that gives encouragement and one teacher who criticizes. Inevitably the student who has the subject with the encouraging teacher will have a higher grade then the subject with the teacher who criticizes their work. It is the same in our families and any relationship we may have; encouragement goes a long way.

Are you a nosey ninny? Sometimes we just need to mind our own business! Here are a few quotes about minding your own business:

-The hardest part of business is minding your own.

-The biggest fool is one who minds the business of others rather than minding his very own.

-Hey, I found your nose, it was in my business again.

-Everyone else notices everyone else’s problems but never pay attention to their own.

-Facebook; Letting you put your nose in other people’s business since 2004.

You have enough to deal with in your life, it is not your job to know it all or fix others. If you see something wrong in someone else’s life, pray that God shows that other person. The Holy Spirit can do a far better job then you can. There will be times we have the means to help somebody, then do it!

There are times we need to give criticism, but not at the expense of destroying someone.

Criticism means: “the act of expressing disapproval and of noting the problems or faults of a person or thing : the act of criticizing someone or something: a remark or comment that expresses disapproval of someone or something (merriam-webster.com).”

This causes fights. People won’t respond well to judgement.

Matthew 7:1 – 5 NKJV

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Powerful words. Here is a down to earth rendition of those verses:

Matthew 7:1 – 5 Message

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.”

We can criticize or judge someone inwardly. Even though we didn’t share our critical thoughts to them we still have committed a sin because Jesus said if you even look at a person and lust for them you have committed the act in your heart.

We respond outwardly to how we think about others. If you think someone is doing something wrong, but you don’t tell them, your actions will reflect what you are thinking. You will probably treat them as if they were “less then.” You may even snub your nose at them. You could think, “I would never do that!” and your actions could be one of arrogance or indifference.

We all have faults. You do too if you would be truthful with yourself. If you are a person who is constantly being critical of others you will live a lonely miserable life. Criticizing doesn’t do anything good for anybody, including you. Learn to be easy going! Learn to accept the differences, or even the faults of others. Nobody is perfect. Give some people some slack: mercy and grace, even if they don’t acknowledge the wrongs they may have done to you.

4. Talk less and listen more.

Are you a person who likes to tell people what you think? Maybe you always have to tell something about yourself when others are talking. Many fights have started all because someone talked over another and didn’t really hear what the other person said. I know because it has happened in my life.

We could avoid undue stress and broken relationships if we would just talk less and listen more. Have you ever been around someone who talks so much you can never get a word in edge wise? It is pretty frustrating to say the least. When this happens voices are usually raised so the other person is heard. This can create an atmosphere of stress, or even worse, one can walk away from it thinking less valued.

Learn how to be quiet until the other person is finished talking. Even if you are afraid you will forget what you want to say or contribute into the conversation, just note what you want to say in your mind and turn your listening ears on.

People want to know you care. They don’t necessarily want a sermon or a lecture. If someone is going through a hard time, and they haven’t asked for your advice, don’t give it unless you ask them. We can say things like, “Would you like to know my advise?” or “Do you want to know what I think?”

Proverbs 10:19 NKJV

“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”

We can sin just by talking too much. In other words if you babble on and on about you, your life, people, things that happened to you, chances are you will gossip and criticize others in the process. Talking less gives your tongue a rest and your ears a chance to function! LOL

Proverbs 17:28 Amplified Bible

“Even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Holding our tongue, even when what we want to say is right, can keep the peace in a relationship. Sometimes it is just enough to know you are right. Other people don’t need to know that. Being a “know-it-all” is annoying to others and it is not playing nicely.

Often when we talk we don’t think about what we are saying. We should think about how it will come across to the listener. Our tone of our voice and our actions actually speak louder then words. We can tell someone that we love them, but if the tone of our voice is anger or if our actions suggest that we don’t value the other person, chances are you really don’t love that person. They will walk away feeling undervalued.

I like to learn how to watch people’s body language. It intrigues me to find out if someone is lying or not. There is a technique. There are many books out there too. Police and Law enforcement’s study people and can tell if someone is telling the truth. Most of the time if you talk less and listen more you can decipher things about the other person’s character. Not to criticize them but to understand them.

James 1:19 Amplified Bible

“Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry.”

Be quick to listen. Be determined to find out more about the other person instead of the person knowing way more about you. We have two ears and one mouth. This should remind us that we should think twice as much as we speak!

Proverbs 8:2 ESV

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”

Psalm 141:3 ESV

“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!”

This should be our prayer. It will help in all areas of our life. I don’t want anything coming out of my mouth that is not pleasing to God. We can lose relationships just by what comes out of our mouth. Guard your mouth. Always think before you speak. Will the listener be okay with the words I say to them? This will help us to play nicely with others.

5. Display true love.

1 Cor. 13:4 – 7 Message

“Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.”

Often we think we need someone to love us but in essence we need somebody to love. The Bible says love is the most excellent thing we can do.

We are not called to “in-reach” we are called to “outreach!” Live to make somebody else happy.

1 Cor. 12:31 Amplified Bible

“But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces). And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all–love].”

Loving people is a more excellent way. Choose to love instead of hate. Choose to look at the good and not the bad in people. You will always find bad, some people have more of it then others. Most of the time when someone is acting up it is because they have unresolved issues in their life. People are not our enemy though.

Matthew 5:44 Amplified Bible

“But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you to show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike]. For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that?”

God wants us to do good to people who haven’t done any good for us because that is the best spiritual warfare to keep the devil under your feet. It breaks any stronghold the enemy is trying to put on you.

Love is the highest form of spiritual warfare. If we think we are doing something smart and stay mad at somebody and get revenge on them, it is the absolutely worse thing we could do for ourselves. Its all based on feelings. I feel, I feel, I feel! Feelings come and go but God’s word remains; we are to love one another as He loves us.

One of the main reasons people don’t walk in love is because love is an effort. Now get this: love will always cost you something. Its gonna cost some time, some effort, even to not start a fight in your home. It will cost you some pride. Be willing to swallow your pride to let someone else think they are right. Even though you are sure your right a fight and we have to guard our peace.

Its not that you become a doormat or let everybody walk all over you and push you around. You confront when God shows you to confront and you wait God tells you to wait.

Most of the time when God wants me to confront I want to leave it alone and when I want to confront He is telling me to leave it alone. When somebody has hurt us one of the hardest things in the world is to wait and let God bring our vindication. We want to take it for ourselves don’t we?

If you are waiting for the other person to do whats right, I have an announcement to make; You maybe waiting a long time. You are the one hearing this message so guess what? You get to start first! And not only that, if you’re the Christian in your house, then you ought to be the one to start first. You can’t expect the people who don’t know the Word to do anything right because they don’t even know what right is. So we have to do it as an example.

No matter how others act you stay the same. Don’t allow their behavior to dictate yours. Jesus didn’t change with the circumstances and act up with the people who were acting up. He remained the same. We can do this too by the grace of God. Love because we are commanded too. Love because it is being like Christ.

In order to get along with people in these last days we are living in it is imperative that we:

Play Nice (Review)

1. Understand that everybody is different.

2. Be humble.

3. Give criticism sparingly.

4. Talk less and listen more.

5. Display true love.

This is how we play nicely with others. It is not rocket science, just plan and simple stuff.  Be a person who lets go of selfishness and clings to kindness and love. Your world will be a much better place and you will keep your peace in any relationship you may have.

From one playground dweller to another,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.KrisBelfils.com

www.HopeFellowshipSpokane.com

www.KrisBelfils.WordPress.com

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Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness (Part 2)

Gentleness2

Gal. 5:22 Amplified Bible

“But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].”

God hates pride

Proverbs 6:16 Amplified Bible

“These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren.”

A proud look – the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others. God doesn’t like it when we think little of other people. Especially if He has gifted us in an area and we look down on others because they can’t do what we do.

Maybe some of you are gifted mentally and you learn really really fast. Sometimes those people make the worse trainers because they just don’t get it that others don’t get it the first go around. And if you are not careful you make others feel inferior by your words, “Well, how can you not understand that?” “Hello?” Don’t you hate that, “Hello, is anybody home in there?” “Yes, thank you I have been in here a lot of years.”

Some teenagers haven’t lived long enough to know a lot, but they think they know everything. Not all are like that, thank God. You don’t have to wait to be fifty to start humbling yourself. You can start now! This will put a smile on God’s face.

I have read this someplace: “When a person turns eighteen their brains fall on their pillow at night and they don’t get it back until they are twenty five. For me it was more like forty-five.

God hates pride. It’s not just something that He doesn’t like, He hates it.

Humility is defined as: “freedom from pride and arrogance, a modest estimation of your own worth.” In theology it means “lowliness of mind, having a consciousness of your own defects.”

Not unto condemnation. You should be able to tell people what your strengths and weaknesses are and not be embarrassed because we all have them.

God purposely leaves weaknesses even in His choicest of saints because if you had no weaknesses you would have no need for God. Sorry, you will never do it all right. No one is perfect! You can have a right heart, and you can want to do what is right and you can get up everyday and press toward that mark of perfection, but you have to get comfortable with having some weaknesses. Know what you are good at and know what you are not good at. Stop putting all your time into what you are not good at, trying to prove something you are never going to prove. If you are not good at something, find someone else who is.

I tried to sow and do scrapbooking, but that was just stupid. I tried to garden and decorate my home, but that was not my gifting. I tried to do sales and work at a retail store but it left me feeling empty and never satisfied. When I minister for God I feel it is my purpose in life. It brings such a satisfying feeling and I know I am doing exactly what I was created for. It fuels me to see people transformed by the power of God. This is my theme and mission for ministry: “Seeing people transformed by the power of God to transform their world in turn!”

Humble (Vines Greek Dictionary): “Low lying, or to stay under.”

To stay under the mighty hand of God. To stay somewhere when you would like to leave or get out of it but you know God is telling you, “Not yet, not yet, not yet!”

Maybe staying at a job that you are the only believer and it really is not all that comfortable to you. Everything in you would love to go do something else, and you could. You could go get another job but you know deep down inside you are the only light in the place and that is where God needs you. So you humble yourself. You stay under the direction of God.

When are we going to learn to get around to living for God? To realize everything doesn’t have to be comfortable. Everything doesn’t have to feel good. There are sacrifices that we are asked to make sometimes. To stay somewhere where you really don’t want to be. To do something you really don’t want to do. Even as far as not defending yourself.

It’s taking me a long time to not try and convince people that I am a good person when they judged me. “Well, you just don’t understand.” Honestly, the more you try and defend yourself, the guiltier you look. Sooner or later you have to get to the point and say, “God you are in charge of my reputation, and if it isn’t good it is Your problem.”

No body is free until you get to the point you don’t try and impress anybody. I said you are not free until you stop trying to impress anybody!

Meek (Vine’s Greek Dictionary): “Gentle, mild, Christ’s own disposition. It is the Christian adornment. It is the opposite of self interest and self assertiveness. It is an inwrought grace of the soul.”

It has to be worked in us. You can’t just get in the prayer line and get this. I could lay hands on you until you had no more hair on your head and pray for you all night and not pray humility in you. You have a seed of it in you, I do too. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us!

But a seed has to be watered, it has to be nurtured. You have to keep the weeds away from it. It has to have sunlight. You have to work with it. In order for this seed to grow you have to study in these areas, you have to spend time with God, and you have to go through things where you have to apply this fruit. In the beginning it is so hard you feel like there is no way you can do it.

Let’s talk about trails for a minute…

Trials

2 Cor. 1:8 Amplified Bible

“For we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about the affliction and oppressing distress which befell us [the province of] Asia, how we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life [itself].”

I’m telling you Paul was having a bad day!

2 Cor. 1:9 Amplified Bible

“Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the [very] sentence of death, but that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God Who raises the dead.”

Why do you find yourself in a situation that is definitely over your head and seems like more then you can bear? God wants you to say, “I can’t handle this, but God you can.” “This is too much for me, I lean on you.” “I rely on you God for wisdom.”

Sometimes the more God uses you and the more He blesses you, the more He will have these kinds of situations salted and peppered into your life every now and then.

There is something about us, we just can’t seem to stay right if all we ever have is good good, blessing, blessing, blessing, favor, favor, blessing, blessing. You know why? We start to get proud and puffed up.

The Bible says pride puffs one up. Sometimes God lets us walk into some stupid trap the devil placed before us. He’ll get us out of it but not until God is done with it.

God has to keep us in a position that He can use us and the only way God can use us is when we stay humble, under, submissive. It is not just about being submissive to God, we need to be submissive to the human authority God places over us. And we need to learn how to do it with a good attitude.

You have to learn to come under authority before you come in authority. Coming under authority is not just doing what someone tells you to do, and doing it with a bad attitude and start talking about them behind their back. Come on now! We have to say, “God if this is the job you have given me right now then I’m going to trust You. I’m going to do this for you. And I am going to do it with a good attitude. I’m going to do it unto you.”

The Bible never asks us to do things for man, it asks us to do things for God. The Bible says, The love of Christ constrains me (2 Cor. 5:14). The more we love God, the more we are going to control ourselves to operate in all this fruit. We are going to trust God to get what we are suppose to have. (We will be talking more about this when we talk about the fruit of self-control)

Meekness is not weakness. It is strength under control. Let’s talk about Paul’s famous thorn for a minute.

2 Cor. 12:7 – 8 Amplified Bible

“And to keep me from being puffed up and too much elated by the exceeding greatness (preeminence) of these revelations, there was given me a thorn (a splinter) in the flesh,…”

God was using Paul mightily more then anybody else at that time. He had a miraculous conversion. Miracles. He received by direct revelation two thirds of the New Testament. The greatest revelation on grace.

“…a messenger of Satan, to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted. Three times I called upon the Lord and besought [Him] about this and begged that it might depart from me;..”

And He said, “No!” We’d like to think God is going to say yes after everything we ask Him. “Oh God You got to get me out of this!” Well, sometimes God says, “No! You are more valuable to Me in that situation then out of it.”

Vs. 9 “But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness…”

God said, “My grace is sufficient for you and My strength and power are made perfect in your weakness.”

God in essence said, “I have given you this thing that creates a weakness in you and inability in you so you’re going to need me and cry out for My grace, and it’s all gonna be okay anyway Paul cause I’m gonna fill up that strength with my grace and it will be as if you didn’t even have it, but I’m going to leave it with you so you need Me.”

Pride is independence. It’s all about me, and I, and what I can do, and not being needy. We inherently don’t want to need anybody. We would much prefer to be self-sufficient. But that’s not God’s plan.

Look at Job for a minute. He did have a problem. He was a righteous man but he had gotten a little smidge into self-righteousness. If you really studied the book of Job, which I highly recommend, you’ll see that he had a little attitude adjustment that was needed. And after he got it God blessed him twice as much as before.

God’s not trying to hurt anybody. He’ll bless you more after you humble yourself. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due time He might lift you up and exalt you.

Job 10:16 Amplified Bible

“If I lift myself up, You hunt me like a lion and again show Yourself [inflicting] marvelous [trials] upon me.”

You can scream at the devil until you don’t have any voice left. Realize it isn’t all the devil. Some of it was God growing me up. He was allowing me to be in certain situations to teach me how to still act like this no matter what my circumstances were or what situation I was in. This is the “grow up stuff” we need to learn.

The fact is God does want to bless you more then you can possibly imagine but you cannot maintain the gifts God wants to give you if you don’t have the fruit to balance it out. Otherwise you are a tree with no roots. First we have to get rooted and grounded in God.

 Job 33:16 Amplified Bible

“Then He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction [terrifying them with warnings].”

I believe when we are acting bad God gives us warnings but we don’t always listen.

Job 33:17 Amplified Bible

“That He may withdraw man from his purpose and cut off pride from him [disgusting him with his own disappointing self-sufficiency].”

Is anybody disgusted with your own self-sufficiency? Like, I am just fed up with acting like I know it all, can do it all, don’t need anybody, competing with other people, comparing myself to other people. I don’t want the pressure anymore of trying to impress anybody. I just want to be free to be me, and be wherever God has put me!

What hard work it is trying to impress people! We have to buy things we can’t afford, and dress in clothes we don’t even like and they are not even comfortable.

Fruits of Pride

Do you have pride in your heart? Believe it or not there is fruit produced from pride in our life. The things we do, the attitudes we have produce fruit. I read “50 Fruit of Pride” and it was amazing how many on the list I did.

Martha wanted to impress Jesus with all her work but Jesus said, “…Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41 NASB)

What do you do or use to make an impression on others? Cars? Jewelry? Home? The furniture you own? The neighborhood you live in? The company you work for? The amount of money you make a month? Your level of education? What restaurants you eat at? Who you know? What you know? What you look like? Are you a name dropper?

Be free from impressing people. Just be yourself and you will enjoy your life and have fun!

When you are full of pride you draw attention to yourself. You like to talk about yourself. Desire recognition and praise. “Give me the credit that is due me!” You are not fulfilled in serving others. You are self-sufficient. “I will do it myself, then I will know it is done right.”  OUCH!

Proud people are anxious because they are always worried about something. They actually think they can solve their own problems.

Self-focused, overly self-conscious. They fear man, and are very concerned about what people think of them.

The Bible says we need to be very careful about our thinking. Be careful when you think you stand, lest you fall.

Even giving your testimony can be given in pride. It it glorifies the person instead of God, it is pride. When giving our testimony the time has to be right and our motives have to be right or we are just gloating.

“Oh brother are you sick? I was sick just last week with the same thing but I prayed and it instantly went away!” What an insensitive, unfeeling, unthinking, unloving, haughty, puffed up Christian! … Selah

We should never give our testimony unless it glorifies God. So many times we lose the power of something that is a secret between us and God because we have to tell somebody!

God has so much that He wants to do in everyone of our lives. God wants to lift you up. He wants to bless you in amazing ways and share His power with you. But first we have to humble ourselves. We have to prove that we will do what ever God asks us to do with those blessings and with that power. Otherwise we become dangerous and all we do is hurt people. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. that in due time He may exalt you and lift you up! Amen!

Ask God to help you be a more gentle, meek, and humble person. Be a plant that wants to grow they way the Master Gardner wants you to grow instead of a stubborn week that wants its way and chokes out all the other healthy plants.

Blessings,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.HopeFellowshipSpokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

(A portion of this article was from Joyce Meyer’s audio CD: “Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness”)

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Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness (Part 1)

GentlenessGal. 5:22 Amplified Bible

“But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].”

Gentleness, (meekness, humility) is one of the hardest Christian virtues to develop in our lives. A person who needs humility thinks they don’t need it at all, and thats proof that they do need it.

In this message we will be looking at Gentleness, meekness, and humility.

Gentleness

The word “Gentle” in the Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language: “Mild; meek; soft; bland; not rough, harsh or severe; as a gentle nature, temper or disposition; a tame; peaceable, not wild, turbulent or refractory, soothing, treating with mildness, not violent.”

Are you a gentle person? How do you respond when someone rubs you the wrong way? Are you rough, harsh, or wild in your response or are you meek, humble, and peaceable?

Phil. 4:5 NIV

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

This fruit of gentleness should be seen by the world, Christian and non-Christians alike should see you as a gentle person. Gentleness preserves us and brings peace in our lives. When we are calm and gentle with our responses to others, our lives are better for it.

I use to think it was my right and duty to tell someone how they hurt me. I wanted them to know that what they did had much consequence in my life. After I spewed out my retaliation I felt good and life was better. But was it? Telling someone the negative things of how you feel towards them or trying to stand up for yourself just makes you look bad, especially in how you deliver it. In my case, I usually delivered it with much emotion and fire. No one could stand after receiving my wrath. It was never a good thing. I was deceived in thinking it was okay to behave like that. It didn’t show gentleness in any form. It wasn’t the fruit of the spirit manifesting in my life it was the fruit of pride and selfishness. This was a hard lesson for me to learn.

We are to be gentle when dealing with people, especially when we are correcting them.

Gal. 6:1 Amplified Bible

“Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.”

Meekness

Gentleness is also known as meekness as you saw in the Dictionaries definition of gentle. Being meek is part of being gentle.

It is hard to respond sometimes with gentleness. Human nature tells us to stand up for ourselves and don’t allow others to get away with hurting us. Meekness differs from gentleness. In many ways these two fruit of the Spirit at the same; but meekness is an inward and passive thing, and gentleness is an outward and active thing. A man feels meek, but he acts gently.

Interesting when Moses, Jesus, John the Baptist, Stephan, and many others, were standing up for truth, and what was right, they would speak boldly. They even called those they were speaking to as “Brood of vipers or Stiffed neck, or Hypocrites. But when they were accused they didn’t speak up for themselves or retaliate. This is meekness.

Meekness is not weakness. Meekness requires great strength.

Numbers 12:3 Amplified Bible

“Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind, and humble) or above all the men on the face of the earth.”

Moses was a meek man yet he was one of the greatest leaders in history. He could be stern when an occasion demanded; for example when he made the worshipers of the golden calf drink the dust of their own idol (Exodus 32:30). This was holy zeal for the sake of God Almighty.

When Moses own name was reproached by his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, he didn’t make any attempt to retaliate. This reveals the true character of the man, and his meekness.

Stephen is another good example. His meekness shines in his prayer for his murderers when they were stoning him: “And falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]! And when he had said this, he fell asleep [in death].” (Acts 7:60 Amplified Bible)

With Stephen, there was no appearance of weakness when he scolded the Sanhedrin, “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost” (Acts 7:51 KJV).

Notice the qualities in Moses and Stephan: zeal for God, but meekness for self.

What about Jesus? Scripture tells us that he was “led as a lamb to the slaughter” yet cleansed the temple with a whip! Jesus didn’t have to go to the cross. He said, “Don’t you know I can call on a legion of angles and they would deliver me.” But He humbled Himself under the mighty hand of God because He knew that was what God wanted Him to do and what was going to be best for everybody else.

He didn’t use His power to get out of something but humbled Himself to go through something that He thought God wanted Him to go through. It would be like if somebody really did me dirty and it made me made and I knew I had the ability to get them back but I refused to do that because I knew it wasn’t what God wanted me to do. That’s meekness. When you have the ability to do something but you won’t do it because you don’t believe that is what God wants you to do. Amen!

That’s a powerful person. It takes a much more powerful person to wait on God then to take fleshly action in your own zeal. “Well bless God you are not going to treat me that way!” If that fire is in you, allow God to give you a different kind of fire.

If you have the authority or ability to get even or hurt the other person who spoke badly about you this is what you need to do: Forgive, pray, and bless (FPB) and allow God to take care of the situation.

There was a person who was on my staff and to my face they were kind and nice and seemed obedient, but I was getting feed back from other people who were around them that they were speaking negative words about me to others. It hurt me. I was in the position to give her fits in our staff meetings, or even point blank tell her I knew what she was saying about me behind my back. I could have taken action but I humbled myself instead. I loved her every time I saw her. This wasn’t easy. I had to pray constantly when I was in her presence, and when I thought about her. God told me to give her some gifts even though I knew what I knew about her. It was hard. I felt I was wasting them on her because she didn’t deserve them. But, I obeyed in spite of what I felt. Eventually she left the staff and did her own thing. Months went by and one day she attended where I was speaking at. By this time God showed me her character and condition of her heart and it made me pray for her every time I thought of her. After the service I went up to her and her friend and asked if there was anything she wanted prayer for. She broke down and started to cry and asked for my forgiveness. She didn’t say why, but I knew, yet she didn’t know I knew. God gave me so much love for her at that moment. I saw her countenance change from anxiety and fear to peace and joy. I never told her what I knew. It didn’t seem to matter any more. Later she thanked me and said she had peace for the first time in over a year.

You see we never know what others are going through because of the mean things they have done to you. Meekness is holding back your strength when you have the power to let them have it! Meekness is gentleness and humility all rolled up into one. Are you a gentle person?

Meekness is not weakness at all. A meek man is a powerful man, a real man. Jesus was a meek man. A real man. A powerful man. A gentle man is a real man. What has happened to gentlemen? My husband still will open the door for me or hold a door as I walk into a store. Even if I opened the store door and motion for him to walk in, he will put his arm out and hold the door and I know I am to walk in first. This is being a gentleman. He has the power to push his way in first, but he chooses not too.

We as believers we need to fight for these qualities. We need to fight for these virtues. The way we do it is by being a good example everywhere we go. The Fruit of the Spirit is there for our taking but many don’t. Why? I believe because it costs them something. It costs us to change.

Do you know the Bible promises things to those who are meek?

The promises to the meek:

  1. The meek shall eat and be satisfied (Psalm 22:26)
  2. The meek will He guide in judgment (Psalm 25:9)
  3. The meek will He teach His way (Psalm 25:9)
  4. The meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5)
  5. The meek will find rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28 – 30)

Matthew 11:28 – 30 KJV

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Humility

Humility is so major. I give kudos to those who came today and have come during this Fruit of the Spirit series. It means that you want to grow. A lot of people want to see what God can do for them, but they really don’t want to hear what they need to do.

We are living in darkness but we are the light. Everyone of us need to dust off our bulbs and get ourself turned up to full power! There is a great danger living in the world today because we can drift. If you don’t set an example for your kids in your home, I don’t know what is going to happen to them. There was a day if the parents didn’t do their job there would be people and heroes out there that would be an example. WE have to bring it up higher!

The Fruit of the Spirit, these are the most beautiful things you can show your children.

Philippians 2:3 Amplified Bible

“Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourself].” 

That doesn’t mean to think lowly of yourself. That’s not what it means at all. It means not to think you are better then other people. Are you willing to listen to what they have to say. They might be right and you are wrong? Can you receive a word of correction from them? Listen, you have no idea how God will speak to you.

God had to talk to a prophet through a donkey. A person with a humble attitude is willing to receive. Don’t think that you are better then other people or that what you do is more important then what somebody else does. Don’t have a lowly opinion of yourself, but never mistreat somebody else because you think that you are better then them. These are things we have to think about a little bit.

Philippians 2:4 – 7 Amplified Bible

“Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others. Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, but stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.”

Jesus coming down here and becoming a human would be like us seeing a little red ant and we decided to become an ant and crawl around in the dirt to help them. Jesus sweat drops of blood under the pressure of enduring the cross. He had the power to walk away from it but was obedient to what His Father wanted.

Philippians 2:8 – 11 Amplified Bible

“And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue [frankly and openly confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Humility comes before honor, and pride goes before destruction. (Proverbs 16:18 , Proverbs 15:33.) Pride destroys us but humility promotes and blesses us.

The devil’s sin was pride. Interesting. He lost his position through pride and will live in everlasting shame because of it. Jesus bought us back and He received His position through humility. Humility had to come to overcome the pride of the enemy. We were stolen through pride and gained back through humility. Powerful!

Naturally the devil wants us to be like him. He wants us to take on his nature. He wants us to be full of me, myself, and I. I think, I want, I know. Until you get throughly fed up with you, talking about you, thinking about you, and trying to make provision for you. Some of you are just about there aren’t you?!

I’m tired of thinking about myself, worrying about myself, trying to make plans for myself, trying to make everything work out for myself. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and see what God can do. That place of humility brings you into rest. It brings an ease.

Next week Part 2 of Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness. We will be looking more at Humility and The 50 Fruit of Pride.

Pastor Kris Belfils

http://www.KrisBelfils.com

http://www.HopeFellowshipSpokane.com

http://www.krisbelfils.wordspress.com

by

Brokenness

brokenness_wide_t_nv

Matthew 16:24 – 25 NKJV

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

GIVING UP CONTROL: BROKENNESS

It is human nature to look out for yourself. You don’t have to teach a baby this. One of their first words they may say is, “Mine!” Parents work hard at teaching their children to share and to look out for others.

 “The pronouns “my” and “mine” look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.”

A. W. Tozer “The Pursuit Of God”

We can be controlling and stingy at times. What does it mean to give God control of our lives? If we give God control, will He totally change us into something we don’t want to be? After all, allowing God to have control, with His time and purposes, takes too long.

How many of you have “helped” God out by going ahead with your own idea of what should happen?

Even if God birthed within us a vision or a goal, we try to hurry up the process in our own wisdom and power. But all we end up doing is make a mess of things.

We either do one of two things when it comes to control:

1. We don’t wait and take control our self.

a. We can see this mistake with Sarai (Sarah).

Genesis 16 (recap) Sarai had her Egyptian maid, Hagar, conceive Abraham’s child and Ishmael was born. Eventually, in God’s time, He allowed Sarai to conceive and Isaac was born. The two brothers fought, and their descendants fight to this day.

Sarai knew the promise that God gave Abram that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5).

Sarai had yet to give Abram a child. She was old and well past child bearing years.

Genesis 16 shows us what happens when we try to make something happen in our time instead of waiting on God for His time and purpose.

When we don’t wait for God’s time, and try to make things happen in our own time, only mistakes are made. Waiting is one of the hardest things for us humans to do, but when we do, we are blessed.

Our self-sufficiency can destroy us and our pride will prevent God’s favor and blessing to manifest in our lives.

The flesh is hard to tame. The only thing that will tame it is to lay it down at Christ’s feet and say, “Have your way in me.”

2. We submit and give God control

          a. Jesus gave up control to the Father when He literally laid down His life for His Father’s will.

Jesus said it well in Matthew 26:39b (Amplified Bible) “…My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire.”

The process of surrendering our all to Christ can be a difficult and painful process, yet extremely rewarding once we do it.

Philippians 1:21 (NKJV)

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Dealing with your flesh

Now dealing with your flesh is hard. Your flesh or your will, doesn’t want to die.

It will scream out at you to stop. It will scream out in self-pity to have its way. Be aware of it when the time comes for you to let go of your control to God. If self-pity wins, sin has won. Press through the pain of letting go of your will. You will feel uncomfortable.

Peter, when he stepped outside of the boat, I’m sure, felt uncomfortable. His flesh said, “This doesn’t feel right.” “I’ve never felt this way before.” His spirit wanted to reach Jesus, but his flesh wanted to go back to the familiar (the boat) and be safe and comfortable again.

The world will tell you to look out for yourself, stand up for your rights, but God requires us to be broken and have a contrite heart.

Psalm 51:17 NKJV

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and contrite heart – These, O God, You will not despise.”

It’s never fun to die. It costs us something. Our will has to die. Flesh wants to run when it is costly or painful.

Amy Wilson, with the Christian Literature Crusade, expresses this thought well:

“God, harden me against myself,

The coward with pathetic voice

Who craves for ease and rest and joy.

Myself, arch-traitor to myself,

My hollowest friend,

My deadliest foe,

My clog, whatever road I go.”

A. W. Tozer states in “The pursuit of God” about dying to our flesh: “You have to pull it from its roots. The ancient curse will not go out painlessly; the tough old miser within us will not lie down and die obedient to our command. He must be torn out of our heart like a plant from the soil; he must be extracted in agony and blood like a tooth from the jaw. He must be expelled from our soul by violence as Christ expelled the money changers from the temple. And we shall need to steel ourselves against his piteous begging, and to recognize it as springing out of self-pity, one of the most reprehensible sins of the human heart.”

Sounds like fun, right! Our flesh will scream to have its way. We are only deceiving our self if we let it win. Part of our flesh is our pride. Pride comes in so many packages. One big package is our stubborn will.

There has to be brokenness within us to bring us to the place of giving God control.

What is brokenness? 

I think brokenness is more an attitude than an incident. There are many elements to brokenness.

1. Brokenness is a state of true humility.

a. We can try and be humble, but true humility is realizing our need for God. It is a knowing that life evolves around Him and not us.

b. True humility is a heart that wants to continually please God first and foremost above our own needs and wants.

c. True humility will prove itself. It proves the one whom it represents.

If we are walking in true humility, we will not want to be seen, or to be first in line, or to be expecting others to wait on us.

d. True humility will look out for the interests of others instead of always looking out for itself.

e. A true sign of humility is a person who is willing to serve, even when no one is looking. Are you a true humble servant?

2. Brokenness is the absence of pride.

There is a kind of pride that has a “Look at me” spirit attached to it. When you see it in others, it leaves a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Have you ever watched American Idol or some other talent show? There are contestants who think they are “all that!” and there are contestants who are humble. Often those who think more highly of themselves then they should never make it on the show. They usually get mad and start shouting profanities because they didn’t get to go on to Hollywood and continue with the contest.

I’ve encountered prideful people many times as a Pastor and a Worship Leader working with a teams or people in the congregation. Satan fell from heaven because of his pride (Isaiah 14:12 – 15). I can see why worship team members may struggle with wanting to be seen, and even churches struggle over what kind of music is to be played during the service.

When working with teams, I’ve found the members who have pride built up in their hearts are the hardest to work with. The truly broken, humble members will want to help out in any way or in any place there is a need. Prideful members will want to be seen and want to have their way.

Those members, who have pride in their hearts, eventually will have to choose between two choices.

When pride is in our hearts, we have one of two choices we can make;

1.  We will finally notice the pride and want to change

2.  We will harden our hearts and continue deeper in our pride. This could possibly lead to destruction.

Proverbs 16:18 (NKJV)

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Isaiah 64:6 NKJV

“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Since experiencing first hand the destruction from my own pride, I’ve tried to warn other people of this possibility, but the only true school is the school of hard knocks. We all have to live it to really understand it.

Pride is an element that will defile us if never addressed. It’s easy to allow pride to build and grow in our hearts. It’s easy to shrug it off, as if it is not important. If you don’t think you have a lot of pride in you, don’t be deceived, everyone is susceptible to “pride buildup.”

Mark 7:20 – 23 (NKJV)

“And He (Jesus) said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’”

We should never think we can handle pride. Always lay the compliments people give you at the foot of the cross and leave it there. These “jewels” that were given to you are really Christ’s.

There is much grace for those that rid pride from their lives. It is an on going process. We will always be tempted with pride or self sufficiency, especially if you are in ministry of some sort. Practice laying down your pride and self will before God.

After pride was revealed in my heart, brokenness came. I saw and smelled the stench of my righteousness. I have seen first hand what my pride caused in the lives of so many people.

How does brokenness come?

►We can make bad choices

►Circumstances out of our control (Someone or something happened to you)

►We come to the reality of our humanity compared to God’s holiness and wisdom

►We come to the end of ourselves. (Prodigal son)

3.  Brokenness makes us reach up to God (Someone Who is bigger then us).

As a human, we are “fixer.” We try to fix the problem like Sarah and we end up making a bigger mess. I arrived there from my own hands of my attempted suicide. How could I have come to that place? I use to be able to trust myself in hard times. Never did I think I would ever try and kill myself… Have you ever thought that?

It has been many years now since that dreadful dark time in my life, but from that time came brokenness in my heart which I desperately needed.

I’ve thought long and hard about brokenness and what it really means spiritually.

Brokenness is…

…The realization of who I am compared to God.

…A true humility and submissive heart to God.

…A heart’s cry of desperation to a loving God.

…Waiting on God’s time, not mine.

…Laying down my crowns and dreams for God’s

…Not wanting my will, but God’s

…Letting go of my control to God.

…A heart of obedience and thankfulness towards God.

…A realization of my self-righteousness compared to God’s

…A knowing that I’m lost without God.

Why is it so important to be broken before the Lord? 

1.  Our pride can keep us from a close relationship with God.

1 Peter 5:5b (NKJV)

“…God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

2.  Being broken automatically gives us a teachable heart. It gives us grace to walk through any struggle or circumstance humbly and with open ears to wise counsel.

3.  When we are broken and humble before God it makes us more sensitive to others and their needs. We have compassion and understanding towards others and what they are going through. If you lack compassion, chances are you are prideful.

4.  God can use broken things more than He can use rigid things.

Brokenness and pride cannot coexist. God cannot use a person who is not broken and completely surrendered to Him. We need to be pliable in God’s hands. Remember His is the Potter and we are the clay.

“A lack of brokenness causes a person who is used by God to become proud and arrogant. However, when one is broken, their heart resists pride. Therefore, they can be used to a greater degree.”

Pastor Cho, Seoul Korea

Broken things God used: (“Broken to be used!”)

1.  Jesus was broken, yielding to His heavenly Father’s wishes instead of His own. (Luke 22:42) He allowed His precious body to be broken for all of us.

2.  Jesus took the five loaves of bread and broke them to feed the huge crowd (Mark 8:1 – 10)

3.  The sinful woman brought the costly perfumed oil and broke it and poured it on Christ’s feet. It meant nothing until she broke it open and poured it out for her Savior (Matthew 26:7, Mark 14:3, and Luke 7:37).

God uses broken things. Brokenness causes repentance and desperation for Him. There has to be a deep brokenness in us to experience all that God has for us. Broken vessels for God’s glory. Relying upon His sufficiency not ours. This moves the heart of God!

At my point of brokenness, all I could do was cry. When people would come and talk to me about my past, I was tearfully broken. I couldn’t stop the tears.

Sometimes brokenness is all we have to offer people. This is a good place to be. God can take our brokenness—our nothing, and multiply it into something. God is working on our behalf. We can trust Him in the middle of our brokenness.

Where are you today? Where is your heart? Do you have pride or arrogance built up in your heart? Have you tried to fix things on your own? Have you given your control back to God?

God never allows brokenness to come without making you whole again. You will see how much God loves you, and to what extent He will go too bring total and complete healing into your life from any circumstance you’ve experienced in the past, or what you may be going through right now. Trust God to bring healing and wholeness to your life. He never leaves you incomplete. Unlike human nature, God’s nature is to fix us. First He usually brings us to a place where we see our humanity and then, once we discover humility, God starts the healing process in us in such a way we are totally and completely healed of any pride. Then, somehow, someway God makes beauty from ashes, especially the ashes that were started by our own match we lit.

You will be triumphant as you walk humbly with God and others. God is good all the time, even when He brings correction into our lives. Yield to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. You will be forever changed for God’s glory. It’s a safe place to be in the Potter’s hands.

Blessing,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com