Luke 14:11Personalize it method (Rick Warren's 40 Days in the Word):
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jeff, don't cast this message of humility off as simple. I speak of life and death, heaven and hell. This is salvation, this is life. One who does not humble them self before me cannot follow me. This one will be humbled at the end by being separated from me for eternity. Jeff, I don't think you can understand how far this humility must go. If you are not willing to cast down every preconception of who I am and what I am asking of you and every preconception of what it is to be my follower, then you are limiting yourself by limiting (grieving) my Spirit. If you are not willing to release your position of supposed understanding and your position of how you balance your life, then I cannot (rather- I will not) lift you up. If you are not prepared to give up all for my sake, then you are not yet humbled. If you are not willing to choose me every time you wake, then you do not yet see the prize. If you knew the prize, you would gladly pay the price...nothing could hold you back from complete and absolute surrender. This is the humility of which I speak Jeff.
Jeff, this is the foundation upon which all of your life must be built (or rebuilt). This is the starting point to achieving great things for my kingdom. You must start with surrender of your will to mine in all things (i.e, your time, your money, your focus, your aspirations, your body, your mind, your emotions,...YOU!).
Open you heart Jeff and hear me...
Luke 14:26-28MacArthur Study Bible Note on Luke 14:28-
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
Luke 14:33
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Only those willing to carefully assess the cost (vv. 28–32 ) and invest all they had in his kingdom were worthy to enter. This speaks of something far more than mere abandonment of one’s material possessions; it is an absolute, unconditional surrender.Calvin's Commentaries-
It would be absurd to insist on a literal interpretation of the phrase, as if no man were a disciple of Christ, till he threw into the sea all that he possessed, divorced his wife, and bade farewell to his children.From a sermon by John Piper on November 9, 1980 (speaking about what Jesus watched for while guests entered a dinner party)-
Yet no man truly forsakes all that he possesses till he is prepared at every instant to leave all, gives himself free and unconstrained to the Lord, and, rising above every hindrance, pursues his calling.
He looks for what they love. Jesus always watches until he knows where our treasure is. Because where your treasure is, is where your heart is, and Jesus wants the heart!No. He looks for what they love. Jesus always watches until he knows where our treasure is. Because where your treasure is, is where your heart is, and Jesus wants the heart!Application:
Today I will look for how I can surrender everywhere I go
Today I will pray and ask that you reveal to me how surrender on the other side of every door I open
Today I will not presume that I know what you want me to do the next moment
Today I will not presume that my life is about gaining something for me
Today I will surrender what I perceive to be my rights in every situation
Today I will ask you for the filling and the empowering of your Holy Spirit to do these things that are impossible to me
Prayer:
Thank you Lord for loving me so. Thank you Lord for speaking to me through your Word. How amazing it is that you meet me here when I am faithful to come before you and seek you. Please empower me this day to live surrendered to you as the branch on the vine. Please show me how to humble myself and how to listen for your voice, for the guidance of your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus name I pray, amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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Every day my flesh wages this battle with my spirit and its often the conflict of humility vs pride. I know I am never completely surrendered but thank God for his mercy and thank you for reminding us to have a willing heart to humble ourselves to our Lord through his power and to man for he was created in his image.
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