Friday, February 4, 2011

A Humble Heart Leads to a Joyous Life.

What makes a person a Christian is not that he doesn’t get discouraged, and it’s not that he doesn’t sin and feel miserable about it. What makes a person a Christian is the connection that he has with Jesus Christ that shapes how he thinks and feels about his discouragement and his sin and guilt. | Pastor John Piper
How are you living these days?  How is your walk with God going?  Who's winning the battle against the sin in your life?  Are you making strides towards holiness and godliness in your daily life, or have you given up hope and surrendered to a life of guilt and despair?  I know, these are heavy questions and I hope for your sake that you aren't simply reading over them waiting to get to the good part of this blog post.

Folks we live in a fallen world.  That's the reality of the situation we are in, and we are fallen creatures with the same temptations and pulls towards sin as everyone else.  But there is something different about Christians and our struggle against evil.  We have been transformed and renewed and God has given us help in our time of need.  King David said it best in Psalm 51:10-12:

"Create in me a clean heart, oh God...and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore unto me, the joy of your Salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit."

Do you see the significance in David's words?  Can you hear the desperation and dependency in his prayer to God.  David is showing us, through these words, the importance of remembering that we are creatures dependent on the creator for our survival.  We were not made to accomplish great things apart from Christ.  We were made to cling to Christ and his cross for our satisfaction, joy, peace and hope.  Isn't it time that we stop trying to do things in our own strength, and like David in this psalm, say to the LORD, "restore unto me the joy of your Salvation, and uphold me with a willing heart."

"God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him" (John Piper).  King David had a firm understanding of this in the Psalm above and in Psalm 31:1 where he said, "In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!"  These are not the words of a prideful man.  These are the words of the man who recognizes his dependence on God for his Salvation.  What will it take for us to seek our sanctification and growth in our faith with a humble heart like King David did?  God blesses the humble (James 4:6) and he apposes the proud.  Let us continue to remind ourselves that we are not alone in this battle against sin, and that trying to make war against the sin in our lives in our own strength will only lead to our destruction.

A humble heart leads to a joyous life.  The question now is, are we willing to surrender everything to God, for the sake of joy?  I hope and pray that we are.


HERE is an additional resource on this subject.


For His Glory,


Jason

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