Tag Archives: Humility

Wanting a Better God

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“I don’t want that kind of a dollhouse; I want the one like on TV!”  That scene in the movie, Babe, ripped my heart out.  The old man had spent hours in his shop, lovingly crafting a dollhouse for his granddaughter, his snot-nosed, spoiled-rotten, twisted-by-TV granddaughter.  But she didn’t want that kind of dollhouse.  I still get mad and frustrated, just thinking about it!

That scene reminds me of the many times I have heard people say something like, “If God is so good, how come there are starving children?”  Or, “I can’t believe in a God who would allow wars to happen.”  Although I understand those thoughts, have had them and expressed them myself, what they really amount to, is, “I don’t want that kind of God; I want the one like in my imagination.”  “I want the right to say what God should be like, what He should do and say.”   Does that sound a bit spoiled or presumptuous?

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-2)

‘Nuf said…

A Mary Christmas

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Like most kids, I had heard about Niagara Falls.  I”d seen pictures of it and believed it was there.  But then one day, my family took a trip and I saw and heard Niagara Falls.  Standing on tip-toes, hanging over the rail, gaping at the awesome power, vibrating with the thunderous noise of it, feeling the mist – the tiniest particles of moisture from a deadly powerful flow of water – for the first time, Niagara Falls became real to me.

I suspect something like that happened to Mary, the day the angel, Gabriel, showed up and told her:

“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:30b-33)

Mary had been told about God and believed in Him, but on this day He became undeniably real – so real that she couldn’t pretend or play along as though the message was some kind of prank.  Mary knew, because it was real, she didn’t qualify; the angel had the wrong woman:

 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34)

Her response shows she was taking this seriously, it was real to her.   In reply, the angel told her that God’s Spirit would enter one cell in her body and complete it, bringing it to new life:

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)

For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

Mary’s next response reflected her faith, her humility (she didn’t argue or suggest a better plan) and her full surrender:

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38)

You have heard that story.  You have been told about God and Jesus.  But one day, you will probably have an experience like Mary’s.  The details will differ, but one day you will go from believing about Jesus to suddenly knowing He is real.  No matter how that happens for you, I encourage you not to turn away.  Press up to the rail on tip-toes. Stretch out and get as close to His thundering, awesome power as you can.

Here’s why:  If you respond as Mary did, with humility and surrender, God’s Spirit will enter into your soul, complete it, and bring it to new life – His life.  To know Jesus is real, is to know He is God, to know He became human to reach you in a way you could understand and that He died to square all your debts with God forever.  And for you to say to Jesus, “Let it be to me, just as You have said,” is to receive from Him full forgiveness and eternal, “living water” life.

That’s the way to a Mary Christmas!

PS – If you would like more information, on the right column of this page, you can select posts by topic.  Select “The Good News of Jesus” and read through those.  Questions?  Send me a note.  Merry Christmas!

Hit the Deck

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Ever bump into someone really famous?  How did you react?   I read a short clip in Reader’s Digest years ago from a lady who had been getting some  ice cream at a place in Santa Fe when  Robert Redford walked in.  She carefully told herself not to act stupid, to just pay for her cone and leave.  But when she got outside she realized she didn’t have it with her.  She went back in and said, “I’m sorry, I think I left my cone in here.”  Robert Redford said, “You put it in your purse!”

Last time (“Why Them?”), we looked at what it was about the lowly and contrite that God said He would come and live with them?  It was that the lowly and contrite understand they really need God, that they can’t achieve righteousness by their own efforts, no matter how hard they try.  But there is more to it than that.  A second quality about the lowly and contrite is that they understand God is God – not them.  When they have an encounter with God, they understand how mighty and holy and amazing He is – and respond accordingly, with absolute humility.  Like what happened when Isaiah caught a glimpse of God:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”  At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.  “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 6:1-5 (NIV)

Isaiah’s experience was unique to him.  We can only imagine how frightening it was.  Imagine walking into your bedroom one day and seeing someone seated in the midst of a blazing nuclear furnace.  The important thing to recognize from this, however, is not so much what he saw but how he responded.  Isaiah he knew he was in the presence of God.  His response was a picture of what it means to be lowly and contrite.  Isaiah hit the deck, cowering and peering out to glimpse the train of God’s robe.  That is because, in the presence of God, he became immediately aware of how sinful he was.  In contrast to God’s amazing glory his own imperfection was devastating.  Isaiah realized, because God is perfect in righteousness and he was not, by rights he was a dead man.  He said, “Woe to me!  I am ruined!”  To be lowly and contrite before God is to be completely humbled by Who He is.  To know you need His Help and to glimpse His power and holiness.

You, right this minute, are also in the presence of Almighty God.  You probably don’t see those strange creatures flying around, you probably don’t see smoke, but He is right there, with you.  And He alone is God, perfect in righteousness.  By contrast, you and I are dead men and women.  We are ruined.  If you can see that, if you sense the truth of that in your bones, that is a good thing.  Because God says (Isaiah 57:15) He will live with those who are lowly and contrite.  That is good news.

Chew on that…