The Rock Church

Humility

“Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.“ — Proverbs 18:12

“For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.” -Timothy Keller

Christian, when we walk in humility, we walk within the circle of God’s blessing. The world tells us that we need more power, money, fame, position, praise, more…more…more! The Bible, however, actually calls a person like that a leech. The world is a leech!

“The leech has two suckers that cry out, “More, more!”  — Proverbs 30:15

You see, God’s plan is the exact opposite of the world’s way. In the world, it’s always about more of me, more of me, and more of me. By contrast, the Lord tells us something else. We find true joy in thinking not less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves LESS.

Pride is indeed competitive by its very nature. If I am a proud person, then as long as there is one person in the world more powerful, richer, or smarter than I am, that person is my rival and enemy. Pride always means division and separation. Not only between people but also between us and God.

What It Is

To be humble, however, is to recognize that you don’t always need to be correct. To be humble is to realize that you certainly don’t know everything. To be humble is to remember you can apologize when you’re wrong. To be humble is to recognize that you can finally stop pretending to be the best at everything. To be humble means you can absolutely have real friendships without having to “prove” yourself.

The point of humility is that God wants you to know Him. But pride always gets in the way of that. He wants to give you Himself. And when you know Him, you will inevitably be humble — wonderfully humble! As a matter of fact, you will feel infinite relief. The relief of finally getting rid of all the silly nonsense of your inflated ego. It has only made you restless and unhappy all your life.

For now, think about this. God is good, and He loves you. He wants what leads to your greatest joy. So, if He tells you that pride leads to destruction, by all means, we must learn to listen and obey. Therein lies true joy.

This week, consider thinking of yourself less. Consider not fighting for first place but being content to be last. Not surprisingly, this is a pathway to joy.

Seeking humility with you,

Steele

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church

Even Me?

Then Jesus said to her, “I am the MESSIAH!” – John 4:26

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite encounters in the entire Bible. You remember the story. In the Gospel of John, Jesus passed through a region called Samaria on His way to Galilee. As the reader, we should by all means know that (at this time in history) the Samaritan people were despised by the Jewish people. The Jews considered the Samaritans to be inferior economically, racially, spiritually, and socially. In fact, they were “the dogs” and often even hated.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church

Pray About Everything

The right response is to pray about everything. Perhaps you feel like you’re in an uphill battle. Are you distraught, downtrodden, sick, bankrupt, or confused? Oftentimes, life can be utterly brutal. And yet, in the same life, we can also experience the downhill thrill of blessings. Being in love, landing the perfect job, receiving gifts, learning new skills, having children, going on vacation, hearing, tasting, and so on.

In all our ups and downs, the Apostle Paul encourages us to assume the position of prayer.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church

Hurting

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” — John 12:27

These were Jesus’ words before He was betrayed and crucified. If anyone knows about suffering, it’s Jesus. His suffering was foretold in the book of Genesis. In fact, the prophet Isaiah even called Him the “Man of Sorrows”.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin