"GOD OPPOSES THE PROUD BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE"

1 Peter 5:5 NLT

In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Have a humble attitude.

Comments we sometimes tell ourselves when perhaps we are proud. I am not proud I went to college and they (the elders) didn't so I will teach them a few things, it's not like I am being rude or anything. They (the elders) wouldn't understand. They (the elders) don't know about these things or understand our times.

Everyone who makes himself important will be made humble. But everyone who makes themselves humble will be made important. Luke 14:11 ERV

How can we assert ourselves and be humble? Times have changed so much and a lot of what we do, say and feel is based on social media and that primarily dictates our beliefs. Over the years there has been a system I had an opportunity to learn more about, this system has been put in place by God as a guide for us to live by. I am talking about Authority. People that are ahead of us, those that are put in place to govern us.

For many years there has been a word that I never liked to hear....that is submission. To be humble we would have to submit to someone's instructions, we will have to submit to their beliefs and submit to the position. The hardest part has been submitting to people that may not seem as if they are worth submitting to. Honour your father and mother God it is not easy to submit and honour these people when they have not been living right. When some parents are not saved, when they are out in the streets, God do I submit to people like them? Or how do I submit to a boss that does not display leadership capability and was appointed to the position only because of a family member? 1 Timothy 2:2 ERV says to pray for rulers and for all who have authority. Pray for these leaders so that we can live quiet and peaceful lives-lives full of devotion to God and respect for Him. That was a mouthful, to show respect, admiration, honour, and submission to God we MUST follow His instructions. To pray for people leading us so WE can live quiet and peaceful lives, is it possible if we do not we can be miserable? Follow me have you ever baked or cooked from instructions given by the source? And see how well it came out? I have and I can tell you how many times I did not follow the instructions through or I tried to substitute and the results were less than great. I think the value is the same for scripture it is a recipe for daily living, we can look at what the biblical celebrities did and did not do and see what results they got based on what they did.

There are instructions God Himself has given to us to live and to see the results we desire. Honestly, it is not always the easiest but it sure beats going through the same situation over and over again and still not seeing the results you want. This all stemmed from being humble. Being humble is an action or thought- Numbers 12:3 ERV Moses was a very humble man. He was more humble than any other man on earth. Moses was a man that was guided by instructions from God, his heart was in the right place when it came to being obedient.

Last week we talked a little about King Nebuchadnezzar who created a golden image for everyone to worship. Could it have been pride that would make him worship something he created and not the Lord Almighty? Could it have been pride that caused the Israelites to also worship an image? We said last week that worshipping the idol is idolatry but not worshipping God who created heaven and earth is pride.

I have within the last few years understood more about praying and being grateful. To show gratitude we are saying we appreciate things that are being done on our behalf. We are saying to God I trust you, I thank you for all that you have done because on my own I could not do it. If we have pride we will take that glory for ourselves, we would not be able to share praise and gratitude with God. As a cool science experiment if there is someone that may not understand or may believe that this concept is wrong you can use your skills and power to make sure that you never die or keep your heart beating. Look at every one of us without a machine we can breathe, see, talk and walk, it is all by God's infinite power. It is uncomprehensive what God can do yet we are unable to submit to His word, His power, His authority.

Another cool thing that God did was to place before there is a problem we have systems to govern our actions. Back to the Israelites who through chapter after chapter was being taught how to live, given the commandments and system that can help them. Crazy thing is, it's not like they did not want to be governed or ruled they even requested to have someone lead them when Moses was up on the mountain and did not return when they perceived he should. The thing that turns us away from obeying God is REBELLION. One scripture puts it this way, rebellion is a sign of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshipping idols- 1 Samuel 15:23 NLT. Do you see how everything connects?

Pride causes us to rebel and rebel is a sin that is equal to worshipping idols. Do we understand that idols do not have to be a carved image or some golden animal? We are talking about letting something, someone or yourself (your beliefs) be so much stronger than what God Himself said, what His instructions were for us.

For years I was rebellious, for years I could not humble myself to anyone's direct authority. I can go on and on about how leaders are corrupt and they abuse their authority but there is also wisdom that God said that He would give us if we ask.

I like to use our bible characters to give more emphasis to my point, let's look at the story of Eli. It starts with the story of Hannah for years she was barren (unable to have children) she went to the temple praying and crying to the Lord for God to hear her and asked God for a son, that she would return to Him 1 Samuel 2:11. Eli was the priest who thought she was drunk when she was in the temple praying. She got pregnant had a son that she took to the temple to serve the Lord under the supervision of Eli. In the same chapter we see a description of Eli's son that was evil and did not care about the Lord, they did not care about the treatment of priests or the sacrifices. In other words, they were rebellious and did not honour God. But Eli was still the priest he still was the person who blessed members and people like Hannah and her husband Elkanah for them to have more children and they had three sons and two daughters. This is the same lady who was barren and could not have any children but still honoured Eli who had bad children who seemed to not be raising his son right. She honoured her promise to God and gave her first son to Eli.

I don't know if you are thinking what I am thinking but I can see where I would possibly dishonour and break my covenant with God. I probably would not want Eli to raise my only son (this is my only child- before having more kids) I may think that this is the one blessing God gave me. Let's be real. It's one thing to make a promise when you think things should go a certain way but could you still honour a covenant when things are not looking promising? See this priest did not correct his son's and they became arrogant, rebellious, rude, filled with pride, too smart, too important or too busy to pay attention to God's instructions and now he has to raise my "good son, my only son". Understanding the system is very important. She honoured Eli as a priest not Eli as a human that was making mistakes and God honoured that, she was even blessed with more children after honouring Eli.

Then let's briefly look at the story of King Saul and King David. David the shepherd boy that was brought to King Saul to play music for him when we were being tormented. Saul disobeyed God, never repented and asked for forgiveness (he was saying he did not need God, he could do it on his own) so the spirit of God left him.

I lived feeling miserable- and woke up on the wrong side of the bed every day for years which to me felt like torture now that I see how God gives us peace. This must've been how Saul felt but he still did not turn to God. You may be experiencing unhappiness or frustration in your relationships, home or work-life, it would be very important for you to reflect on your actions. Ensure that you are honouring God's systems, that parent who may seem to not be living a "Christian life" or your boss who may not know as much as you do that Pastor, deacon or even the usher in the church that you disregard because they are "sinning"; we are to honour and respect them. There is a direct blessing that comes from honouring the system.

Here is a promise I am sure you would like to hear.

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honour and life-Proverbs 22:4.

#honorthesystem #behumble #obeyGodsword #followinginstructions