Humble Yourselves

This week I find myself being drawn back into the book of James.  I really love the way God directs the topics I’ll talk about in the Bible Study each week.  I end the week not having any idea where we are going and God always comes through with just what the team needs to hear.

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you…Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.  James 4:6-7,10

The proud are those who have high self-esteem or who relish in their own importance, in other words, they think they’re above everybody else.  This could extend to anything; appearance, sports, strength, and even religion.  It also could extend to stuff that you own.  But don’t confuse this with feeling of knowing we excel in certain spots more than others.  It comes down to where your heart is and if you want to exalt yourself because of your position or if you want to exalt God. 

The opposite of being proud is to be humble.  When you humble yourselves before the Lord you are saying that you are insignificant and that your importance wanes in the presence of the Lord.  This is when the Lord can use you.

When you submit yourself to God you are letting God have full control of your life.  You aren't trying to do it by yourself because that will lead to pride and boasting, which we have already determined that God opposes.  This is easy to say, but hard to do because our earthly bodies want to revel in stuff that is pleasing to us. 

We want to make the decisions and we want to have the glory and we want to be accepted. 

How easy is it for a football player to exalt himself after a touchdown, or a baseball player after a home-run or even a student after getting an “A” on a test.  Again, it’s ok to be excited but we can’t let it define who we are.

The devil wants you to get excited and get lost in the moment.

In 1 Peter 5:8 it says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  The devil only has lies and deception, nothing else.  He tries to make you think you are the reason for the way things are. If you resist the devil, he flees.  When you let God reign in your hearts, the devil has no place to go.  So when we draw near to God, meaning let God reign, the devil will flee because it’s all or nothing.  We can draw near to God by talking to him, by praying and by reading His word, the Bible.

I challenged the guys by asking them which they thought God wanted more...for the team to win or for the individual members to use their talents to honor God.  It's kinda sobering to realize that everything you are is because God gave it to you.

As a side note, I need prayer for my dad.  He is going in for a double bypass heart surgery tomorrow.  He doesn't know the Lord.  Please join me in praying for my dad’s recovery and that God would draw him closer.

Also, the varsity team has 13 players injured.  We have a parent’s prayer night on Wednesday @ 7:30pm in the Clovis West Teacher’s Lounge.  Come by and pray.

Ironmen Unite!!!