Learning Humility

Pride always has to take the credit for a job well done, a victory achieved, a soul saved, a Christian helped.  Pride always has to take the credit and never the blame.  If something goes wrong, it is always someone else’s fault.  Pride would rather choke than say, “I’m sorry.”  Yet, we can achieve so much more as long as we don’t have to take the credit!

So how can we deal with our tendency toward pride and arrogance?  How can we learn to let agape love rule our service and relationships in the church?

Spend Lots of Time in Worship

Isaiah looked through the doorway of heaven one day and saw the Lord high and lifted up, sitting on a throne.  “Woe is me, for I am undone!  Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts” (Isa. 6:5).  The best way for us to stop saying, “Wow is me!” is to spend lots of time seeing the Lord who is high and holy.  Then we will find ourselves saying, “Woe is me.”  

I was intrigued to hear Isaiah talk about his lips as his being “unclean.”  To me, he is the golden-lipped prophet!  Yet as he worshipped, he felt dirty and in need of cleansing.

Spend time with God.  See the Lord high and lifted up, glorious and holy.  If that doesn’t cure your pride, nothing will!

Listen to Yourself, Look at Yourself

Listen to yourself talk, and then stop talking when it’s all about you.  Ask lots of questions about other people.  Stop talking about your kids and ask about theirs.  If there are single people in the group, remember that they have a family too!  Ask them to share their photos.

Use the Bible as a mirror of your soul. James says, "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." (James 1:23-24). Look into God's Word and see yourself clearly. See the blemishes, but don't walk away and forget. Try to improve things you see in the "mirror."

Years ago I took care of our three-month-old grandson, Drew, for a day.  The baby was upset much of the time, and I found it difficult to keep him happy.  At last I found the answer.  I held him up in front of the mirror in my bedroom.  This worked wonderfully!  Drew saw himself and cooed and talked to the mirror until his parents came back.  I told Judy about it, explaining that as long as he saw himself, he was quite happy.

“Oh , Mom,” my daughter replied, “he is at the age where he doesn’t recognize himself.  He thought it was another baby!”  My daughter is a psychologist, so far be it from me to argue with her!  But the incident gave me a good illustration.  Like Drew, we look into the prefect law of liberty, the Word of God, and see ourselves reflected there with all our blemishes.  Most of us don’t really realize that we are seeing ourselves, and so we go away and do nothing about what we have seen.  If we can allow God to show us our pride and arrogance, our rudeness and selfishness, and ask Him to change us into His image, then the mirror will have done its good work in our hearts.  So listen to yourself and look at yourself!  Then fix the blemishes you notice!

Humble Yourself

If we don’t humble ourselves, then God will humble us!  So dare to invite God to keep you humble.  Now let me tell you, this is an exceedingly dangerous prayer to pray!  I have learned from experience what it’s like to have God humble me—and it’s not always a pretty picture!  Yet I still dare to ask God to do what it takes to keep my head the size it should be, and He still delights to oblige.  The Bible says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,” (1 Peter 5:6), and I would add, “You had better do it, or God will do it for you!”

In His Love,

Jill Briscoe
Executive Editor
Just Between Us Magazine 

Missionary Monday

This week's theme:  A Little About Yourself

Next week's theme: Your Choice!

Sunday Scriptures ~ Deuteronomy 32:4

Have a blessed Sunday!

Expressing Gratefulness

Beth Spilger is a pastor's wife in St Louis, MO. She and Ken have been married for 37 years and at Grace Baptist Church for 35 years this December. They have 7 children, two sons-in-love, and 7 wonderful grandchildren. Beth has home schooled her children since 1984. Their last child will be graduating from High School in two years. 

Expressing gratefulness to others for their benefits to my life is NOT one of my strong points. It is something I have to work at and cognitively practice.

Challenged by a speaker to list those who had made significant contributions to my life gave me reason to make a list and write simple thank yous. I began the process and have purposed to continue adding more as they come to mind.

Surprisingly, out of the many notes I've written only two who received a thank you have acknowledged those notes.

One was from a very godly lady who had rebuked me soundly after a comment I made to the girls in my dorm at camp. She and I shared a cabin and hearing my comment she drew me aside and kindly rebuked me for the very foolish thing I had said. She was right! I was foolish. I listened to her rebuke and I took it to heart. I've lived by that admonition ever since and God has blessed. She wrote that she didn't even remember having said anything to me but was glad that she had made a difference.

The most significant and life changing to me was the acknowledgement from my uncle.

This uncle also happened to be my 8th grade math teacher. Imagine calling an uncle by Mr. rather than Uncle! He had my best interest at heart, so when I missed a test question or didn't quite do as well as he knew I could on homework assignments, I not only heard about it on my paper through the score and notes written on the sheets, but I also heard about it at the next family gathering! Embarrassing? Yes! Challenging? Even more! He cared.

A few years ago our family drove three days to northern Washington state to help my uncle and aunt celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. 

The surprise came when he took me aside and thanked me for that thank you note. He also shared that out of ALL the hundreds of students he had taught and coached in junior and senior high school I was the ONLY one who had ever thanked him!

My aunt also took me aside and told me how much it meant to him. She said he cried when he read it. He cried! Imagine a tough athletic man crying because of a thank you!

That made me stop and think...how many others are out there wondering if they have helped anyone in any way. Wondering if their lives and the sacrifices they have made meant anything to someone else.

I was reading in Psalms 107 this morning and verse 22 stood out to me.

"And let them sacrifice the sacrifices to thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing."

Our thanksgiving is a "sacrifice." [This is a wonderful Bible study relating back to Leviticus 7 and 1 Peter 2.]

The person I need to be thanking most is my Lord. Have the "wondrous things" [meaning those things that go beyond human power and expectations] brought a "sacrifice of thanksgiving" from my lips to my Lord today? HE should be the first that I thank everyday.

What about others who have benefited me in numerous ways, like my family. They "do" all day and what they do or say is a great benefit to me and to others in our family.

What about folks in my church family? My pastor? My Sunday School teacher? The missionaries we support? A neighbor who keeps their yard beautiful to behold? Think about it, this list could go on... who are you thanking this Thursday?

~Just some Thursday Thoughts...

Summer Time Favorites: Baked Beans

 When I think of a summer BBQ, there are few foods that must be on the list.
Baked beans is definitely one of them!
When we first moved to Ghana I was so excited to see that they sold canned baked beans! I decided that the food adjustment wouldn't be too bad after all.
And then.
Hmmmmmm.
Well, first, I found out that these are British baked beans, which basically means that they are beans in tomato sauce. NOT. SO. YUMMY.
Sorry if you're British!
And secondly, they are either eaten for breakfast or mixed with lettuce and put on rice!
EVEN MORE NOT YUMMY!
Then one day my hubby had an idea....ask my mother! Maybe she had an idea of how to make these baked beans into something that tasted a bit more like "real" baked beans.
Sure enough, mama had the answer!
*I must add, this recipe may only work for people in Ghana, because I have no idea if you have beans in tomato sauce where you live. But you might be surprised! Look around!

Baked Beans

4 slice bacon (this is optional, we don't have bacon here and these still taste great!)
1/2 c. onion, chopped
2 cans baked beans in tomato sauce
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. wet or dry mustard

Fry bacon until crisp. Drain and reserve drippings. Crumble bacon and set aside. Cook onion in bacon drippings until tender {if not using bacon, saute onions in whatever fat you prefer}.
Mix together baked beans, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, crumbled bacon, and cooked onions in glass casserole dish. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 45 min. to 1 hr. 15 min. {I know that is a big variance. The original recipe said 1-1 1/2 hrs., but it has never taken me more than 45 minutes, so you may need to play with the time a bit to find what works in your oven}.
When hot and bubbly, remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes.
Stir in yummy, crusty stuff on top {have no idea what it should be called, but sure tastes good!} and
enjoy!

Missionary Monday

This week's theme - Your Kitchen

Share photos of your kitchen, maybe you cooking with the kids,

or cooking an unusual dish from your field.

Next week's theme - A little about you

 Let's take a little time to get to know each other better!

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Sunday Scriptures ~ Isaiah 55:8

Have a blessed Sunday.