Understanding Humbleness

We need to be careful about what we hear of teaching because not everyone preaches the Word correctly.

When you examine what people say concerning the judging of others whether they are arrogant or not, you will find them basing their judgment on the following: “He who says the word “I am” a lot is arrogant”, or “he who talks about himself much is arrogant too.”

“The humble person is the one who bends his head, does not mention himself, despises himself and does not talk about himself . . .”

I will talk about how much I suffered because of this teaching, which is devoid of Biblical truth:

Many times when I shared my experience with others, and how I received my healing from God from a chronic illness, a voice would come in my ears saying “You are arrogant because you talk about yourself … and because you keep on saying “I” so much; you are arrogant.”

For that cause I felt condemnation and I used to end my conversation which greatly hampered my ministry.

Haven’t you ever faced something similar too?

Because if you want to be effective in the ministry, you will often use examples from your life and provide yourself as an example to help others pass through things you’ve been through before and knew how to get out of them, thus you would be influential in the lives of others.

That way they can find someone who understands what they are going through and can also help them. This is what the Holy Spirit said through the mouth of Paul the Apostle in 1 Timothy 4:12 “to be an example to others.”

What made it even worse than this self-condemnation is that one of the leaders of the church which I used to attend before said to me, “You are arrogant because you talk about yourself so much …”; but since I love to be subject to the leaders, I took his words into consideration without judging myself as being arrogant and decided to go and ask the Lord about this matter:

I was standing neutral and checking myself; and I saw that when I share my experience with someone, I do not see in myself any motivation for pride and my heart does not incline towards that which I am being condemned for.

When I resorted to the Word of God and read it in the spirit of wisdom and revelation while praying in tongues* I found the Lord saying to me through the interpretation of tongues:

“See how many times the Lord Jesus said “I am”, how many times He said “I” and was talking about Himself … see also Paul, who said “I” so much and also repeatedly said “follow my example””.

If the people are right in their judgment over arrogance, then Jesus this way will have been arrogant; God forbid; because He lived what He taught before teaching it. If he had taught that we should not talk about ourselves, He would have lived it before saying it, but He did not teach it; and it was not mentioned in the Bible. It is only human teachings and is not my teaching; because Jesus said: “I am humble (gentle and humble hearted)”,

Also, if the judgment of the people is correct, then Paul will have fallen into the sin of arrogance, and this is impossible because he wrote under the anointing. Therefore people’s standards are incorrect. Study the Word and you will know what humility is and what arrogance is in my opinion.”

*NOTE: There is personal tongues interpretation just as there are personal tongues. This is not a gift for the Church but rather it is a personal gift of tongues – a language of prayer which is according to 1 Corinthians 14: 5 given to every believer.

Interpretation of personal tongues does not come as an immediate interpretation, as happens in the Church: “a sentence in tongues is matched by an English translated sentence”. This does not always occur in Interpreting personal tongues.

Interpretation may come in different forms, such as in the form of understanding a verse properly as God intended, it can come also in the form of wisdom to get out of an awkward situation.

More often it does not come instantaneously, but after praying in tongues for minutes, hours or days.

I do not mean that it never comes instantly as sometimes it can happen, but it comes less frequently than when it is prayed for. Instant interpretation is important in the Church because the believers will leave the place of meeting after a certain time, but you always have the Holy Spirit with you to interpret the tongues. After praying for a while in tongues, you have to pray with faith and ask the Lord to give you an understanding of what you prayed for and receive it in faith during prayer and give thanks to God for it. Do not pray in tongues while you are busy attempting to know what it means, but pray in the Spirit without even thinking about it.

Let us read from the Bible what the correct definition of humility is:

• 1 Corinthians 4:6 “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.”
• 1 Timothy 6:3-4 “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4  he is conceited and understands nothing; “
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”
• James 1:21 “. . .in humility receive the word implanted ‘by God into your hearts’ . . .”
• 1 Peter 5:5-6 “5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. 6  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time”

From here we see that the definition of humility is:

Humility is humbleness, submissiveness and surrendering under:

1. Submitting humbly under the word of God:

To be interpreted correctly and obeyed with all the heart and not denied. That is, anyone who behaves outside of what the Word of God says is arrogant. So when I say that “I am sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven” then this is truth, it is not pride but humility because you hereby accept what the Word of God says concerning you, and you subject yourself to it.  And if someone says to you: “The Lord bless you, you were wonderful in the sermon today. Do not say to him “No. I do not deserve it.” But rather thank him. If you deny that; you will be arrogant in the eyes of God even if you may be humble in the sight of this person; because he does not understand the Word.

2. Submission and obedience to the leaders:

Observe if the leader leads you away from the Word of God. Here one should obey God more than people. I do not say you should obey the leader who takes you away from God’s plan for your life.  But if you leave this leader then go and look for another leader who truly knows the Lord, is led by the Holy Spirit, accepts your suggestions and ideas and does not destroy you. Look for a leader with these qualities to become under his shelter. He who takes you away from the Word of God and from the will of God for you; do not consult him but go out his domain; provided you are sure of that from the Lord Himself; as Paul did not consult the priests after his knowledge of the truth; because if he did he would have been stopped by them.  He said that he did not consult with flesh and blood but went out to do what the Lord wanted of him.

When people submit to the Holy Spirit and to the Word of God; interpreting it correctly; and submit to good leaders; the pride that people always mean – which is boasting over others – will not exist.

Notice that humility is a heart condition and not external. The Lord said of himself that He is gentle and humble in heart. Therefore you do not have the right to judge the humility by way of looking at people.

Do not deny the Lord’s use of you; as this is not humility but pride. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit and are a member in the body of Christ then you have become anointed by the Lord.  See yourself likewise. If you do not do that then you will be offending and touching the Lord’s anointed ones whom you are one of them.

What is the reason and the motivation to be humble?

Does God ask us to be humble because He will benefit from that?  No. In fact He is asking for it for our sake and not for His.

What the Lord promises the one who humbles him\herself is that he\she will receive grace. We have often understood the word “grace” to mean salvation only; but this meaning is incomplete.

What is then the meaning of the word “grace” in the eyes of God (and not in the eyes of people)?

The Greek word means “something given freely …” or in public language it means the glory and happiness we receive from the Lord.

But this meaning is determined in the text, I mean in the Scriptures’ text falling before and after it, and the word “grace” remains the attribute of its object that is mentioned in the Scriptures. Therefore we must read the related Biblical text to know what the ‘free provision’ the Holy Spirit is referring to is.

There are at least 5 associations of the word “grace” with the anointing:

1. The Anointing of the Holy Spirit: (Anointing = power to produce results). This is the prevalent meaning for the word ‘anointing’ in all of Paul’s letters when he speaks about the ‘anointing’ as ‘grace’. Galatians 2:9 “and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they . . . “
2. Physical healing: As it was the treatment of the thorn of Paul the Apostle, this thorn was persecutions and not sickness, as the grace of God rested on his body so that despite the hard beating; the anointing was healing him quickly in no time so he can resume his preaching at the same time or on the same day. 2 Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
3. The edification of others: To give grace to the listeners, without doubt it does not here mean salvation because they are already believers but it means spiritually edification. Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
4. Material prosperity: In order that all grace abound to you (that is having plenty) to pay for your needs and for the needs of others also. 2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
5. Salvation: Salvation does not only mean the liberation from sin and eternity, for the Greek word for salvation is “sótéria” (σωτηρία) which means deliverance, healing, prosperity, protection, steadfastness, security and stability). Ephesians 2:7 “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

I think that the above meanings are needed by every believer.  Aren’t that what you need?

What is the meaning of “under the mighty hand of God?

What has been mentioned above regarding the meanings of the word “grace” is what the Lord prepares for all who place themselves under His hand. His hand is Himself and His Word, just as if He lays His hands on you to bless you. But the laying on of hands does not come without your will and your approval;  which is your submission to the Lord through your humbleness thus becoming obedient to Him.

And the Lord is the first to “live what he says”, He will not rush to put His hands on you.

This does not mean that He will delay; but this means He will put His hands on the one who humbles himself under His hands.  That’s why He says  humble yourselves because it is up to you.

Imagine that there is a man of God who wants to pray by laying his hands on you, will he chase after you in church? or it is you who come to him submitting and accepting what blessings he will convey to you. This is exactly with the Lord does, He waits for you to be humble and come under His hand.

What should you do in practice to become under the mighty hand of God El Shaddai?

• To be humble under the Word means to accept its correct interpretation which you did not believe in or preach about for a long period of time; even if you discovered that you were preaching its opposite, you can still stand up and say “I was wrong in my understanding and interpretation of the verse”. Many today do not want to correct themselves before the Bible when they discover that they are wrong in their interpretation of a particular doctrine. Unfortunately the first loser is this person himself and of course those who hear him.
• To be humble also means that you are convinced with the correct interpretation of the Word even if your mind does not consent with it.
• It also means that you live the Word and the Word (which is God Himself) becomes the source of your information and has authority over you. Spiritual inequality is not only disobedience but is also arrogance in the eyes of God.
• To be humble also means that you are subject to the instructions of the Holy Spirit within you and obey him quickly. For example if the Holy Spirit asks you to pray in tongues do not forbid speaking in tongues. because if you do that you will walk out of the word (= Arrogance) which says and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:39.
• It also means that you look at yourself in the same way that God looks at you. See yourself as being righteous and in a right relationship with God without blame before Him.  For justification is by faith and not by deeds.  You have to believe that you are righteous even if you do not feel so because it does not matter what you feel but what matters is what you believe in.

If you say otherwise as many say that “You are not deserving and you are just a sinner saved by Grace” then you will walk outside of what the Word says and you will become arrogant.  Because the Word says that YOU ARE NOW A BELIEVER JUSTIFIED BY GRACE.

Yes you were a sinner but now you are righteous and the righteousness of God.  And you are also qualified and worthy to inherit what you have in Jesus the Anointed One.  He made us qualified to share in the inheritance with the saints. Colossians 1:12 “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”

You are now blameless before God, and you have not done any sin in the eyes of God. Ephesians 1:4 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Look at yourself that way, even after you have sinned, repent immediately, confess it to the Lord and do not exceed describing it, it is enough to say in 5 seconds: “My father I sinned; forgive me; thank you for the blood of Jesus which cleanses me now; and I forgive myself now.”

Even if you feel condemnation; it is not from the Holy Spirit; it is not from your conscience; but coming from Satan.  Forgive yourself and do not count it against yourself.

Since you have applied the first half of the verse which is the confession of sin, then believe in the second half of the verse.  The second half of the verse concerns the role of the Lord and he will not neglect it, as long as you do your turn … He is faithful and just to do two things:

1. Forgive us our sins.
2. Cleans us from all unrighteousness.

If you do not do that, you will be arrogant in God’s sight because you are diminishing and devaluing the blood of Jesus which cleanses you of all iniquity.  What you need to do is stop following your feelings, close your mind and follow your spirit that believes in the Word easier than your mind does. You will then find your feelings following your spirit.

When you look at yourself this way, you will be able to confidently come forward into the Throne of Grace (in all its meanings) and take what is yours at any time. Hebrews 4:16  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This way you shall be made available to the Lord, and ensure the fulfillment of what the Holy Spirit promises you in His Word.

Original Arabic article at: https//www.lifechangingtruth.org/en/book/export/html/248

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