March 25, 2011 … Practical Humility

Passage of the Day : Philippians 4: 5 - [see underlined] 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let Your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

My Journal for Today: In our look at “humility” this month, we’ve been looking at it as a reflection of Christlikeness, … Christ, … who was/is our perfect model of humility. However, in today’s passage/verse, Paul shows a shade of Christlikeness and humility which takes us deeply into the trenches of everyday life. He challenges the believer to exhibit the Christlike quality of “gentleness,” MacArthur citing exposing this quality from Phil. 4: 5 (from the NIV). That’s a quality which, like humility, runs counter to our culture, and which supports/promotes Christlike control, strength, and power. And remember Matt. 11: 29, which reveals Jesus using those two qualities, of HUMILITY (or lowliness of heart) and MEEKNESS (or gentleness), as the only two descriptive adjectives He ever used in Scripture to describe Himself.

This term, “gentleness,” in the NIV is the Greek word, “epieikes,” which is a difficult word to bring into the English translation for our Bible. One can see this difficulty of translation because of the many ways it’s translated. In the NAS, it’s having a “forebearing spirit.” The KJV has it translated “moderation;” and the NLT renders it “considerate.” Yet, in today’s NIV version it’s translated “gentleness” and in others it could be “meekness.” Obviously, English speaking Bible Scholars have had a challenge in finding an accurate and generic translation for this Greek concept, “epieikes.”

From what I can get from commentaries and John MacArthur’s devotional, Strength for Today, “epieikes” seems to convey the idea, for the Christian, of consideration of the feelings of others, drawing the strength to do that from God’s grace. Another angle would be having a patience or forbearance in the context of a believer having been mistreated or maligned unjustly, which was certainly modeled by Jesus during His Passion and crucifixion; as it was certainly modeled by 1st Century Christians under the tyranny of Nero standing in faith and meekness as they were tortured for that very faith. Christ manifested God’s grace ALWAYS, even unto death for our sins – certainly not for His sins - (see Rom. 5: 6 – 11 - linked here). Therefore, according to Paul, speaking on this one attribute, “epieikes,” we, as His followers, should strive as much as we can to be forbearing in love and consideration of the feelings of others; … yes, even when we’re unjustly attacked.

Our world and culture, however, certainly do not preach or value “epieikes” as a life quality to display openly in our socio-political choices. We are touted today to demand our “rights,” based on our individual feelings. That’s the existentialism of the post-modern 21st century, where “if it feels good, do it [!]” is the battle cry. Also there is almost an “anti-epieikes” mantra to become #1 at the expense of the feelings of anyone who might stand in the way. Control, … CONTROL, … CONTROL!!

So, how must we be like our Lord in the sense of “epieikes?” Well, to set ourselves in the right – and righteous – direction we have to ask ourselves as Christians …
• Am I holding any grudges or bitterness in my heart?
• Do I lash out with selfish anger when attacked or maligned?
• Am I a light of Christlike “epieikes” in a darkened world self-driven situational ethics?

If we cannot give an unqualified “NO” to the first two, and a hearty “YES” to that last question, we need TO DECIDE to fulfill Christ’s mandate of Matt. 5: 16 (and I would hope that you have that one memorized – but here it is below) …

SCRIPTURE: [Jesus from Matt. 5: 16] “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

And paramount in those “good deeds” ought to be an attitude and lifestyle if “epieikes.”

My Prayer Today: Lord, cut away all that is not Christlike “epieikes” from my being; and help me to shine Your light of meekness or gentleness into the world through my choices this very day. Amen

January 20, 2011 … Am I Gentle?

Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 1, 2 – [see focus in underlined/bold portion] As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

My Journal for Today: Okay, … John MacArthur, in his devotional, Strength for Today, is driving home a point about humility and meekness (or gentleness) with all this redundancy highlighting Eph. 4: 1 – 2. I accept the point that we, who call ourselves “Christian” and, according to the mandate of Phil. 1: 5 toward Christlikeness, must be aspiring to the attitudes and character qualities of Jesus, especially those He ascribed to Himself (again see Matt. 11: 29). However, the pragmatic question arises, “How do I know if I have the humility and gentleness that Christ exhibited so that I can be worthy of His calling on my life as a disciple of Christ?” Well, MacArthur asks several diagnostic or self inventory questions to help us do just that. And they are these …

# 1: Am I self controlled when confronted or challenged; or am I immediately defensive, especially when accused of being wrong? In other words, as spoken of in Prov. 16: 32, does God rule my spirit?

>>> SCRIPTURE: Prov. 16: 32 … Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

# 2: Does my anger arise at the right times and for the right things? In other words, do I get angry ONLY when God is dishonored just as Jesus was our model of righteous anger? [If you have them stored somewhere, note my discussion of the last two days – Jan. 18, 19 – or go to those dates in Strength for Today.

3: Am I a peacemaker at heart? In other words, do I have a drive to seek peace in the midst of discord and strife as exhorted by Paul in Eph. 4: 3 [the verse right after our target text for today]? …

>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 4: 3 … Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

# 4: Do I exhibit Christlike peace when I’m confronting sinners or the unsaved? We see this when we read Gal. 6: 1 and 1st Peter 3: 15 …

>>> SCRIPTURE: Gal. 6: 1 … Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Pet. 3: 15 … But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, …

If I could give an unqualified “YES” to these questions, then MacArthur would say that the fruit of meekness or gentleness (in the spirit of humility) is being reflected in my life, much in the same way that it was described by Paul in 1st Timothy 3: 2 , … from the qualities Paul listed for Christian leaders …

>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Tim. 3: 2 … Now the overseer [elder, pastor, bishop, teacher, etc.] must be above reproach, …, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, …

MacArthur writes, “Remember that …‘a gentle and quiet spirit … is precious in the sight of God’ … [quoted from 1st Peter 3: 4] which should be the attitude and demeanor to which we (as Christians) continually aspire.” And, when I review these self-inventory questions, as I wrote in journal entries past, I’ve got some growing to do in Christlikeness!

What about you?

My Prayer Today: Again, Lord, … it is my sincere desire, … to be gentle like You! Amen

January 17, 2011 … Gentleness (“Meekness”): Power Under Control

Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 2a … [See underlined and bold as highlighted verse] – As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

My Journal for Today: We return to the passage from Eph. 4: 1-2, the passage which launched us into this new year and our January devotions in John MacArthur’s Strength For Today. On Jan. 9, I covered one of the two attitude qualities Paul cited as necessary for the Christians to walk worthy in Christlikeness; and that was HUMILITY. Now today, we focus on the second of those two, MEEKNESS. By the way, in other translations, the concept of “meekness” is translated “gentleness” or “gentle” (see example in the NASB above).

Once again we remember that meekness and humility, are the only two character qualities that Christ used to describe Himself (see Matt. 11: 29). So, when one desires to be like Christ, these should be the two attitudes we focus on – first and foremost - to fulfill what Paul charged us to do in Phil. 2: 5…

>>> SCRIPTURE: Phil. 2: 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: …

So, having covered the quality of “humility” on 1/9, let’s now focus on “meekness.”

In our world, unfortunately the term “meek” is equated with “weak;” and that is far from the quality of meekness biblically. The Greek term for meekness, “praos,” accurately means strength under control; and Jesus was certainly the model of that. All of Phil. 2: 6-11 describes our Lord emptying Himself of the glory and majesty of the Godhead to become a humble man by His choice, which is the embodiment of the strength under control in meekness. The word pictures used by “praos,” from the Greek were either bringing a wild animal, like a horse, under the control of a master or a powerful medicine being used to soothe pain.

In our culture, our self-centeredness is often a quality that leads one to use personal strength or power to control others. Here, we see that “meekness” is controlling one’s strength in order to be humble and helpful to others. This is a fruit of God’s Spirit (see Gal. 5: 22 - 23) that God can use to help calm others or to bring order in the midst of chaos. Meekness (or “gentleness”) is not “wimpiness.” It’s the tamed lion licking the face of its trainer. It’s human power being brought under the control of The Master, our Lord, Jesus. When human reactions like anger or revenge are submitted to Christ, such meekness is rewarded with the peace of God (see Phil. 4: 6, 7). Meekness could be a medicine that soothes the savage pain of a hurting world. But we’ve got to be willing to humbly surrender our humanity to God’s Spirit in order to allow God’s enabling grace to develop the meekness that can produce God’s peace in our world.

How about you? Is “meekness” a word that could be used to describe your attitude of Christlikeness; or do you, as I do, have a way to go in developing a habit of meekness?

My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to walk worthy of Your Name in meekness. Amen

2009 – Day 329.Nov 26 – Sensitive Leaders

Passage for Study: Acts 17: 1 - 9 … Acts 17 linked for study …

2nd Passage for Study: 1st Thes. 2: 1 - 12 … 1st Thes. 2 linked for study …

My Journal for Today: If you were with me yesterday, I wrote - with Chuck Swindoll’s guidance - of the quality of vulnerability (marked by integrity, honesty, and approachable openness). Today, primarily from the passage in 1st Thes. 2: 7 - 9, as Paul focused on his and his fellow leader’s approach to preaching the Gospel and leading new Christians in that area of Greece. He even used the word picture of a mother nursing her babies to describe how he tried to lead the Thessalonians with gentleness, patience, and kindness.

The Greek word, “epios,” used by Paul for “kindness” in leadership in this passage is one Swindoll compares to two other Greek concepts in Paul’s discussion of the fruit of the Spirit (in Gal. 5: 22-23). These are the fruit of “kindness” (Greek - chrestotes) and “meekness” (Greek - prautes), which I believe are both combined when leaders need to have the quality of leadership Paul was trying to illustrate by the word picture of a mother nursing her babes.

What Swindoll is trying to teach here to those who’ve been cast into a role of leadership in their lives, perhaps in some work site or maybe in a church, is that leaders need to be strong with determination (covered a few days ago in my devotionals); but they also need to exercise that determination with sensitivity. And it’s that sensitivity which must utilize the fruit of the spirit which we call “kindness” (or gentleness) as well as “meekness” (or strength under control).

As I write this, I’m in Colorado with my wife, visiting our daughter who has a new baby boy, our first male grandchild. And so this word picture of sensitivity and gentleness Paul uses to describe his leadership, which we read in 2nd Thess. 2: 7, is clearly on display for me as our daughter and my wife do all that is necessary to meet the needs of that little baby boy, also taking into account the needs of our other two granddaughters, who vie for their attention with a new little boy in the home. It is masterful to see my wife and daughter relinquish their superiority of age and strength to be the pictures of meekness, kindness, and sensitivity depicted by Paul in his church leadership of these new baby Christians.

I could go on with this; but let me close by saying that any leadership stength must be tempered by heavy doses of sensitivity and kindness if that leader is to help shape the growth of new or developing disciples of Christ. Yesterday, I gave witness to the vulnerability of my Pastor, who is also growing into the role of meekness and kindness which he is going to need to lead our large church into the future. If you’re in a position of church or ministry leadership, as am I, I pray that we all can lead by determined vision, but also with the senstivitiy of a mother who is willing to yield her own power to the needs of her babies. May we lead with direction but with gentleness and patience as well.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I need more of the qualities described herein in leading others to become more like You. Help me be strong, but gentle, dear Lord. Help me to be like You. Amen

2009 – Day 67.Mar. 9 – Leave Of Absence

2009 – Day 67.Mar. 9 – Leave Of Absence

Passage of the Day: Exodus 4: 18 … 18 So Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

My Journal for Today: I’m glad that Swindoll highlights this transitional passage in Moses’ life, which shows a lot about how Moses’ character had developed out there in the desert.

Here we are. Moses had just been hanging out with God Himself in the form of a burning bush; and God has recruited the shepherd to be His agent of redemption for God’s people, the Jews in Egypt. And Moses now knows that he will carry a staff which can become a snake; and he will be crying out, in God’s Name, to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” … But does Moses take all that to Jethro, the man who had become his adopted daddy?

No, in meekness and humility and respect, he simply goes to the man who had entrusted his flocks to Moses for 40 years and quietly asks if he may be released to go down and see about the status of his brethren, the Jews, in Egypt. And Swindoll points out that this shows a lot about both the man Moses had become and the God, Who was calling Moses out to be the savior of God’s people.

Here we see what Moses had become in 40 years, … a GENTLEman, … a humble man, … both qualities we know are primary facets of the character of our Savior. By the way, they are the only two descriptive qualities Jesus ever used to describe Himself (you can check that out in Matt. 11: 29). So, he goes to Jethro in gentleness and humility; and he doesn’t bowl him over with a wild story, something like, “Dad, you’re not going to believe what I just saw. I was in the presence of The God of our father, Abraham, in a burning bush up there on the mountain. And God says I’m going down to Egypt and lead my people out of there! So, I’m out of here tomorrow. Sorry!”

No, God doesn’t demand his believers, especially those whom He calls into leadership, to be flashy and flaunt the power of God within. God only asks us to be available, to be humble, and to follow where He would lead. In fact, God will honor the kind of humility and meekness exhibited by Moses in today’s highlight passage from God’s word by pouring mercy and grace into these Christlike qualities. Scripture says it in many places in the Bible that God pours His grace into humility; but He cannot do so to those who are filled with puffed-up pride. (Check it out in Prov. 3: 34, James 4: 6, and 1st Peter 5: 5-6)

And so, we see God’s man, exhibiting God’s love and patience and a servant’s heart as he goes to the Midianite Prince and asks for a leave of absence to go to Egypt. And God, in His love and mercy and grace had prepared the heart of Moses’ adopted dad to give Moses the release he sought to go down and do business for God in Egypt. This is certainly an attitude lesson for us all. Patience and gentleness and humility should always be our M.O., rather than puffed-up pride and power-driven ego.

God simply says [from that verse I refer to so often in Luke 9: 23), “Deny yourself and follow Me.” And that’s exactly what Moses did.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I have Your power in me; but all You ask me to be is Your feet, when You say, “Go!” Amen