Christian Behaviors - The Humble

There is an old joke/story about a guy abandoned at sea after a shipwreck of some sort.  He's floating around in a life boat all alone, no food, water, or provisions.  One day, he looks off in the distance and sees the outline of an island.  He begins feverishly paddling toward it, desperate for survival.  As his small boat begins to bounce up and down with the waves, he begins to pray to God. 

"Dear God, please let me make it to that island and I will turn away from wine, women, and cussing and be a beacon for your kingdom."

The boat continues toward the island, the man paddling away.  The island is getting larger and rising higher in the sky."

"Dear God, please help me make it to that island and I will turn away from wine and women."

The boat continues to inch closer to the island.  The trees and waterfalls come into view.

"Dear God, please just a little bit more."

The boat slides up on a sand bar.  The man hops from the boat and splashes his way toward the beach.  He gets several feet away from the water and collapses to his knees in the sand, looks up to the sky and shouts."

"I did it! I made it. I'm saved."

You and I are not so unlike the man in the story.  There are  numerous times in our lives, not just times of despair or struggle, but also success and accomplishment when we think we actually did something on our own.  It is an odd conundrum.  We know God is control of all things.  The creator of all things.  Yet, we still forget that and take credit all on our own for our accomplishments.

This weeks verse is Matthew 5:5.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Let's start with that word, "meek".  First, that word in today's usage gives off an instant connotation (note I did not say 'definition') of weakness, timidity, or shyness.

The first century Greek word used in this verse, praus, is defined as 

• mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit,

It is used just four times in the New Testament, this verse, Mt 11:29, Mt 21:5, and 1 Pe 3:4.  In each of those verses and along with today's modern definitions it means gentle and/or humble.  Humility and gentleness of spirit was what Jesus was saying.  Specifically, humility.

Last week I stated I felt the biggest sin was "lack of love." I firmly believe that Pride is what causes that.  Pride focuses on oneself and not others.  If you look at these two definitions, you'll see that they are basically opposites of each other.  It was Pride that caused Satan to fall.  It was Pride that caused the original sin.  While lack of love is the worst sin, pride could very well be the root of that lack of love.

Humility: a modest or low estimate of one's own importance.

Pride: feeling of deep pleasure derived from one's own accomplishments, qualities, or possessions.

So why would this be a behavior that Jesus indicates is necessary for us to Love like Him.

First, let's go back to Mt 22:37 - (after Loving God), love your neighbor as yourself.  The humble will not put themselves above others.  The humble will not feel as though they have done things or accomplished things that are better or more important than others. (remember the repeated cycle of Love. Love God, love others, yourself comes last)

Jesus was the greatest example of this.  Not only did he wash the feet of his disciples, serve the people by ministering or healing, but he gave the ultimate sacrifice of his life for others.  He was God! He allowed himself to be captured, tortured and crucified for us.  For you. For all those people we "don't like" or feel we're "better than".  He died for them equally as He died for you.

Those feelings of superiority keep you from loving like you should.  I can hear you saying... "I don't think I'm superior or better than others."  And I agree that you (and me) don't mean to do it.  But have you ever said any of these things?

• I worked hard to earn my ______ (boat, house, car - you fill in the blank)
• I earned that ______ (degree, promotion, good grade, etc.)
• It is my skills that allow me to _______ (play a sport, fix something, learn something, etc.)

And don't get me wrong, you did work hard, you did earn it, you are good at what you do.  My point is this.  When we forget that we were only able to work hard, earn something, or are good at something because God has so deemed it and only because he has so deemed it, then we fall victim to the trap of not being humble or putting to much stock in our own power. 

And even that little sliver of pride can harm how we love.

You only have control over your choices - left or right, this or that, love or not love.  Look back over the course of your lifetime and the choices that put you where you are now?  Remember the guy in the row boat struggling to get to shore? Just one wave - one wave from the holy hand of God could have sent that boat further out to sea or toppled it over.  Think of all the things you've accomplished?  Just one "wave" from God could have completely changed the course of your life.

I'm as guilty as they come.  For crying out loud, I'm from Texas.  Everything is bigger and better in Texas.  Texas football is the best. Texas is the best state.  TexMex food, BBQ, chili - its all better in Texas! But I ask myself, what did I do to make me a Texan?  Nothing.  Have you ever seen the bumper sticker, "American by birth, Texan by the grace of God"?  That sticker is more true than you think.  You did absolutely nothing to be American or Texan.  God deemed where you were born - you had no say in the matter.

Next I want to talk about the definition of success.  There are many definitions and each of us may have a slightly different one, but let's focus on some generalized version right here in the good ole' U.S. of A.

• Good job
• College degree
• Making good money
• Being the 'boss'
• Nice house/car/etc.

When we define success, it usually includes things like above - accomplishments or possessions.  And these are earthly things.  In this verse, Jesus is asking us to not make these things the definition of success.  That what we accumulate her on earth, the power we obtain, the prestige, the accomplishments - they are not the goal.  It doesn't matter what we "get" while we are on earth.  If we are not humble, we will not be "given" (inherit) the earth in the afterlife.

When you look at these things and attach them to success, you are putting yourself above God in the accomplishment of those things.  "I did it."  That puts you first and God somewhere down the line.  And if you are going to put yourself ahead of God, how much easier is it to put others also below you?

Granted, I am not saying you intentionally do that.  What I'm saying is to love like Jesus, you have to intentionally NOT do that.

Let's look at the reward of the meek; 'inherit the earth'.

Inherit: klēronomeō: to be an heir - to receive the portion assigned to one, receive an allotted portion, receive as one's own or as a possession.

This word is just as you'd expect.  To inherit is to have something passed down to you.  Side note here - have you ever noticed that in America we sometimes say about some millionaire who inherited their fortune, "they didn't earn it, it is daddy's money" or something like that.  We put a lot of stock in someone's ability to 'succeed' on their own...

The next word to look at is "earth".

Earth: gē:  the ground, the earth as a standing place (different than “the world” - kosmos used in John 3:16 which means the world and everything - including people)

If you look at the things we define as success - earthly possessions or accomplishments - Jesus says that if we are meek/humble, we'll inherit the earth from the Father.  That is a good thing.  Again, what you accomplish here is just a fleeting moment compared to eternity.  When you look at a scale of eternity, would you rather have pride in your things now, or inherit the earth forever?

So how do you love like Jesus?  With a humility that puts you lower than others.  With a humility that recognizes that God allows you to be or have whatever it is you are or have.  That without Him, you can have or do nothing.  And he commands you to love like that.  If you want to Love like Jesus, then consider this verse - spoken by Jesus, God in the flesh.

John 5:19-20

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed."

Even Jesus admitted He could only do as the Father commanded or allowed.  How many times did Jesus also say to the Father, "your will be done." ?

In order to love others as Jesus did, you have to humble yourself.  Put God first, then others, and lastly, yourself at the very bottom.  You must realize that you only accomplish what is the will of the Father.

In God's eyes we all (every single human on the planet - good, bad or indifferent) are equal.  To love like Jesus is to remember that and humble ourselves to our 'neighbors'.

Proverbs 11:2 

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Love,

Rob

Christian Behaviors - Those who Mourn

 Hello and welcome back,

This week we are discussing Matthew 5:4:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Before we dive too deeply into the verse, let's first look at a couple of the key words and their definitions.

Mourn - pentheō: 

• wail and cry
• passionate expression of grief or sorrow

Comforted - parakaleō:

• to console, to encourage and strengthen by consolation, to comfort
• to encourage, strengthen 

So in order to Love like Jesus, you must mourn,  Mourn for whom? Yourself? I've heard this verse used many times to comfort those who have suffered loss or were going through very tough times.  A reminder that you will find comfort.  But how does that help you love like Jesus? Mourning over your own loss or suffering?  

It doesn't.

And this got me to thinking, Why would Jesus provide instructions for something you don't have to try to do?  Why would he include it here? He was detailing the way you should act.  In other words, the Beatitudes were behaviors you have to strive for.  Not just something you do instinctively or re-actively.  Why would this one be different than the others?  And I don't believe it is different.  I believe many of us have just looked at it incorrectly in the past.

Remember that your love is to be expressed toward God, Others, and yourself lastly.  So who are you to mourn and for what are you mourning?

Look at it from God's point of view.  We are to strive to be Christlike, right? So, obliviously you should mourn like Christ, right?  And what would that look like and what would Christ mourn?

First, your heart must break for that which breaks God’s heart.  Ask yourself what might break God's heart? Your first indication would be found in John 3:16.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

These are what breaks God's heart.

• Lost Souls
• Suffering of Others
• Your (our) sin

It is not about mourning your own suffering or trouble. It is about mourning the suffering and trouble of others.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  You see sin in someone - mourn for their lostness as God does.  

Then you will be comforted.

What if everyone loved everyone else unconditionally? The world would be great, right?  But you probably are thinking, “that won’t happen, Rob.”  Aren't you?  And you are right.  With sin in the world, everyone will not love everyone else unconditionally. 

But why does that stop YOU from loving everyone unconditionally?

He didn’t ask you to make the world love each other. He commanded you to love. You need to mourn your lack of love as well as the world’s lack of love.

Lack of Love is the greatest sin.  In Matthew 22:37, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, He says, 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.  And the second is like it.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the laws and prophets hang on these two."

If the greatest commandment is to Love God and Love Others - then obviously the greatest sin would be to not do that.

Mourn the lack of love.

What does mourning others look like in your day to day life? And how would you do it? To explore that, let's look at a recent event (within the last couple of years) and reflect on how this event effected you emotionally (heart), intellectually (mind), and spiritually (soul) - both then and now.

As you know, there was a mass push of immigration at the American southern border.  In this process, many children were separated from their families - some for very long times and under very negative circumstances.  Here is a video from one year ago if you'd like see a short clip from PBS about the detention centers. 

My question to you is this - when this occurred or when you watched the video, what came into your mind?  How did it make you feel?  Did you respond like I saw from others at the time? Did you say to yourself, "the parents put those kids in this position by trying to get in illegally".   Did you say, "they made it hundreds or thousands of miles to get there, why now is it a big deal?"  Did you jump on the bandwagon of "illegal immigration will ruin our country or our economy or whatever."

Do you think Jesus cares about borders or economies or any of that?  Don't your think he cares more about the suffering of his children (which in this context is everyone, not just the kids in the video).  Do you think he mourned for those kids?

Let me share Matthew 25:41-46 with you.

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Now after reading that - was your response to the original events or the video from Jesus' perspective?  Did you mourn the suffering of others or did you focus on how it might effect you?

So, if you want to love like Jesus - then you must mourn like Jesus.  It doesn't matter your political affiliation, social status, or economic desires.  Mourn the suffering of others - regardless of the circumstances.

God Bless,

Rob

Christian Behaviors Index of Blogs

 Christian Behaviors series table of contents - quick index.

As each item in the series is added, this post will be updated to include links to each one.  Each link will open in a new window, so that this post will remain active in case you want to return here for another selection.  Some of the lessons will have 'sub-bullets'.  These are previous posts that support or add to the main one in the series.



Happy reading!

• Christian Behaviors - Introduction
• Poor in Spirit
• Those who Mourn
• The Humble (meek)

This page will remain featured on the side panel of the site and will be updated weekly with the new additions and blogs.

Love,

Rob

Christian Behaviors - Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

 Hello everyone and welcome back,

Last week I introduced this new series entitled, "Christian Behaviors. How to be like Jesus in a non-Jesus world". This week we'll look at one of our first behaviors or attitudes from Matthew 5:3.  But before we get there, I want to change the series title just a bit.  The new title is;

Christian Behaviors: How to LOVE like Jesus in a non-Jesus world. And that is only fitting, right? That is our command, to Love.

So, let's get started with this week's session from the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Let's break down a few of the supporting words, before we begin.

Beatitude: A state of bliss, happiness. The attitude you should be.

Blessed:  Happy, fortunate, well off

You'll also notice that all of the Beatitudes follow this pattern; Blessed are the SOMETHING, because a GOOD THING.  We will focus on the SOMETHINGs as the behaviors you should exhibit.

The word POOR is exactly what you'd expect, 

• Reduced to begging (asking alms)
• Destitute of wealth, influence, position, honor
• Lacking in anything

The next word we'll focus on is SPIRIT.  The Greek word used in this verse for spirit, is Pneuma. You may recognize this root word from a common English word today, pneumatic, which deals with air.  In the Biblical context, these are the definitions.

• 3rd Person of Trinity – Holy Spirit
• Vital principal by which the body is animated
• The power by which the body feels, thinks, decides
• Life Force from God

You'll find several times in the New Testament, that when referencing the Holy Spirit (part of the Trinity), the word will be capitalized as it is a proper noun, a name.  The same word is used when describing your spirit as well (not capitalized).  What I want you to zero in on today is that final definition, the life force from God.  This form of your spirit is that essence that makes you one with God, or the main component of your ability to commune or have a relationship with God.

The reason Jesus starts with this behavior is because all things you attempt or aspire to be must always start with your relationship with God.  Going back to Matthew 22:37, the greatest commandment is "Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, and mind."  It always starts with God and how you approach Him.

To be poor in spirit doesn't mean you lack anything from God, it simply means you are not full up of what He has to offer.  You are destitute of his spiritual enrichment, or better yet, you are destitute compared to what there is available.

If you think you are “full”, you won’t keep looking for more of a relationship with God. If you think you are “rich” you may think you’ve succeeded or reached some pinnacle of achievement.  Remember, earthly accomplishments are not the goal. Reaching the Kingdom of Heaven is the ultimate goal - which just so happens to be the reward for those who are poor in spirit.

There is an old quote (I'm not sure who is first attributed with it), that goes like this;

“If you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse.”

It means the status quo is not really the status quo.  If you aren't constantly striving to be better, then you are actually failing.  We all (Christians) seem to freely admit we are sinners.  We hear it all the time. I'm a sinner just like you.  (All for short of the glory of God - No one is righteous, no not one, and so on).  But how often do you really look at yourself from that perspective?  Do you consider yourself the same in God's eye because you "sin" is as bad as that person you see on the news network who has committed some crime, or that group you protest against because they are not like you or your church member friends?

Certainly there may differences between you and them here on earth, hopefully you never robbed a bank or some other crime.  But is earth the goal?  Does God not weep over them and love them as much as you? (for God so loved the world...).

If you think you are 'full up' when it comes to the spirit, you may just be letting pride get the best of you.  You may just be afraid of folks seeing the real you.  But God sees the real you.  

The laptop I'm writing this blog on right now contains images of the X-Men character Wolverine and the Star Wars character Darth Vader.  Those are really my favorites from those movies.  I'm always drawn to those types of characters that struggle mightily between good and evil.  Because to me that is real. It is a daily battle - and if you don't recognize that, your are in danger.

Have you ever heard the story about the two wolves living inside of you. One good and one evil. They battle every day. The question to the parable is, which wolf wins?  The answer is, the one you feed.  If you think your 'good wolf' is full, then you aren't feeding him.

I'll close with this scene from the movie "Avatar".  The main character, Jake, a former soldier, finds himself in a strange position of trying to learn the culture of an indigenous people on a far away planet.  Many scientists have failed before him to establish a good relationship with the tribe.  This is the dialog between him and the tribe elder, Moat. 

Scene from the movie "Avatar"

Jake: I came to learn.

Moat: It is hard to fill a cup which is already full.

Jake: My cup is empty.

So I ask you.  As you approach your daily activities, as you interact with others, as you evaluate the world around you, and as you 'judge' actions - is your cup already full or are you poor in spirit?

Love 

Rob

P.S. I've added an index of the posts in this series on the right hand menu bar.

Christian Behaviors - Introduction

 Hello everyone.

It has been a while since I've posted.  I've neglected the site, but I'm committing this year to getting back on track.  What has sparked this resurgence of commitment is a new Bible study idea.  Hopefully you've seen some of the blog posts on the Book of Revelation that coincide with my Sunday School lessons.  Well, since the pandemic has set in, we've been doing online church and Sunday School lessons through the Mount Carmel Baptist Church Facebook page.  Just recently an idea for a new set of lessons has emerged, and to go along with the Facebook videos, I've decided to do a blog post along with each lesson.  The overall goal is to document the series in writing, along with the videos in the hope that when I reach the end, I'll have a good bit of information that can be pieced together (somewhat coherently) that others can use or that I can fish out in the future for a new set of students and readers.

Before I get started, if you want to view the video that this blog supplements, click here.  This will take you to Facebook, where not only can you watch this week's video, but you'll also be able to browse many other videos of past lessons and Big Church sermons.

Back to the idea... First, I should acquaint you to my favorite Bible verse,  Matthew 22:37-40:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

This verse is a direct quote from Jesus, responding to a question from one of the 'keepers of the law'.  Obviously this person was hoping to trip Jesus up, but of course, he couldn't.

This verse gives you the most direct instruction on how you should act.  And even though it is very direct, there is more there that we can learn.  And this is where our lesson will begin.  How do we act? What is the most important things we should focus on.  What behavior should be display to be Christ like. That answer is LOVE.  Within that verse we are told who we should love and to the depths we should love.

Love is the key to all things.  To understand where this love comes from, let's talk about the Trinity, the God head, the three components that make up God; The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.

The Trinity 

The Venn diagram above is an example of how the three are both independent of each other, and yet at the same time part of one entity.  A lot of people may think that 'God' created Jesus at the time he came to Earth, and then created the Holy Spirit at the time of Jesus ascension to heaven.  But in reality, all three were together at the beginning. They were one at the onset and have been one during all times since.  In other words, when God created the heavens and the earth, that included Jesus and Holy Spirit, not just the Father.

In this particular diagram, I try to show you how the three work together to provide for us.  Naturally, each one can provide any of the components listed in the cross over areas, but I think they each focus on those areas.  For example, both the Father and the Son provide the sacrifice to us that pays for our sins. Jesus death and the Holy Spirit's guidance are what provide our path to eternal life.  Jesus himself states that all wisdom comes from the Father, and the Holy Spirit is what provides us wisdom when we study the Bible.  The three together overlap for the center component, (and all they provide it), is the root of Love.  Their love for us.

You'll also notice that in Matthew 22:37-40 there is another group of three within the verses regarding who we should love; God, Neighbors, Ourselves.  We are commanded to love all three.  There is a mnemonic sometimes used to help us remember this order, and that is JOY. Jesus, Others, Yourself.  In that order.  Having true joy in your life requires love in that order.

JOY

You'll see that in this diagram, I've linked the three components of JOY with some verses - MT 22 being the foundation, or where all three intersect.  These verses will be what we dive into each week of the lessons.

• Matthew 22:37-40
• 1 John 4
• 1 Corinthians 13
• Matthew 5-7

So we know who we should love, but do we know how?  That will be the actual focus of this series. 

the "HOW"

In this diagram, you can see the linkages between these verses and what they will teach us about doing what MT 22 commands us to do.  They tell us "HOW" to love.  1 Cor 13 and MT 5-7 lay the framework of how we should be - how we should act.  MT 5 contains the 'Beatitudes', or blessings for certain behaviors (among many other instructional verses we'll cover later).  1 Cor 13 outlines in great detail what Love is. 1 John 4 lays out the instructions of both how and why we should love and what that looks like.  These three verses together will lay out our plan on how to actually Love, how to be (internally) and how to show this love (externally).

These verses together will provide you a framework that will allow you to do, feel, and believe the things that will let you exhibit, live, and be Christ like behaviors - which will teach you how to Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind - and love your neighbor as yourself.

I hope you'll come along for this ride and watch the associated videos.  I do urge you to watch them, there will one for each blog (I hope).  Start with this week's to get you going (they are only about 30 minutes).

The next blog and video will be available in two weeks.  Hope to see you back here.

God Bless,

Love,

Rob.