Reaching the Heights - Gentleness and Humility

Gentleness and Humility

A few years ago we moved house and there was some work that needed doing in the kitchen. Susan and I decided to install wall-boards to improve appearance and warmth. We had fixed batons the walls and I was fitting boards to the batons. In one particular corner the board needed shaping to fit the contours of the kitchen. I measured and marked up the board. Susan pointed out that I had not got my measurements right, but I insisted I had. I think I may have been trying to prove I was well able to do this job?

I proceeded to cut the board to shape before fitting it to the wall. It fitted fine, so long as the facer side of the board was facing the wall. I had cut a mirror image of the required shape! Susan had tried to point this out before I cut the board, but I insisted I had it right.

On reflection, this little incident illustrates perfectly that pride goes before a fall. I was insistent I was right. I wouldn’t listen to her. In this instance it simply cost us a wasted wall board, but pride can cause much more serious things. It is one of the primary causes of wars and international confrontation. On a personal level it’s the cause of many broken relationships and family tensions.

The humble person has an advantage over all others; no one can put him or her down, because they have already taken the lower place. Gentleness and humbleness of heart are characteristics of Jesus. Even Moses, under the Old Covenant, was such a humble man that God spoke with him face-to-face. Jesus encouraged his disciples to be child-like in their heart and attitude.

Pride stands between you and God perhaps more than any other thing. He opposes the proud and gives favour to the humble. We need to learn how to humble ourselves and leave God to be responsible for our recognition.

Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.	Smith Wigglesworth
In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.	Eric Hoffer
Take what bothers you most as an invitation by God to work at solving that problem.	Lance Wallnau
Without grace, life is filled with struggle, it is not a life we enjoy; but with his grace, we can enter the rest (peace) of the Lord and experience joy unspeakable and full of glory.	Joyce Meyer
You never lose; you win or you learn.	Nelson Mandela
Your behaviour won't change until your thoughts change. As long as you think, "I can't do this", you are never going to be able to do it!	Joyce Meyer
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe.	Smith Wigglesworth
Leadership is not about titles, positions or flow charts. It's about one life influencing another.	John Maxwell
If God is enthroned on my praise, who is enthroned on my complaining? If I enter his gates with praise, who's gates am I entering when I complain?	Bill Johnson
When we believe in God's sovereignty, and not our own understanding, we'll see how our problems will never outweigh what God has promised us (Prov. 3:5 NIV)	T D Jakes
Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.	Jim Rhon
If I give up my right to understand, He will give me the peace that passes understanding.	Bill Johnson
Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.	Winston Churchill
You can't change your life, but if you change your mind, God will transform your life.	Kris Vallotton
In prayer we bring our spiritual enemies into the presence of God.	Jarrod Cooper
Once in a while we manage to stumble on the truth, but most of us manage to pick ourselves up and hurry along as if nothing had happened.	Winston Churchill
The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.	Winston Churchill
When the Lord says, "Do something", the favour needed to do it is already attached to the command.	David Forster
Being powerful is like being a lady, if you have to tell people you are, then you aren't.	Margaret Thatcher
The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but God will make us good because he loves us.	C S Lewis
Fear is misplaced faith.	Kris Vallotton
God has already seen every mistake, every failure and every weakness, and the good news is he's already forgiven you. He is not holding it against you.	Joel Osteen
God is not nearly so interested in changing your circumstances as he is in changing you.	Joyce Meyer
Pray, and let God worry	Martin Luther
Those who never change their mind never change anything.	Winston Churchill
What you do (for a living) is not who you are.	Celia Apeagyei-Collins
People who write you off when you fail know nothing about history and even less about life. No person ever fully succeeds until they fully fail.	Lance Wallnau
There is no uncreated being except God. God has no opposite. Satan, the leader or dictator of devils, is the opposite, not of God, but of Michael.	C S Lewis
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.	Jim Elliot
You never know how much you really believe anything until it's truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life or death to you.	C S Lewis
If you know you are loved, faith is easy. It's easy to trust someone you know loves you.	David Forster
Every moment that you spend upset, despaired, anguished, angry, afraid or hurt, because of the behaviour of someone else in your life, is a moment in which you have given up control of your life.	Unknown
Remember, you do not have to live today by how you feel, nor by what you think about yourself, nor by what someone else thinks about you. The person who created you thinks you are wonderful, and he waits with open arms for you to agree with him.	David Forster
Shift gears from doing something in God's presence to simply being in God's presence.	Lance Wallnau
Your future doesn't depend on what is in front of you, it depends on who is in you.	Lance Wallnau
Did you know that you are utterly and completely loved by God, without doing a single thing, good or bad.	David Forster
no one knows how bad they are until they have tried very hard to be good..	C S Lewis
If we are living daily by faith, we will be constantly over our head; Beyond our ability to do this our that. We should all be in that place in some area of our life. If we are not, we will be like an old wineskin; too rigid and inflexible to receive the Lord's new wine.	Rick Joyner
For a believer intimacy with God is not an option, it's a necessity. Guidance and direction depend on this intimacy and sensitivity to Holy Spirit. There is no substitute for the latter.	Graham Cooke
Jesus reveals the Father to us. He gives us peace and rest. He is not a hard taskmaster.	David Forster
The God who creates everything, pursues you. Don't let anyone tell you you're are worth less than that.	Louie Giglio
In the kingdom, physical obedience brings spiritual release.	Bill Johnson
Don't be surprised if you pray for nearness to God and he sends a trial. Nearness always requires dependence.	Desiringgod.org
Our corporate worship doesn't meet a need in God, it meets a need in us.	Sam Storms
How you feel is not who you are. Feelings are great servants and terrible masters.	Kris Vallotton
There is a lot that is good in your life. Don't take it for granted. Don't get so focused on the struggle that you mis the gift of today.	Joel Osteen
The enemy commits identity theft when you believe you must earn what God freely gives.	Alison Brown
If you agree with your creator and receive what he freely gives, you will have serenity in your identity and confidence in your countenance.	David Forster
If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got.	David Forster
A satisfying and exciting life organises around an identity focused on Jesus, not the church..	Graham Cooke
Satan cannot impose his will on anyone, he has to have our agreement.	Graham Cooke
Every day adjust yourself to where God is taking you, that is, toward the prophetic vision he has given you.	Lance Wallnau
Real faith is not faith in an outcome (of a particular situation or circumstance), it's faith in a person.	David Forster
Be in no doubt that God will redeem the losses and mistakes of your past life.	David Forster
God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because there is simply no such thing.	C S Lewis
Wealth, women and status; these are the major temptations that can draw a man away from God. Each is morally neutral; yet given the appropriate significance, each can control us.	David Forster
The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he doesn't exist.	Anon
Fear is the enemy of love. The two cannot exist together. We have to choose daily: Fear or Love.	David Forster
You are not saved because of the quality of your faith. You are saved because of the object of your faith; The Redeemer!	Tim Keller
Revival goes from the bottom up; Reformation goes from the top down. Therefore reformation is institutional and revival is personal.	Lance Wallnau
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.	Albert Einstein
Inner peace is key to experiencing God's presence. Rest is a weapon against the enemy	Graham Cooke
Fairy tales don't tell children that dragons exist. Children know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.	G K Chesterton
When you are at peace with God, you will be at peace with yourself and with other people.	David Forster
You can believe in Christianity in the same way you believe that the sun has risen; Firstly, because you see it and secondly because by it you see everything else.	C S Lewis
A little while ago I became old enough to start believing in fairy tales again. This means there are far better things ahead of me then what I have left behind.	C S Lewis
Your unfinished destiny is your most potent argument with death.	Graham Cooke
I am not focused on what I am not, I am focused on what he is for me.	David Forster