Humility

 Happy Sunday!

"Dear friend, listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice.
Keep my message in plain view at all times. Concentrate! Learn it by heart! Those who discover these words live, really live; body and soul, they’re bursting with health."(Proverbs 4:20-22 Message).

Brother Charles Capps has been in heaven for quite a while now, but I still enjoy listening to his sermon, "How to Succeed When Others Fail".  I may have even shared the link with you at some point. He used this scripture which in the King James Version says, "Attend to my words".  God inspired King Solomon to encourage the readers to pay attention to the Word.  The Bible is God's Word written to us so that we don't have to be hopeless, and helpless.

We've talked about the difference between listening and hearing.  When we really listen we are collecting information, gaining knowledge, and getting understanding.  Understanding gives us the ability to repeat something we've learned at will, and wisdom is putting what we learn into practice.  To succeed in this life we must have the Wisdom of God. 

James 1:5 says, "And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God—who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty—and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him."(Phillips).  Don't miss this!  God will give us wisdom for every situation, if we only ask.  To ask requires a bit of humility on our part.  In our society, we can simply Google a topic and get hundreds of answers and even "How To" videos.  We don't have to let anyone know that we really didn't know the topic.  I remember having to physically make a phone call to ask my grandmother how to skin a catfish, and ask my mother-in-law how to make a real banana pudding.  By asking them I was admitting that I didn't know how to do it, or I wasn't confident about doing it.  I humbled myself and asked those that knew more on the subjects.  God knows more than we will ever know, and He has conveniently put it in the Bible for us.  He even added human examples so that we can learn from their mistakes without making the same mistakes ourselves.

In Brother Capps message about succeeding when others fail, he tells his own personal testimony of failing.  He said he was "head over heels in debt" and if he'd sold everything he owned it wouldn't have made a dent in the debt.  He was sick with stomach ulcers and recalled drinking Maalox by the bottle.  He heard the Word of God and made the decision to believe and stand on the Word.  Things didn't change overnight, but it wasn't very long that he realized by following God's Word he was out of debt and healed.  He never went backward.  He succeeded all the days of his life in ministry, real estate, and farming.  I was even encouraged when he passed away.  His daughter recounts that he called his family members and told them he was going home on a certain day, and if they wanted to see him they should come.  They did, and he went home to be with the Lord on the very day he said he would.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."(Message).  Will you cooperate with God?  Will you ask Him for the wisdom you need to succeed?  Or will you doubt and do without? Selah.

Love and prayers, Cynthia