The Blessing of Humility...Pastor Peter Tan
Fatherly Talk 6.04 The Blessings of Humility
Dearly Beloved,
The history of mankind and civilizations is filled with stories of conquerors and world empires. The desire to dominate the world and environment is sometimes also filled with sad stories of the inhumanity of man to his fellow man in the pursuit of world dominion. People and countries like to have power, wealth and authority many times compromising their ethics and selling their souls to achieve such. The two world wars that the modern world has experienced shows us that countries that seek to enslave others for their own needs do not last long as world powers; for there is indeed a God who watches over the earth to ensure that the bad and evil will fall and the good will triumph over the bad. Yet history books are filled with stories of world conquerors ignoring the evil they do and extolling their heroic deeds to conquer their environment and the world to achieve greatness. What is greatness anyway? Our Lord Jesus said that the greatest among you shall be the servant of all (Matthew 23:11; Luke 22:26).
Any preacher or any Christian or church that makes heroes out of anyone who conquers by their own might and army their heroes do not understand not know that true Christianity is the very opposite of the world and its methodology. Our heroes should not be people in the history books or in the business world who achieve things by their own might and strength. This is what the devil wants to present to get more people to follow him. Our heroes should be those who demonstrate great humility and show forth the virtue of love, peace, joy, kindness, longsuffering, etc. Our heroes should be the Mother Teresas and not the Alexander the greats. Of course, our ultimate hero is Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour who triumph over the Roman Empire and all world empires that have arisen by the power of His love and humility. The devil offered Jesus the whole world on a platter and Jesus refused him (Matthew 4:8-10). Instead, Jesus advocate inheriting the world through meekness (Matthew 5:5).
There is inherent in every human being the desire for world conquest or to be part of it in some way. This in itself is not bad for we were created in the image of God to have dominion over the world (Genesis 1:26-28). The desire to dominate and rule the world and all around us is in our DNA. We can’t help it as we were created to be like God, to exercise authority and power. The problem is not in this desire: the problem is in our methodology and motive. The purpose of world dominion and power should not be for selfish gain or lust. It should be a goal to be better positioned to be a blessing and servant to all those whom we have authority and power over. This is indeed our inheritance and right in the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham received the covenant to be a great nation; he was to be blessed and be a blessing to all the nations of the world (Genesis 12:1-2). We have inherited this blessing through Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:13-14). It is for the reason and motive of helping other fellow humans that the power and dominion is assigned to any individual. We have world dominion in direct proportion to the love we have for others. The more love we have for others, the greater our dominion over the planet earth. When we are completely like God in His love for the world (John 3:16), then will we also have complete authority over the whole planet.
The methodology for world conquest is through humility. Yes, it is the very opposite of all worldly methods. The humble shall be exalted. God will take away empires, crowns, countries and nations from the proud to give it to the humble. Of course, when the humble later becomes proud, they too will lose their empire and it will be given again to another who is humble. This is also applicable to the business world and the church world. Business people who become proud will eventually lose all their business empire and it will be given to another who is humble and use it correctly to bless others. In the church world, personal ministries and personal little kingdoms rise and fall in whenever the preacher or minister in charge becomes proud and haughty and stops helping others. Fame and fortune only lasts as long as the recipient remains humble all the days of their lives. We are constantly being evaluated by the watcher angels as much as Nebuchadnezzar was being watched by the watchers and judged when he reached the prime of his pride (Daniel 4:17). No one escapes, every human being will have to give account to God for all their deeds and words in this life. All the positions in this life of power, wealth and fame are but a temporary stewardship assignment we have while living on the planet earth. It is all reduced to zero when we leave the physical earth retaining only our personal character development as our greatest treasure and inheritance.
The inheritance of humility is honour, power, wealth and riches (Proverbs 15:33; 18:12; 22:4). It pays to be humble. It is a blessing on the earth and in eternity to be humble. We receive blessings while on earth and in eternity we will receive umpteen rewards for the character development to be humble. Humility is the only methodology to receive fame, power, and wealth on the planet earth. The grace and the favour of God are only upon the humble and no other. Choose to be humble and all these blessings are yours. Choose to be proud and everything you have shall be stripped away.
For this reason, many times before God exalts and promote a person, organization or nation, God allows them to experience humility first. Joseph was stripped of his privilege position with Jacob, sold as a slave, became a prisoner and then eventually became the prime minister of Egypt by the hand of God (Genesis 37-41). He was the most powerful man in Egypt when God had finished with him (Genesis 41:44). Daniel was among the prisoners taken to slavery to Babylon, he most likely lost his manhood and was castrated as he was among the eunuchs who served the king (Daniel 1:3-11). Daniel was humbled in soul and body; stripped of everything and everyone he loved including the ability to live like a normal human. He was among the innocent who paid the price of slavery and becoming a eunuch because of the rebellion of the nation of Israel against God. Daniel was humble in spirit and he persevered in his love for God and rose to become the most powerful man in all the Babylonian empire (Daniel 2:48). Before Israel could be a great nation and become the head and not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:1-14), God took Israel through the wilderness to humble them (Deuteronomy 8:2, 16). The road to greatness, power, wealth, fame and influence is the road of humility. It is the only road. Everyone must be tested in their humility before they are rewarded by God with greatness. Sometimes, those who take this road unknowingly become great but having become great also became proud. God then deals with them the way He deals with all the proud, He resists them and brings them down, too even though once upon a time, they had been humble and God exalted them.
It is paramount to all that we be humble. All the earth is the Lord’s and its fullness thereof. Everything and everyone will be humbled. Either we humble ourselves or God will resist us and humble us through circumstances. We must choose humility for the Lord owns the earth and gives it to whomever He chooses. We must not only bow and say grace for our food; we must say grace for everything – our blessings, our abilities and talents, our position in life, our health, our assets, our family, etc. All things come from God and we must constantly live our lives in gratitude for all that God has given. He only allows us to feel that we have achieved through our own efforts and faithfulness but in essence, it is He who was rewarding us for our dependence upon Him and our humility before Him. This is so we can experience our free will and make choices in our lives with consequences of good or bad as a learning experience. All things are inherited and not the wages we receive for our works. We only see it and think that it looks like the wages of our works like we see the sun moving around the earth. In actual fact it is the earth that moves around the sun. It is not our effort that has brought us all things in life. It is the Lord shining His sunshine rays of blessing and rewarding us with His unmerited blessings and favour. All our efforts, when done correctly, only bring us to the position to receive the blessings; it is God who gives the blessing. For the wisdom of Ecclesiastes has observed that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill but he perceives it to be time and chance (Ecclesiastes 9:11). In the end, he finds that it is all vanity of vanities as all men’s efforts are futile (Ecclesiastes 12:8). His conclusion is only one thing to do in life – to fear God and keep His commandments and let God reward every work accordingly (Ecclesiastes 12:13). To fear the Lord is to humble oneself before Him. Don’t wait till you are like Solomon in Ecclesiastes to discover that the secret of success in life is fearing God and humbling oneself before Him. Solomon had done a lot of damage in his pride and pomp. He forgot the God of his youth. Saul did the same thing and forgot the God who gave him the kingdom. Not so David. David paid a heavy price for some displays of pride but he eventually learn to walk in steady humility before the Lord.
Humility is the key to success in this life and in the life to come. No matter at which station in life you are at, young or old, rich or poor, famous or infamous, turn to God and humble yourself before Him. Life is not over until it actually ends for you. As long as there is breath, as long as there is life, as long as you have the power of free will and free choice, you can still make a difference in your life. For those who have not tasted the blessings and have gone the wrong way, turn to God in humility now and you will see the changes come slowly and steadily. For those who are already experiencing the goodness of God, keep on humbling yourself before the Lord and you will see even greater blessings. There is no limit as to what the Lord can do. The Lord reminded David, when he sinned against Him, that he was nothing before God made him a king; and He even said to David that if all that He had given him was not enough and too little, the Lord would have given even more (2 Samuel 12:8). We all know that David worked hard to rise to the top; he fought, he toiled and he conquered. But it was not his efforts that put him in the position of king; it was God’s grace and God’s gift. If not for God’s gift and anointing, David would still be an unknown shepherd out in the field. David had a lot of blood, sweat and tears in his hands and face to reach the position he had (for him it was literal blood as he had killed many in battle). Yet, it was not the wages of works but the grace of God that placed him where he was. Without grace, he would have no opportunity to work. Working was only the mercy of God allowing us to experience ownership and pleasure in experiencing self-awareness. In the Bible, grace comes first before works and not the other way round. We were chosen before the foundation of the world by God and predestined to be accepted in His love before the works were given to us to do (Ephesians 1:4-6; 2:8-10). The works came AFTER grace and not before.
Works were given more for our enjoyment of self awareness and independence (dependent of the Spirit of God, of course) of experiencing them. Those who put works before grace will only experience disappointment. It would be pride and self. The Lord gives grace to the humble and not the proud (James 4:6). Let us learn this very, very important lesson. The entire organization of this life on planet earth is based on us learning to walk the road of humility. Humility is the only way to receive the grace of God for living this life. We reject the road of humility at our own loss and peril. If we don’t humble ourselves and learn this lesson now, circumstances will do so and then life might be over and we lose the chance to walk in the works given to us by the grace of God.
Let us all pursue humility and seek always to walk in the path of humility. It is a path of great rewards and blessings in God without limits. The greatest among us must be the servant of all. The greatest among us must be the most humble amongst us.
Be humble, be blessed.
In Christ Jesus
Ps Peter Tan
Dearly Beloved,
The history of mankind and civilizations is filled with stories of conquerors and world empires. The desire to dominate the world and environment is sometimes also filled with sad stories of the inhumanity of man to his fellow man in the pursuit of world dominion. People and countries like to have power, wealth and authority many times compromising their ethics and selling their souls to achieve such. The two world wars that the modern world has experienced shows us that countries that seek to enslave others for their own needs do not last long as world powers; for there is indeed a God who watches over the earth to ensure that the bad and evil will fall and the good will triumph over the bad. Yet history books are filled with stories of world conquerors ignoring the evil they do and extolling their heroic deeds to conquer their environment and the world to achieve greatness. What is greatness anyway? Our Lord Jesus said that the greatest among you shall be the servant of all (Matthew 23:11; Luke 22:26).
Any preacher or any Christian or church that makes heroes out of anyone who conquers by their own might and army their heroes do not understand not know that true Christianity is the very opposite of the world and its methodology. Our heroes should not be people in the history books or in the business world who achieve things by their own might and strength. This is what the devil wants to present to get more people to follow him. Our heroes should be those who demonstrate great humility and show forth the virtue of love, peace, joy, kindness, longsuffering, etc. Our heroes should be the Mother Teresas and not the Alexander the greats. Of course, our ultimate hero is Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour who triumph over the Roman Empire and all world empires that have arisen by the power of His love and humility. The devil offered Jesus the whole world on a platter and Jesus refused him (Matthew 4:8-10). Instead, Jesus advocate inheriting the world through meekness (Matthew 5:5).
There is inherent in every human being the desire for world conquest or to be part of it in some way. This in itself is not bad for we were created in the image of God to have dominion over the world (Genesis 1:26-28). The desire to dominate and rule the world and all around us is in our DNA. We can’t help it as we were created to be like God, to exercise authority and power. The problem is not in this desire: the problem is in our methodology and motive. The purpose of world dominion and power should not be for selfish gain or lust. It should be a goal to be better positioned to be a blessing and servant to all those whom we have authority and power over. This is indeed our inheritance and right in the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham received the covenant to be a great nation; he was to be blessed and be a blessing to all the nations of the world (Genesis 12:1-2). We have inherited this blessing through Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:13-14). It is for the reason and motive of helping other fellow humans that the power and dominion is assigned to any individual. We have world dominion in direct proportion to the love we have for others. The more love we have for others, the greater our dominion over the planet earth. When we are completely like God in His love for the world (John 3:16), then will we also have complete authority over the whole planet.
The methodology for world conquest is through humility. Yes, it is the very opposite of all worldly methods. The humble shall be exalted. God will take away empires, crowns, countries and nations from the proud to give it to the humble. Of course, when the humble later becomes proud, they too will lose their empire and it will be given again to another who is humble. This is also applicable to the business world and the church world. Business people who become proud will eventually lose all their business empire and it will be given to another who is humble and use it correctly to bless others. In the church world, personal ministries and personal little kingdoms rise and fall in whenever the preacher or minister in charge becomes proud and haughty and stops helping others. Fame and fortune only lasts as long as the recipient remains humble all the days of their lives. We are constantly being evaluated by the watcher angels as much as Nebuchadnezzar was being watched by the watchers and judged when he reached the prime of his pride (Daniel 4:17). No one escapes, every human being will have to give account to God for all their deeds and words in this life. All the positions in this life of power, wealth and fame are but a temporary stewardship assignment we have while living on the planet earth. It is all reduced to zero when we leave the physical earth retaining only our personal character development as our greatest treasure and inheritance.
The inheritance of humility is honour, power, wealth and riches (Proverbs 15:33; 18:12; 22:4). It pays to be humble. It is a blessing on the earth and in eternity to be humble. We receive blessings while on earth and in eternity we will receive umpteen rewards for the character development to be humble. Humility is the only methodology to receive fame, power, and wealth on the planet earth. The grace and the favour of God are only upon the humble and no other. Choose to be humble and all these blessings are yours. Choose to be proud and everything you have shall be stripped away.
For this reason, many times before God exalts and promote a person, organization or nation, God allows them to experience humility first. Joseph was stripped of his privilege position with Jacob, sold as a slave, became a prisoner and then eventually became the prime minister of Egypt by the hand of God (Genesis 37-41). He was the most powerful man in Egypt when God had finished with him (Genesis 41:44). Daniel was among the prisoners taken to slavery to Babylon, he most likely lost his manhood and was castrated as he was among the eunuchs who served the king (Daniel 1:3-11). Daniel was humbled in soul and body; stripped of everything and everyone he loved including the ability to live like a normal human. He was among the innocent who paid the price of slavery and becoming a eunuch because of the rebellion of the nation of Israel against God. Daniel was humble in spirit and he persevered in his love for God and rose to become the most powerful man in all the Babylonian empire (Daniel 2:48). Before Israel could be a great nation and become the head and not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:1-14), God took Israel through the wilderness to humble them (Deuteronomy 8:2, 16). The road to greatness, power, wealth, fame and influence is the road of humility. It is the only road. Everyone must be tested in their humility before they are rewarded by God with greatness. Sometimes, those who take this road unknowingly become great but having become great also became proud. God then deals with them the way He deals with all the proud, He resists them and brings them down, too even though once upon a time, they had been humble and God exalted them.
It is paramount to all that we be humble. All the earth is the Lord’s and its fullness thereof. Everything and everyone will be humbled. Either we humble ourselves or God will resist us and humble us through circumstances. We must choose humility for the Lord owns the earth and gives it to whomever He chooses. We must not only bow and say grace for our food; we must say grace for everything – our blessings, our abilities and talents, our position in life, our health, our assets, our family, etc. All things come from God and we must constantly live our lives in gratitude for all that God has given. He only allows us to feel that we have achieved through our own efforts and faithfulness but in essence, it is He who was rewarding us for our dependence upon Him and our humility before Him. This is so we can experience our free will and make choices in our lives with consequences of good or bad as a learning experience. All things are inherited and not the wages we receive for our works. We only see it and think that it looks like the wages of our works like we see the sun moving around the earth. In actual fact it is the earth that moves around the sun. It is not our effort that has brought us all things in life. It is the Lord shining His sunshine rays of blessing and rewarding us with His unmerited blessings and favour. All our efforts, when done correctly, only bring us to the position to receive the blessings; it is God who gives the blessing. For the wisdom of Ecclesiastes has observed that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill but he perceives it to be time and chance (Ecclesiastes 9:11). In the end, he finds that it is all vanity of vanities as all men’s efforts are futile (Ecclesiastes 12:8). His conclusion is only one thing to do in life – to fear God and keep His commandments and let God reward every work accordingly (Ecclesiastes 12:13). To fear the Lord is to humble oneself before Him. Don’t wait till you are like Solomon in Ecclesiastes to discover that the secret of success in life is fearing God and humbling oneself before Him. Solomon had done a lot of damage in his pride and pomp. He forgot the God of his youth. Saul did the same thing and forgot the God who gave him the kingdom. Not so David. David paid a heavy price for some displays of pride but he eventually learn to walk in steady humility before the Lord.
Humility is the key to success in this life and in the life to come. No matter at which station in life you are at, young or old, rich or poor, famous or infamous, turn to God and humble yourself before Him. Life is not over until it actually ends for you. As long as there is breath, as long as there is life, as long as you have the power of free will and free choice, you can still make a difference in your life. For those who have not tasted the blessings and have gone the wrong way, turn to God in humility now and you will see the changes come slowly and steadily. For those who are already experiencing the goodness of God, keep on humbling yourself before the Lord and you will see even greater blessings. There is no limit as to what the Lord can do. The Lord reminded David, when he sinned against Him, that he was nothing before God made him a king; and He even said to David that if all that He had given him was not enough and too little, the Lord would have given even more (2 Samuel 12:8). We all know that David worked hard to rise to the top; he fought, he toiled and he conquered. But it was not his efforts that put him in the position of king; it was God’s grace and God’s gift. If not for God’s gift and anointing, David would still be an unknown shepherd out in the field. David had a lot of blood, sweat and tears in his hands and face to reach the position he had (for him it was literal blood as he had killed many in battle). Yet, it was not the wages of works but the grace of God that placed him where he was. Without grace, he would have no opportunity to work. Working was only the mercy of God allowing us to experience ownership and pleasure in experiencing self-awareness. In the Bible, grace comes first before works and not the other way round. We were chosen before the foundation of the world by God and predestined to be accepted in His love before the works were given to us to do (Ephesians 1:4-6; 2:8-10). The works came AFTER grace and not before.
Works were given more for our enjoyment of self awareness and independence (dependent of the Spirit of God, of course) of experiencing them. Those who put works before grace will only experience disappointment. It would be pride and self. The Lord gives grace to the humble and not the proud (James 4:6). Let us learn this very, very important lesson. The entire organization of this life on planet earth is based on us learning to walk the road of humility. Humility is the only way to receive the grace of God for living this life. We reject the road of humility at our own loss and peril. If we don’t humble ourselves and learn this lesson now, circumstances will do so and then life might be over and we lose the chance to walk in the works given to us by the grace of God.
Let us all pursue humility and seek always to walk in the path of humility. It is a path of great rewards and blessings in God without limits. The greatest among us must be the servant of all. The greatest among us must be the most humble amongst us.
Be humble, be blessed.
In Christ Jesus
Ps Peter Tan
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