by George Runyan | Sep 21, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
2 Corinthians 10:1 – I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am meek face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!
We have discovered in previous devotions how the Lord is helping us “Work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” God is working in us for His good pleasure. He tells us, “Do all things without murmuring and disputing,” because He is working a divine emptying process in our lives to bring about biblical humility.
The Holy Spirit is not at work to make us weak and spineless, He is at work to reveal Christ in us through meekness and boldness. Society has emasculated manhood. God is not bringing us to weakness, but to be strong through gentleness!
Meekness is not weakness! Meekness is yielded strength under control. I think of the great stallion that has been broken and bridled. He still has the same strength and force, but he can be ridden and his power guided.
In meekness, Jesus was willing to empty Himself and do what the Father had appointed. Jesus chose to empty Himself and be guided only by the Holy Spirit throughout His entire human life. Jesus said, “Father, I will go through this shame and all the failure.” He was willing to die, not in a hospital taking pain medicine, but on the cross in great suffering. It was cruel and humiliating. He took all the shame and all the humiliation for us. He was humiliated so we could succeed. I too must choose to empty myself and be filled with His meekness which will result in strength. READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Sep 20, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Philippians 2:5-7 – Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself.
We must be emptied in order to be filled. Philippians 2 reveals seven areas of Christ Jesus’ attitude about being emptied and allowing His Father to lift Him up through the exaltation of the resurrection. Through the resurrection, Christ is drawing men to Himself. “If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32). Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die, death on the cross. It is in dying, life is found.
v. 7a – Don’t exalt yourself
v. 7b – Choose to be a servant
v. 8 – Humble yourself through obedience, even to death of self
v. 9 – Let God exalt and lift you up
v. 9 – Let God give you a name that others honor
v. 12 – Obey God in your private life
v. 14 – Be content and don’t murmur or argue
The Lord is bringing about a divine emptying process in our life. He has called us to fully enter into Christ’s life and have His attitude in everything. The Lord Jesus Christ had one desire and that was to fully honor His Father, drawing all the attention to Him. What is our desire? Philippians chapter 2 reveals the example the Lord set for every believer. We are to follow His attitude. “I only want to be exalted in Christ and exalted by Christ.” If you are exalted by anything else, it only draws attention back to you. The world is filled with self-exaltation and honors its own. READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Sep 19, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Philippians 2:5-11 – Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The key to overcoming the flesh is humility. I’m not speaking of a feeling that I am not worthy. Many of God’s people have an attitude of false humility which can generate self-righteousness, pride, and anger that is rooted in shame. Many say, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace!” Yes, you were a sinner. Don’t stay there! You were saved by grace. Now be a son of God as He called you to be.
James writes, “Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10). When the Lord lifts us up there is no sense of shame. Shame generates false humility while the grace of God generates a sense of true acceptance. True humility says, “I can do nothing of myself.” If I receive anything, it comes from God! You lift your head and say, “Look what God has made me.” This is biblical humility. Jesus said in John 5, “I can do nothing of myself, only what I see the Father doing.” The Son did a lot, but He did not do things from His own initiation. The proper response when honored by another is to say, “Thank you for your recognition.” Afterwards, deflect the glory and thank God for what He allowed you to do. “Lord, I thank You for working through me.” READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Sep 18, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Genesis 3:7 – Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked.
Before Adam and Eve sinned and fell from the place of honor the Lord had given to them, they knew nothing of shame. When their eyes were opened they became self-conscious and aware of their uncovered condition. They instinctively felt separated from the love of God. They hid from each other and from God, trying to cover up their shame. It is shame that keeps us from our destiny. The Greek word for shame means nakedness. We are born naked which speaks of our inherent condition.
It took God’s intervention to begin a true process of recovery. Only when Jesus became sin for us could a true recovery of man’s lost and shameful condition become possible. As we receive by faith His substitutionary sacrifice, shame must go because we are now fully accepted in the completeness of Christ.
Jesus demonstrated the Father’s commitment to removing shame when He ministered grace and broke shame in the life of an adulterous woman as recorded in John 8:1-11. Jesus turned the searchlight back on her accusers when He said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). I see Jesus’ response as one of the greatest demonstrations of the love of God. Jesus found Himself alone with the woman. Her accusers had all left. Jesus asked her, “Did no one condemn you? She said, ‘No one, Lord’. Jesus said, ‘I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more’” (John 8:10-11). READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Sep 16, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Hebrews 12:2 – Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
A simple definition of shame is – a painful feeling of having lost respect of others and of oneself because of improper behavior, failure not to meet the expectation of another, and not living up to your own expectation of yourself.
Many Bible figures had to overcome shame. Abram felt shame not having a child for whom he could leave an inheritance. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “father of many.” God not only gave him a child, He multiplied his seed so His posterity was like the sand of the sea. Jacob was shamed because he deceived his father into thinking that he was Esau, his older brother, from whom he stole the birthright. Later, God changed Jacob’s name, which meant “deceiver” to Israel, meaning “Prince with God.” Joseph was shamed by his brothers who sold him into slavery. In Egypt, God raised him up to serve Pharaoh and save the nation in a time of famine. Some others I could write about would be Moses – shamed from Egypt and shame that he was inarticulate. Saul felt shame because of his persecution of the church and Timothy because of his age. Then there is Peter, who denied his Lord three times.
People do shameful things because they live from a shame base in their life experience. They are acting out what they believe about themselves. Many see themselves as a failure, evil, rejected, ugly, unworthy of love, and a host of other things.
Jesus broke the shame barrier once and for all in life and death. He gave us power in our life to rule over shame. He has empowered us to receive His forgiveness and acceptance. He wants to equip us so we too might help others break off shame from their lives. The Lord’s call for each of His children is to break shame’s power and be free to serve in humility. READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
