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Experiencing
the Glory of God 3
The Importance of Operating with
Humility
by Pastor John Hamel
“In the year that
king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon
a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above
it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings;
with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and
with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy,
holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his
glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that
cried, and the house was filled with smoke [the Glory].
"Then said I,
Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for
mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the
seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his
hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he
laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will
go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:1-8)
We are still
talking about the Glory and what we can do to step into it. It is
when we get into the Glory, or the Presence of God that things begin to
happen supernaturally that just did not seem to happen before. Needs
are met, family members have dramatic experiences with God, sick bodies are
healed, guidance comes, church membership
dramatically increases and many other wonderful things occur.
But if the Glory is
going to be poured out we must each recognize that we as individuals have
major roles to play in it. We have a responsibility to walk in love and in humility. Notice something Isaiah said
when he encountered the manifest Glory of God, "Woe is me for I am
undone" (verse 5). He did not say, "Woe is he or woe is she
or woe is this that or the other one." He said, “Woe
is me” because when the Glory went into manifestation, it caused him to
look at his shortcomings. When anyone desires to go into the Glory,
God is going to begin to show them things about themselves that hinder His
Glory. One of those things is pride, or a lack of humility.
Many people like to focus on the faults of everyone else, all the while
overlooking the fact that they need to be more honest, truthful, forgiving
and humble.
Look
Again at Ezekiel's Revelation of the Glory
“Afterward he
brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out
from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the
house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the
right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought
he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way
without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh
eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side."
"And when the
man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a
thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to
the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the
waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and
brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he
measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the
waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed
over.” (Ezekiel 47:1-5)
The
Importance of Humility
We are now familiar
with Ezekiel's revelation of the Glory flowing as a river. Well,
rivers always seek the lowest point to flow to, don’t they? There is
something here if we care to see it. The
River of
Glory will never flow to
anyone who doesn’t keep themselves humble. Refusing to bow the knee to the revealed
will of God and putting the needs of others first, will cause the river to
flow away from us and not towards us. The end result is lots of needs
that are not being met.
“Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the
proud he knoweth afar off.” (Psalm 138:6)
God will not
tolerate criticism, backstabbing, lying to or about others, cliques or any
of the elitist attitudes of the world amongst His children. God
actually hates what that does to people. God hates pride because He
loves people, while Satan loves pride because he hates people.
Because Jesus lived a life of putting others first, no matter who they
were, He was able to virtually live in the Glory while He was on the
Earth.
There are no worthless people on this planet.
We are here to reach all people with the message of God's love revealed in
Jesus. When we humble ourselves and bow down to the will of God for
all people, the river will flow to us and the supernatural will occur because
of us. It is time to stop running around looking for the Glory.
It is time to stay in place and start walking in love and humility
towards others and the Glory will manifest because you are there. The
Glory river flows to the lowest, most humble Believer.
The same principle
is true with fruit-bearing trees. Have you ever noticed that the
lowest hanging branches always have the most fruit? The message here
is this. In God's economy, up is down and down is up. Want to
go up high in the things of God? Then bow down in deference to
others. You will have so much Glory on your life as a result, people
will be lining up to have you pray for them.
“Likewise, ye
younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth
the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt
you in due time:” (1 Peter 5:5-6)
People who believe
they are better than others because they have more revelation of the Bible,
more people in their churches, more money, a better home or job are
deceived. They usually don't realize it until they need God's help
and cannot seem to find it.
Jesus
Lived a Life of Humility & Glory
It is interesting
to see in John's Gospel how Jesus continually used the words
"not" and "nothing" concerning Himself.
“Then answered
Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do
nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
do: for what things soever he doeth, these also
doeth the Son likewise.” (John 5:19)
“I can of mine own
self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I
seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent
me. ... I receive not honour from men.”
(John 5:30, 41)
“For I came down
from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”
(John 6:38)
“And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth
this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and
said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. ...Then cried Jesus in
the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am:
and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know
not.” (John 7:15-16, 28)
“Then said Jesus
unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I
am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my
Father hath taught me, I speak these things. ...Jesus answered, I have not
a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory:
there is one that seeketh and judgeth.”
(John 8:28, 49-50)
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I
speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. ... Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will
love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my
sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which
sent me.“ (John 14:10, 23-24)
Jesus simply
refused to do anything that He knew was not His Father's will. He
refused to put His will before His Father’s will and He walked in
tremendous Glory because of it. We can walk in the Glory by imitating
Him. Refusing to do the will of God in every situation is
prideful. Pride will knock us right out of the Glory realm.
“These six things
doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud
look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in
running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh
lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
(Proverbs 6:16-19)
“The fear of the
Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and
the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”
(Proverbs 8:13)
“A False balance is
abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight. When pride
cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. The
integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of
transgressors shall destroy them.” (Proverbs 11:1-3)
Integrity and
humility are God's assurance that we will live in the Glory. Pride
and dishonesty are His assurance that we will fall and shame will follow
us. (Deuteronomy 30:19) So if we want the Glory to
manifest in our lives to meet our needs, the Bible reveals the way to do
that is to humble ourselves before we have to be humbled by God. We
do that by walking in truth, honor and humility.
Jesus
Illustrated in Parable Form the Need for Humility
“And he put forth a
parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the
chief rooms [place/seat]; saying unto them. When thou art bidden of
any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he
that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou
begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden,
go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he
may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt
thou have worship in the
presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11)
The Greek word for
"worship" is actually "doxa." It means
"Glory, honor and respect."
Want to see the
Glory manifest in your life? Then simply understand this. In
God’s economy down is up and up is down. Take the lowly position
before men and God will raise you up. Take an exalted position before
men and God Himself will see to it you are brought down.
Don't make
the same mistake as Lucifer. His pride cost him everything. (Isaiah 14:12-14)
Don’t make the same mistake as hard-headed old King Nebuchadnezzar.
His pride cost him everything, too. (Daniel 4:30; 5:20).
Haman’s pride cost him everything,
including his life. (Esther chapters 3-5)
King Herod was as thick as
a brick himself when it came to pride. He lost his life over it as
well. (Acts 12:20-23)
The
Glory
River seeks the lowest
point to flow to. It never has and it never will run uphill to reach
someone on a pedestal.
In God's economy up is down and down is
up. Do it His way. That’s the most powerful way.
Be blessed ...
Pastor John and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
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