Manna for Your Morning

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” — 1 Peter 5:5 (NKJV) Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished. (Proverbs 16:5 NASB1995) Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. (Proverbs 16:8 NASB1995) Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, (1 Peter 5:6 NKJV)  Even Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (See Philippians 2:8) Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose]. (James 4:10 AMP)

My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together. — Psalm 34:2-3 (NASB1995) If we boast, may we boast only about YAHWEH, His goodness, grace and mercy. Let us lift up His name: Elohim, the all-powerful One, the everlasting Almighty God, Adonai, our master and majestic Lord. …and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, (1 Peter 5:5-6 NASB) A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor. (Proverbs 29:23 NKJV)  “ For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. ” — Luke 14:11 (NKJV)

When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call . — John 10:4 (AMP) In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. (Ephesians 4:1-6 MSG) Amen! …I urge you: Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you. — Ephesians 4:1 (VOICE)

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. — Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) Keep watch over the door of your heart and do not let anything in that is not of God. Let us hide the Word of God in our hearts, that we may not sin against Him. (Psalm 119:11). When His Word fills our heart we will love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. And we will love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39) When His Word fills our heart, grace and mercy will flow out of it. We will walk in humility and be kind to one another. As we open our heart to God, His love and compassion will fill it and that is what will come out of it, as we deal with the issues of life. When we allow God to sit on the throne of our heart, He directs our steps, and shows us the path of life. Keep vigilant watch over your heart. Everything is a matter of the heart.

Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it. — 1 Timothy 2:8-10 (MSG) As we pray, we let go of the worries of this world and embrace the power of God that is able to move mountains and destroy yokes. Prayer and praise release the power of God to change circumstances. It ushers in His Presence and opens our hearts to Him, so the Holy Spirit can work in us and through us. Psalm 33:1 (NKJV) says, praise from the upright is beautiful. As we pray and praise our heavenly Father, we let the light and love of God shine through us, and we illuminate the world around us with the beauty of the LORD. Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is ...

He must increase, but I must decrease. — John 3:30 (NKJV) Jesus is on the increase when we allow His love to flow into our hearts and wash away the root of bitterness and offense. Jesus increases when we say good-bye to discouragement, anxiety and worry and open the door to His joy and peace, while holding onto faith and hope. Jesus increases in us, when we let go of pride, and clothe ourselves in humility. As we exercise patience, compassion and kindness, we allow Jesus to increase in us. When our love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7), we make room for Jesus to work in our lives and in the lives of others. May we decrease, and let Jesus occupy!

Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. — Luke 10:30-33 (NKJV) The Samaritan bandaged up this man's wounds, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. In the busyness of our lives, how many people, left half dead on the road of life, do we pass by? May we take our eyes off ourselves long enough to see the wounded people all around us, those who are hanging on by a thread. May our hands reach out to help those in need. Let us bandage up the wounds they have suffered on the battlefield of life and build them up with encouraging wor...

And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. — Exodus 28:2 (NKJV) God’s glory and beauty dwells within us in the form of His Holy Spirit. We are to let the fullness of His glory and beauty shine through us as we clothe ourselves in holy garments. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12, NIV). Colossians 3:13 instructs us to bear with each other and forgive one another, as the Lord has forgiven us. That is a beautiful thing! And over all these virtues, we are to put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:14, NIV). As we continuously wear these attributes wherever we go, we are a reflection of God's glory and beauty. Amen!

Then the people of Israel were convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. — Exodus 4:31 (NLT) When we know that the LORD cares about us and that He has seen our affliction and troubles, the appropriate response is to bow down in humility and cast all our cares upon Him. Then we can wholeheartedly worship the LORD, knowing that our heavenly Father is a great and mighty God. He is able to handle everything that concerns us. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker (Psalm 95:6). Worthy, worthy worthy is the LORD!

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. — Genesis 24:1 (NKJV) How would you like to be blessed in ALL things? Let us look at and follow Abraham’s example: First of all, Abraham trusted and obeyed God. When God told him to get out of his country, Abraham left, not even knowing where he was going (Genesis 12:1-4). Second, Abraham was a giver. He gave Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High a tithe (tenth) of all (Genesis 14:18-20). Third, Abraham humbled himself under God’s mighty hand. Genesis 17:3 says, he fell on his face, and God talked with him. May trust, obedience, generosity, and humility characterize our lives, as well. Amen!

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  — James 4:6 (NKJV) Humility is the acknowledgement that anything we accomplish in this life is only by the grace of God. Humility recognizes that everything we have belongs to Him. God empowered us with the strength, wisdom and all that we needed to come this far. Romans 12:3 (AMP) says, [not to have an exaggerated opinion of your own importance]. So, don’t get puffed up with pride. Instead, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, (1 Peter 5:6, NKJV). Be thankful for all of your successful endeavors and continue to depend on and be devoted to God, with all your heart.

And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. — Galatians 3:27 (NLT) The one question most of us ask ourselves almost everyday is, “what am I going to wear?” Then we intentionally pick out an outfit and get dressed. Similarly, in the spiritual realm, we must purposefully choose how we clothe ourselves. We can choose to wear the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3, NKJV). Romans 13:12 (NKJV) instructs us to cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. Colossians 3:12 (NIV) says, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14, NLT).

I have no interest in giving you a chatty account of my adventures, only the wondrously powerful and transformingly present words and deeds of Christ in me that triggered a believing response among the outsiders . — Romans 15:18 (The Message) Let all that we say and do be aimed at triggering a believing response in those around us, who do not know Jesus. When others look at us may they see the love, compassion and kindness of Christ. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12, NIV). So that we may have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God (Romans 16:17, NKJV).

Love... is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. — 1 Corinthians 13:5 (AMP) God’s love in us, is other-focused. Love cares more for others than for self. (1 Corinthians 13:5 , The Message). As imitators of our heavenly Father, let us do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (Philippians 2:3).

Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility.  — Proverbs 18:12 (NKJV) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:10)! Let us be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” (1 Peter 5:5). I believe pride and arrogance are some of the most putrid smells in the nostrils of God. The Message Bible says, pride first, then the crash (Proverbs 18:12). Humility starts with putting God first and then considering the needs of others before your self. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:6).

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.  — Psalm 95:6-7 (NKJV) Being on your knees is a sign of submission and humility. Let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker and acknowledge that He is God, a great and awesome God. When a man kneels before a woman to ask for her hand in marriage, he puts himself in a position of vulnerability, to the one he loves. Let us make ourselves vulnerable before our God. Put your heart on His altar and fully avail yourself to Him. Nothing we admit to God is going to shock Him. He already knows the condition of our hearts. Opening the door of our hearts to our heavenly Father is just the first step to receiving the help and healing we so desperately need.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. — Romans 13:12 (NKJV) God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). We are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Let us put on the shining armor of light: joy, compassion, kindness, goodness, humility, gentleness, patience, peace and love!

Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”  — John 11:43-44 (NIV) Are you still wrapped up in worldly ways? Lay aside the ways of this world. God's ways are higher. Offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive (Romans 6:13). As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:12-14).

You mortals, the LORD has told you what is good.  This is what the LORD requires from you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to live humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 (GW) Here is what is good: 1) To do what is RIGHT, stay on the narrow and straight path that leads to life. Keep moving forward and do not get distracted to the right or to the left. 2) Love MERCY. Just as God has been merciful to us, be quick to show mercy to others. 3) Live with our God in HUMILITY. Abide with our heavenly Father, don't just drop in from time to time. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:6). Amen.

The High and Lofty One lives forever, and his name is holy. This is what he says: I live in a high and holy place.  But I am with those who are crushed and humble. I will renew the spirit of those who are humble  and the courage of those who are crushed. Isaiah 57:15 (GW) If you are crushed and humble, know that the Lord is with you. James instructs us to humble ourselves before the Lord, and He will lift us up (James 4:10). Humility comes before honor. The Lord guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way (Psalm 25:9). He sustains the humble and crowns them with victory. Be completely humble (Ephesians 4:2) and the Lord will show you His favor (Proverbs 3:34). He will renew your spirit and strengthen the courage of those who are crushed. Amen.