"Help! My Humility Needs To Be Humbled" by Pastor Kevin Lynch

Luke 9:23 (Amplified Bible)

"And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also]."

Something is out of whack.

I'm trying to see this admonition from Jesus actually being lived out.

Self-denial? Placing others before oneself? Taking up OUR cross?

Living so closely to Jesus that it is as if we are wrapped around Him in a death grip?

Cleaving steadfastly?

One has to actually stop hugging their own self long enough to be able to cleave steadfastly to Jesus.

How about disowning oneself?

That means we would have to say we weren't in charge, and that we are willing to step down off the throne of our own little snow globe kingdom, and allow Jesus to do what Jesus does...

...Reign over us.

Ain't gonna happen if we are in the way.

The devil is very good at subtleties.

In fact I think that his strategy is brilliant.

He keeps our eyes fixed on the big bad stuff, but all the while he is killing us with the small stuff.

One of his most formidable and deadliest weapons is inflating the human ego without the person not only not realizing how egotistical they have become, but having the person think that they are actually humble.

Diabolically brilliant!

There's a lot of humility that needs humbling.

Professing Christ without passing by the cross.

Claiming to be born-again without being resurrected in Christ.

Crowing about holiness without...well...er...um...ah...well, without being holy.

Humbly calling attention to your own humility instead of calling attention to Jesus.

Ouch!

I have to continuously self examine and remind myself that it's Him. It's all Him.

None of me. All of Him. Less of me. More of Him.

I must decrease so that He may increase.

Then, and ONLY then, does it flow orderly and in sync with "the Kingdom of God has come near".

I have been crucified with Jesus and I no longer live, but rather, Jesus lives in me, says Paul in Gal.2:20 (my favorite verse).

That's my prayer today. That we would disown ourselves and put our own self interests in their rightful place by elevating Jesus above all else.

Be blessed in all that you say and do today!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><