A Self-Starter for Self-Humbling

[Guest]

There was once a man who was proud, haughty, arrogant, even cruel--a king whose name was Nebuchadnezzar; and Iraq was his kingdom. Like most kings of his day, he could have lived and died in hopeless proud self-deception except that a man of God prayed for him personally--Daniel the prophet. Daniel discerned in the king a streak of honesty and reality in his makeup. He did what the apostle John said we should do: "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He [God] will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death." The king's dream of Daniel 4 was God's answer to the prophet's prayer. The Lord permitted Daniel to be an "evangelist" to teach Nebuchadnezzar gospel truths.

The Lord loved the king so much that He gave him a special blessing--He humbled the man in the dust, gave him a form of insanity in which he thought he was an animal or a cow (called lycanthropy or boanthropy), and in seven years of gross humiliation the proud king learned a proper heart attitude of reverence for the King of kings and Lord of lords. You could hardly say that the king humbled himself; God humbled him, even humiliated him.

We all too have problems with pride and arrogance. God has given us each wonderful gifts that we can easily become proud over. But let's not you and I be so stubborn that we wait for the Lord to humble us, like the king. To be humiliated is a very severe ministry of the Lord! It's too late in the day now for the Lord to resort to those extreme measures to "heal" us, for we are living in the great cosmic Day of Atonement; now we want to humble ourselves. Self-starters were a wonderful invention for balky Model T's. Let's find a self-starter for humbling self, and not wait for the Lord to have to do it for us, as with Nebuchadnezzar!

"When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride." That is better--that's self-humbling.

[phkrause]

Thanks for that Richard. We all need to be more humble.

pk

[Guest]

Yep

[Guest]

That's right dgrimm.

[Lutz13]

God always knows the exact dosage of humility we need. I asked Him to help me get rid of pride and I fought a whole week of it. I actually told this story in the praise Him section. My pride caused me to lose two days pay(I was suspended) so the inevitable finally came. I have to sell my TV and PS3 for cheap. The wisdom gained was worth it all though.

[Guest]

That is a big step, I know. Especially if you're going to do it all at once. It sounds to me like you are following where the HS is leading. You will have more time to spend with God and his word, and less time that the devil has your full attention. You cannot help but grow spiritually.

I have a PS2, a TV, and plenty of PC games. But since I came back to the faith, (it's been fairly recent) I find that I don't have time for any of that. I spend my time reading and studying my Bible, (and other good writings like EGW, and the pioneers of our faith) and talking to you guys at CA.

So for me, it's not a case of get rid of it or use it. I rarely even turn on my TV, and when I do, it's in the other room, and it's only on the fox news channel. I don't watch any tv shows, and from this perspective I can see what a total waste of time it was when I did.

[Lutz13]

That is a big step, I know. Especially if you're going to do it all at once. It sounds to me like you are following where the HS is leading. You will have more time to spend with God and his word, and less time that the devil has your full attention. You cannot help but grow spiritually.

I have a PS2, a TV, and plenty of PC games. But since I came back to the faith, (it's been fairly recent) I find that I don't have time for any of that. I spend my time reading and studying my Bible, (and other good writings like EGW, and the pioneers of our faith) and talking to you guys at CA.

So for me, it's not a case of get rid of it or use it. I rarely even turn on my TV, and when I do, it's in the other room, and it's only on the fox news channel. I don't watch any tv shows, and from this perspective I can see what a total waste of time it was when I did.

Yeah, I don't think it bothers me too much because I hardly even played the Ps3 anymore. And though my TV sits right next to the monitor I am typing this on, I never turn it on! I'm beginning to learn that God always know what is best and always comes through in just the right moment.

I don't know what happens in the next minute, yet God knows what is going to happen....Infinitely! So I just have to trust Him. I love it when God spoke to Job and said "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, tell Me if you have understanding."

It is amazing though. It sounds like you enjoyed gaming as much as I did. Yet He changed our interest.

[Guest]

Yep, sure did.