I believed God wanted me to stay humble by hating myself. I suspect many others have also absorbed a belief like that.
I’m now convinced this approach to humility misses Father God’s heart – and bears lots of bad fruit. We really can’t love others when we hate ourselves. And Father God wants us to live confidently and boldly as His children – bringing His realm to the earth as it is in heaven.
The opposite of godly humility is the Hebrew word pronounced “kaw-sheh” (see Strongs H7186). English translations include: “hard, cruel, severe, obstinate, stiff-necked, intense, and vehement”.
Both Hebrews 3:15 and 4:7 quote from Psalm 95:7-8: “Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (NKJV)
The Hebrew word translated harden is “kaw-sheh”.
It was this hardening of heart, this stiff-necked attitude that caused the Israelites to miss entering into the “rest”, the “tranquil felicity”, the habitation God intended for them.
Father God desires us to be humble so we are receptive to His heart, so we can walk with Him and experientially know Him. This helps us to willingly change our ways so we are aligned with love and truth. This is the path to enter into His rest for us. Jesus is the path, the truth, and the life for each of us.
Daniel 11:32b: “…but the people who know (yada – experientially know) their God shal be strong, and carry out great exploits. (NKJV)
Boldness – being strong and doing great exploits comes from experientially knowing our King and God. Because we carry the spiritual DNA of our heavenly Father, the core of our being carries His courage and passion. As we live more from that fiery, fun, creative, confident core of our being, we will live boldly!
Godly boldness comes when:
Our heart is aligned with Jesus’ heart; when we’re passionate for His Kingdom to come into a situation.
We move in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We feel confident — a confidence that comes from Father’s confidence in us.
We “know” that we are flowing in an aspect of our destiny.
Fear tries to keep us from living this way: Fear of what people think, fear of embarrassment, fear of condemnation, fear of being punished. But our Heavenly Dad is cheering us on – to live this life as an adventure with Him; motivated by love and trust instead of fear and anxiety.
1 Peter 5:5b-6: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Living humbly; living open-hearted with our God is the way we enter into His rest for us, and also it prepares us for the good works He created us in Christ Jesus to walk in (Eph 2:10).
And when He exalts us, what will we need even more of? Boldness!
We are called to godly boldness and life-giving humility. They go truly go together.
Here is a link to audio of my talk and the slides.
http://blazingfire.podbean.com/e/russ-fochler-boldness-and-humility/
Joyfully,
Russ
Our heart is aligned with Jesus’ heart; when we’re passionate for His Kingdom to come into a situation.
We move in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We feel confident — a confidence that comes from Father’s confidence in us.
We “know” that we are flowing in an aspect of our destiny.
Fear tries to keep us from living this way: Fear of what people think, fear of embarrassment, fear of condemnation, fear of being punished. But our Heavenly Dad is cheering us on – to live this life as an adventure with Him; motivated by love and trust instead of fear and anxiety.
1 Peter 5:5b-6: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Living humbly; living open-hearted with our God is the way we enter into His rest for us, and also it prepares us for the good works He created us in Christ Jesus to walk in (Eph 2:10).
And when He exalts us, what will we need even more of? Boldness!
We are called to godly boldness and life-giving humility. They go truly go together.
Here is a link to audio of my talk and the slides.
http://blazingfire.podbean.com/e/russ-fochler-boldness-and-humility/
Joyfully,
Russ
No comments:
Post a Comment