“Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” (James 1:9-11 ESV)
The first person being addressed here is a Christian who is humble in heart, who is reliant (dependent) on the Lord rather than on self, and who does not exalt himself in pride and in arrogance, but who acknowledges that all that he has that is good comes from God and not from self. Now he is not self-abased, which is inverted pride, for that still centers in self, but he is honest and fair and just in his evaluations of self, and according to the word of God. For he judges himself by God’s standards, and not by the world’s standards.
The second person being addressed here is a person of physical wealth, which can be somewhat subjective according to where one lives and what that living standard is and who are regarded as the wealthy compared to who are regarded as the poor. For a poor person in America, by American standards, might be regarded as a wealthy person by the standards of people in third world countries where many people are dirt poor and are lacking severely in the basic essentials of life. So all this is in perspective.
So the person who has physical wealth is to exalt in his humiliation. And this may come about if he is brought low through various circumstances such as loss of job and income, or loss of health resulting in loss of job and income, or any circumstances that might come into his life which would humble him and reduce any pride he might have had previously. Or this could be like Job who was a righteous but a wealthy man who was humbled by his trial that he went through in his losses and in his sufferings.
So the central theme here has to do with being content with our circumstances, whether in times of wealth or in times of poverty, for God uses them both for his purposes in order to make us into the people he created us to be. Like for example, if my husband and I did not have the income that we presently have (not wealthy, but adequate) I would not have the means to serve the Lord each day in the way in which he has called me to serve him. For this requires that I be able to spend much time on the computer each day, and so it costs money to be able to do what I do.
But none of us has absolute control over our circumstances. We may, to a certain point, regarding the way that we live and the decisions that we make for ourselves, but ultimately it is God who determines our steps and how long we will live and where we will live and what kind of income we will have, etc. For he is completely sovereign over all that he created, and nothing can touch us unless God allows it in our lives for a purpose, and he will bring good out of it in our lives, if we will let him.
And so it is not our circumstances that make us or break us, or that determine who we are and how we live and what we believe, but it has to do with where our hearts are in relation to the Lord Jesus. For all that is of this world is all going to pass away. And then we will all stand before the Lord Jesus one day and we will have to give an account to him as to what we did with what he gave us, and with regard to his gospel message and what we did with Jesus and his salvation (deliverance from slavery to sin).
For those who remain faithful to the Lord, regardless of their physical circumstances, who walk in his ways and in his truth and righteousness, in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), they have the hope of eternal life with God. But those who shun the Lord and his gospel message and who go their own way and do their own thing, instead, they will not inherit eternal life with God, but they will face the wrath of God, regardless of the faith in Jesus that they profess with their lips.
Now we all have a choice. We all have the opportunity to make a better life for ourselves, not by human and worldly standards, but by God’s standards and by his Word. If we have been feeding the flesh, and if we have not been walking according to the Spirit, we have a chance to build a brighter future if we will surrender our lives to Jesus and make him Lord of our lives, and if we will now follow him in obedience, and no longer walk in sin. We can all move beyond what we once were in the flesh when sin was our practice.
But when we follow Jesus with our lives, we will have many who will stand against us, who will oppose us, and who will do evil against us, sometimes with the goal to get us to forsake the Lord and to follow the flesh, instead. But in the strength of the Lord we can overcome them, and step-by-step, and day-by-day, in the power of God’s Spirit living within us, we can walk in the new way of the Spirit and no longer in the old way of the flesh. And we can be the people of God that we were created by God (born) to be.
And we can change our world by letting the people of this world know that there is a light beyond the darkness, and that light is Jesus Christ and his gospel, and it is holiness and righteousness and truth. And we can break down the walls that divide Christian from non-Christian, but not by conforming to nor by compromising with the world, but by speaking the truth in love to the people of this world so that they will believe in Jesus and die with him to sin and now live to his righteousness in his power.
For the answer to what ails this world of ours is not a different government head in any nation. And it is not compromise of truth and righteousness in order to get along with everybody. It is all of us becoming who we were created by God to be, which is his holy people who are holy in all our conduct. And to be holy is to be unlike (separate) and different from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. And this is the only way that any of us can build a better world.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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