The Blue Moon Humility Service

I’m thinking of starting a new business called the Blue Moon Humility Service. I’m going to teach people how to be humble. I haven’t decided if my teaching method will coaching, mentoring, or just swift kicks in seat of the pants.

To begin, I’ll need a colorful van with Blue Moon Humility Service emblazoned on the side, several thousand business cards and maybe a secretary or two. And television commercials. Gotta have commercials.

 Why Blue Moon? I just like the name.

Why humility? Scarcity. There’s a need. If I asked a room of one hundred people, “Who wants to be more humble?” do you think many would raise their hand? Most of us are like my pastor friend who declared, “I’m proud to be so humble.”

“Not to brag, but I’m humble enough,” we think (or at least, we’re as humble as we want to be).

But, when God’s promises to the humble rumble through my soul, my hand shoots up. I will confess that I may have a little way to go before my humble meter reads 100%.

What Is Humility, Really?

One problem is we don’t know what humility is. Even some dictionaries stumble in their definitions. The Oxford Languages Dictionary says humility is “a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness.”

Can I partially disagree with that? I think Merriam-Webster gets closer.

“Freedom from pride or arrogance …”

Truth be told, we often think synonyms for humble are “wimpy, doormat, weak, and poor.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to be any of those.

Let me humbly tell you what I think humility is. It’s having a correct opinion of God, of yourself, and those around you. We don’t say that we can’t when we know we can. It’s knowing that if God said to do it, we can, if we will. Without Him, we can do nothing.

It’s not an underestimation of one’s self. It’s a correct estimation.

Sometimes our feigned “humility” is just a mask for laziness (I don’t want to do it!), fear (I’m afraid to do it), or some other unsavory state of mind.

“We will also need to understand what Jesus meant when he called men and women to humble themselves. We discover that the Greek word Jesus and the apostles used, tapeinos, conveys the idea of having a right view of ourselves before God and others. If pride is an exalted sense of who we are in relation to God and others, humility is having a realistic sense of who we are before God and others. We must not think too highly (or too lowly) of ourselves. Rather, we must be honest and realistic about who and what we are.” Thomas A. Tarrants (https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/pride-and-humility)

If this isn’t true, how in the world could Paul have proclaimed, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” C’mon Paul. All things? Yep. He knew who he was, and He knew who God was and what God had called him to do.

Numbers 12:2  says, “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)” (NKJV) Many believe that Moses wrote the book of Numbers, so did he proclaim himself the most humble man on earth? He acknowledged the truth.

Paul claimed humility (Acts 20:19).

So, I feel safe in proclaiming my humility. I feel I’m about 65% humble. There is still a bit of work to do.

Is God humble?

And God! He’s the gold standard for humility. Jesus said it out loud, “…I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:29b NLT) Jesus humbled himself, emptied himself. (Phil. 2:8) Jesus knew who He was, yet he was humble. 

What Do I Get If I’m Humble?

 We’ve stumbled on a treasure trove here. Something that many people don’t value turns out to be more valuable than Rhodium (worth $15,250/troy ounce as of July 2022)

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10).He will do you good after the humbling process in your life. “… that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.” (Deut. 8:16, Matthew 23:12).

We fling rocks at the fellow who sits on the rooftop and chirps his greatness. God honors those who stay in His will, small or great.

Exalted by God? That sounds good. But won’t I get proud? Nope, because when you’ve humbled yourself, you create a state of heart where God can bless you and you won’t puff up and blow up.

—God saves a humble people. (2 Samuel 22:28)

—Humbling oneself can mitigate punishment, even for a wicked person. (1 Kings 21:29. Also 2 Chronicles 12:12)

—Humbling ourselves opens heaven’s floodgates of forgiveness and healing. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble His way. (Proverbs 11:2, Psalm 25:9)

God favors the humble. (Proverbs 3:34)

—God keeps His eye on the humble. (Isa. 66:2   )

—The humble girl receives God’s grace. “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” (James 4:6)

—Honor follows humility.  (Prov. 15:33, Prov. 18:12, Prov. 22:4)

What Was, “The Ugliest Face She Ever Saw?”

I’ve always loved stories and once my grandmother Deloney told me a family story that stuck with me. I’ve tried to remember the details correctly.

She had one of those “No!-It’s-not-possible-pregnancies” when she was a bit older and her youngest child was already eleven. The result was wonderful–my Uncle Donnie. But first it was nearly fatal.

The little one almost died at birth and his mother as well. Grandma was unconscious for three days. She told me that the first thing she saw when she finally woke up was the haggard, stubble-covered face of granddad leaning over her.

“That’s the ugliest face I ever saw,” she teased weakly. And those were probably some of the sweetest words he had ever heard.

You often can tell a lot by looking into someone’s visage. Grandpa didn’t talk much and he sure wasn’t romantic, but that worried, sleep-deprived face shouted how valuable Grandma was to him.

Looking Into God’s Face

Looking into God’s face can revolutionize our lives and teach us a lot about Him. “Whoa! Wait a minute. I thought you couldn’t look into God’s face. Moses wanted to but God said it would kill him (Exodus 33:20).

Yes but something transformational happened at the Cross. The Lord’s death and resurrection opened the way for us to look into God’s glory. It shines from Jesus’ face. “2 Cor. 4:6 For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (ESV)

Looking into this glory is essential if we are going to be all God created us to be. The vision of this glory changes us to look like Jesus.

Here’s how it works. “6 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.


Notice three things here:

1/ We turn to the Lord. Before this men turned to the Law of Moses to be saved, but they struck out. The Law only condemned their sin but couldn’t take it away. So, by faith we turn to the Lord Jesus, looking for forgiveness and a new heart. Yet, men stubbornly persisted in trying to come to God in their own goodness, a goodness that was far short of God because of sin. Paul says it was like the veil that Moses put over his face when it shone with God’s glory. That glory scared them so Moses had to hide it.

2/ But when we turn to the Lord Jesus in faith that He will forgive us and renew us, this veil is taken away. God does it! He forgives us and gives us a new spiritual life. We’re looking into God’s glory in Jesus’ face.

3/ Then day by day as we continue to look at His glory we’re changed, transformed, to look more and more like Him. We’ve got to gaze at Him each day and like the heat of the oven changes the batter into cake, God’s glory changes us into Jesus’ likeness.

He doesn’t just zap us one time and we’re perfectly like the Lord. It’s a daily process, a metamorphosis.

The dictionary defines metamorphosis as, “(in an insect or amphibian) the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages…a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.”

Paul says, we, “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” (2 Cor. 3:18). Guess what this word, “transformed,” is in the Greek language in which this passage was originally written … “metamorphoō.” From which we get, “metamorphosis” in English.

According to M. Thayer’s Greek lexicon it means, “1) to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure. 1a) Christ appearance was changed and was resplendent with divine brightness on the mount of transfiguration.”

Same word.

So, if I want to know God more intimately and be changed what are some practical things I can do this year?

Scour God’s Word to see Jesus revealed more; spend time praying in the Spirit and listening to Him as I go about my day; look for Him in my brothers and sisters; go on vacation and see Him in His creation and keep my eyes open to see what the Lord is doing in the world to bring about the fulfillment of His great plan.

I MUST mix healthy doses of faith into each of these activities in order to see it through God’s eyes and not just human eyes. I’ve got to keep my eyes on the glory in Jesus’ face.

Image par Ian Lindsay de Pixabay
Image par NJ Lechnir de Pixabay

What Did I Do To Deserve This?

If I were a weapons inventor, I would create the ultimate weapon. Here’s how it would work.

The enemy launches a huge missile. Someone shouts, “Incoming!” and everyone jumps into a hole or looks for something to hide behind.

Not to worry, though. My trusty invention fires a cloud of happy dust into the air and when the missile flies though, its payload changes from explosives into good stuff. Red, green, blue and yellow flowers float towards the earth, along with oatmeal cookies.

The only thing is, I haven’t figured out how to do it. I’ll keep you updated.

God’s Weapon

God can do it, though. Missiles may still hurt when they explode (an oatmeal cookie would hurt if it fell on your noggin), but instead of destroying us they work for our good if we face them with faith in the Lord.

There were a couple of things that really troubled me when I was a kid, then a teenager. If I could have changed them I would have done it in the blink of an eye. It stills hurts a bit when I think of it, all these years afterwards.

But, in a way these circumstances help to make me. Continue reading

Meeting God In “Thin Places”

One of my favorite places to go with my wife was Cochem in Germany. Over a millennium ago, men founded this town. Though today’s atmosphere was probably created more by the Chamber of Commerce than by history, when you’re there you feel like you step back hundreds of years in time.

Phyllis and I accidentally discovered it in 1988 as we wandered alongside the Moselle River, driving up from nearby Luxembourg. Friends had offered to watch the kids so we could get away. We spent the night in a bed and breakfast in Cochem, and the next day went to see the Eltz castle in the forest northeast of town.

The little boy and the historian in me fell in love and Phyllis and I went back several other times, creating vivid memories together—the night of the festival with all the oom-pa-pa music, and the people in old German costumes, for example.

Funny, but we often connect places with good times or bad times. That is a good place for me. A really good place.

 

Cochem, Germany

Morning Places

I’m a bit like that about the place where I read my Bible and pray in the morning. Just like some Christians are attached to a certain pew, I like to meet the Lord at a spot where I have memories.

At the moment it’s the back deck of our house (it’s really the back porch but I said “deck” so that you younger readers would know what I’m talking about). Before I get my work day gets started,  I love to sit out there. The quietness soothes me. Note, “quietness,” still includes birds singing and crickets cricketing. We’ve got a couple of Robins who think they own the place and we are their renters.

The day has intruded on the night; the sunshine is fresh and soft and I can get centered with God for what’s ahead. Continue reading

Key #6  Growth Is Incredibly Important If You Want To Be Successful

Most of us stop growing around the age of eighteen … upwards anyway. Horizontal growth seems to spread out all through life. That’s natural, but what isn’t natural is the fact that when we come to a certain place in our life many of us stop growing in other ways.

Some stop growing in their knowledge of the Lord when they realize they are saved from hell and are heading to heaven because of Jesus. They didn’t want a PHD in knowing the Lord, just a fire insurance policy.

Others go to sleep intellectually. They never entertain new ideas, never read books to learn more, never listen to speakers who can help them grow, or they never take a course or sign up for an apprenticeship. They know enough, thank you. So, they stop.

And, “I got the girl, okay? Why should I try to help our relationship grow. We’re married!”

What if a baby decided that the ability to walk across the room was sufficient for him in life and he never went any further? As much as possible, he lets mama and daddy carry him around.

We can’t make ourselves any taller but we can grow in a lot of areas that add tremendous value and contentment to our life.

Here’s How Continue reading