A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.
Recently, I’ve been studying the Jewish roots of many of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) parables, and I came across an interesting saying from a Jewish Rabbi that I believe has something to teach us.
There is an important lesson here and in other places of God’s Word, namely that humility and gladness go together. What do the humble and the joyous have in common? They both look up. The humble are those who don’t look down on anyone. The truly humble look up all the time. They have to look up, because their eyes are on God, and He’s above them. The joyous are always looking up as well, otherwise they wouldn’t be rejoicing. The joyous are believing the Good News, so they rejoice!
Revelation 7:11-12 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. I’ve [...]
Jeremiah 45:5 And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest. J. Oswald Sanders, a Godly man and former director of Overseas Missionary Fellowship, once [...]
Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Jesus began His earthly ministry by being baptized in the Jordan river. The word Jordan in Hebrew is “Yarden” and its root is “yarad”. It literally means to descend, which would make sense being that the [...]
Matthew 7:9-11 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is [...]
James 4:6b Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Corrie Ten Boom tells this story in her book, Each New Day. “When I saw Sadhu Sundar Singh in Europe, he had completed a tour around the world. People asked him, Doesn’t it do harm, your getting so much honor?” [...]
You know we love D.L. Moody around here. Well, I’ll tell you why. Simply because God used this man with only an 8th grade education to change the world for the better. Thousands have come to the Lord through his ministry and the fruit has remained much after his passing. Some of you have heard [...]
John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. An ancient story in Church history tells of the apostle John. He would constantly repeat the words, “Little children, love one another.” And his disciples became weary of the phrase. Finally, in his old age, as John [...]
Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Recently a dear [...]
Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. In today’s society fast food is making billions. It’s slogans are “have it your way” and “have it hot and and have it now”. How easy it is for us to fall into this [...]
Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Robert A.Cook, president of The King’s College in New York, was speaking at the Moody Bible Institute some [...]
Matthew 18:4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Hudson Taylor was scheduled to speak at a Large Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia. The moderator of the service introduced him in the most eloquent and glowing terms. He told the large congregation all that [...]
Mark 10:44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. Some time ago, a friend was helping us do a couple of things around the house. When I asked him if he would mind doing one additional thing before he left, he jokingly responded, “and would you like fries with [...]
Psalms 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Our most fervent prayer for Elianna, our sweet two year old girl, is that Jesus would reveal Himself and His salvation to her in a way she can understand. Today, just before her nap, Elianna said to my [...]
Matthew 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. If you were to visit Paris, you could see the statues of two men, both named Louis. The first is of Louis XIV, France’s absolute monarch. He represents one of the supreme achievements of greatness through power. His philosophy of life was that [...]
Matthew 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It never ceases to amaze me how our little girl, Elianna is growing and developing. I remember when she first came into this world, she was so helpless and frail — she couldn’t even move [...]
