True Humility vs False Humility

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. 

Yes, all of you be subject one to another,

 and be clothed with humility; for God

 resisteth the proud, and giveth grace

 to the humble. Humble yourselves 

therefore under the mighty hand of God,

 that he may exalt you in due time: 

1Peter 5:5-6

     We all must be careful and to be vigilant ensuring that our hearts are right and our motives pure. This is possible for us as we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can only operate upon us with effectiveness if we stay in proper relationship with God and keep our hearts pure. Due you want Divine intervention to win this battle between Authenticity and cultural or liberality? This requires discipline, watchfulness, and God will have His way with you and you will be a servant of God with Authentic Christian Faith. This intervention by God begins with us as we develop true humility. True humility is a hallmark of Authentic Christian Faith. 

     Cultural Christians have a nicety about them, a friendliness, even are kind to others, yet, far too often this attitude rarely enables a person to promote happiness in others or to aid in the welfare of others because it is done, even is not admitted, not done without the praise, the applause or recognition of others. I see students of the Bethel School of the Supernatural going about praying with others, giving hope about healing of some disease or ailment, and the recipient is often left with some peace or hope. All seems good, but is it? How can it be good if the Gospel is not preached and it is seldom, if ever, preached or taught by those going about praying for others when what is needed is for a person to come to know Jesus Christ? The student feels godly, even pious, having done something for Christ. Have they? No! They feel good, and in time, when nothing happens, oh, maybe there will be some relief mentally, but physically? NO! Many anecdotes are presented as to someone being healed, someone being raised from the dead but like the Mormons who present some evidence to prove their theology, there is no real, if ever, validation. 

     Authentic Christians, those with true, not false, humility are not seeking the praise of others. Why should they? Are they not only doing what God, what Jesus commanded them to do? Yes! So they are only do what is required and by doing so they are blessed, but this takes genuine humility, and this leads to joy and love. True humility is the key! Authentic Christians are oblivious as to what others think as to what they do, as true humility does not seek to be noticed. Love, humility, these are the marks of Authentic Christians and are not seeking the favor of men, rather they are seeking the favor of God, and this is the motivating factor. Selfishness is thrown out the window, replaced by the reflection of the character of Jesus Christ. Not some devised theological position as is seen by cultural Christians as seen with liberal Christians that allow all sorts of sin and false teaching into their Churches. How do we know that they are introducing, or have introduced false teaching, sin into their Churches? It is easy: READ YOUR BIBLE! FOLLOW WHAT IT SAYS TO DO, AND DO NOT DO WHAT IT SAYS NOT TO DO! DON'T ADD TO THE BIBLE! How can homosexuality, abortion, protecting illegal immigrants, allowing for women to preach when the Bible is clear that men are to lead the congregation. Yes, women are capable, but women are not to lead, they have an important part in the raising of children, being Sunday School teachers, to be part of evangelism, etc., and they are not less than men: It is that as true humble people of God we follow the plan God has set forth. 

     Are you humbling yourself under the hand of God? Or, are you still seeking the praise from others, especially those who are not Christian? So you want to be exalted by God? Well, be humble, be Authentic, and grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ who is God, manifested in the flesh, died for you and as God, the creator, the Word of God, He is making intercession for you, do the same for others, make intercession for them, be a prayer warrior for others, not asking so much for yourself: i.e., jobs, money, position, etc., but to bring your cares to Him. Do you care for others? If yes, then pray for them. Be humble, be Authentic, and in time you will be exalted by God.

And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh,

     and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God

of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to 

    humble thyself before me? Let my people go,

that they may serve me.

                            Exodus 10:3

Humility before man and God: Your Authenticity

Richard L. Crumb

 

How To Be Accepted By God After Repentance

Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame

 thing is God, who also hath given us 

the earnest of the Spirit. therefore 

we are always confident, knowing that, 

whilst we are at home in the body, we 

are absent from the Lord: (for we walk by 

faith, not by sight:) we are confident, 

I say, and willing rather to be absent from 

the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

Wherefore we labour, that, whether present 

or absent, we may be accepted of Him. 

For we must all appear before the judgment 

seat of Christ; that every one may receive 

the things done in his body, according to that 

he hath done,whether it be good or bad.

2Corinthians 5:5-10

     Are you holding on to this world too tight? To hold on to this world loosely is a hallmark of Authentic Christian Faith. Cultural, or liberal Christians are such because they hold this world tightly. This tight holding of cultural or liberal Christians affects their theology and that theology affects their character, and their character does not manifest God as He has manifested Himself. Cultural Christians are always speaking about receiving a "vision," or some thought inspired from God just for them, even if they are to speak about such thoughts or visions. By those supposed visions of God cultural Christians go about doing all sorts of things, good things, philanthropic, and worshiping in all sorts of gyrations and antics that resemble some of the pagan religions of the world that are not Scriptural, but done more as a sense of duty to prove that their believe in God. The energy received by such "visions," or "thoughts" is of themselves and not from God: how could it be when those things are not founded upon Scripture, or upon Scripture so twisted as to prove a particular doctrine? 

     A vision from God is not due to someone believing that they have an ideal of right and duty but this is not correct as a vision of God imparts a moral inspiration. A man's vision, etc., is not devoted to a particular cause or issue; it is only be a devotion to God, to Himself. Your manifestation of God is not from some word outside of Scripture, and it is not because you see God: it is there to manifest God because your faith is in God and in Him alone. Too often we look for satisfaction to ourselves: i.e., if only I endure, if only an become entirely sanctified, if only I can do the right thing. This type of worship and belief is to be on the road to ruin. 

     Authentic Christians do not seek favor from men, within the Church, or outside the Church. How do we balance this duality of life? The most effective way to keep this in balance is focus on God, on how we can please God and this means we must resist any overriding power of desire. Keeping focus on Jesus Christ causes any praise, or even any curses of man to lose their intensity. Your conscience, if it remains focused on Jesus Christ, will become more sensitive about the confusion this culture of the world attempts to permeate the Church, you. With this mind-set you can rise above the shifting human opinions and you can stay steadfast to your commitment to God. God never changes! You can rely on His revealed word! You must lead your life in faith, Authentic Christian Faith, a faith based upon the sure word of God, not some Bible that is only allegorical, or mistranslated (New World Translation of the Jehovah Witnesses, is one), and to become intentional to be an Authentic Christian. This might, and probably will, cause you to make some adjustments to your life, your dress, your thinking, your speaking, your circle of friends, etc., but is this worth it or not as you will, and I will, have to give an account of our life, how we handled the commands of God. The fight is begins with the small things and progresses to the larger things, it will take time, be patient, wait for it, that is wait with great expectation, God is at work, allow Him to do His work with you.

Receive My instruction, and not

     silver; and knowledge rather

than choice gold. For wisdom is

    better than rubies; and all the

things that may be desired are not

    to be compared to it.

                        Proverbs 8:10-11

You are a stranger passing through

Richard L. Crumb

Are We To Judge? If So What?

I will therefore that men pray every where,

 lifting up holy hands, without wrath 

and doubting. In like manner also, 

that women adorn themselves in 

modest apparel, with samefacedness 

and sobriety; not with braided hair, 

or gold,or pearls,or costly array; 

but (which becometh women professing godliness) 

with good works.

1Timothy 2:8-9

Let us not therefore judge one another any more:

 but judge this rather, that no man put a

 stumbling block or an occasion to fall 

in his brother's way.

Romans 14:13 

     This blog might raise the "hackles" of some, make some mad, make some debate the issue, and some to make excuses. Take it for what it is meant to be: to cause for a change from the inside/out if needed, and to become a "Real" Christian, an Authentic Christian, to have Authentic Christian Faith. Before we judge others we must judge ourselves: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. and why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is thine won eye? Or how wilt thou say to they brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine won eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" (Matthew 7:1-5). It is not that we are not to judge, it is that we must first start with ourselves. The word "judge" is both a noun and a verb (that is English for you). If speaking of a person being a "judge" then it is a noun, but to put action to this word, "to judge" it then is a verb. Here it is a verb in this Scripture. A simple definition from the Dictionary is: "To form an opinion or estimate, to infer, think, or to hold as an opinion, to make a careful guess about: estimate." Jesus gave us this rubric, that is, a direction for the conduct of divine service, an established rule of conduct or procedure: (Matthew 22:37-40). We must first love God, then by this love we can actually have love for ourselves, not that we are sinless in this world, but that God has by His grace, through Jesus Christ forgiven our sins, and has elected us to have eternal life, and now, we can love others in the same way as we love God. We are to judge sin, there is no question as to the rightness of this fact. What we must be careful is to judge others, by their dress, by what they look like, their race, or any other thing that seems to be at odds with what we have judged to be better, even more godly. We are to give aid to all who are with is, in our Churches, in our lives. Notice that the opening Scriptures was not to the world, but to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Those of the world have already placed a judgment upon themselves, by their life, their actions, and their desire to not be godly. All men and women want to be god-like, but many do all they can to avoid this desire within them to be god-like: we can judge that from Scripture. 

     When Authentic Christians use this rubric, this metric for our faith, we will then seek to use all the positive qualities we can and to use our abilities that we possess to keep our lives from become influenced by the culture of this world, and to do all we can to forward the cause of Christianity. Many times the world will make available for Authentic Christians so that they (we) can speak against the things that are damaging society (abortion, same sex marriage, homosexuality, etc.) and bring to the world people who will be able to be such a positive force that changes are made. 

     There is a a responsibility that comes from being an Authentic Christian. We must watch what we wear. This does not mean a Christian woman cannot wear jewelry, it is that jewelry must be so outlandish, as seen by those in the world, that our Christianity is found to be nothing different, or how about bathing suits that show almost all of a woman's body, just as the world that believes in free sex, or other things that might be a distraction from Authentic Christian Faith. Yes, dress appropriately, and look as good as you can but not at the expense of your responsibility to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Men, you too, have a deep responsibility, and to not look like the world, so often today tatoo art is not only full arm sleeve but on the body and neck, and men look like the world, this has become true of women also. Men you are to set the example. For instance: go to a Church, not all, but it seems to be most, whereby men come to Church, even elders, deacons, in jeans, sandals, tennis shoes, shirts that are for being at the park, or even on a vacation, and we see the same in their children, and then they pray for the congregation, or lead in a Bible study and they do not show one bit of respect for others: it seems to be that do believe that they are doing something good, and do not tell them otherwise. They defend their actions with excuses, both women and men. Let me be tough: Women, we know you have breasts, so why do you feel the need to show them? I am not speaking about seeing that a  woman has under her clothes breasts, it is that we see a great deal of their breast, with deep v cut blouses, etc., and do they not thing that they may be putting a stumbling block before a man? If so, how can this be for a man is sexually excited by seeing, so then even if nothing overtly is done, mentally there is harm to a person who may be weak in faith. Authentic Christians must jealously guard Authentic Christian Faith and guard against throwing this faith aside. If your reputation is lost, or seen as nothing more than just another person with their opinion and not even doing what is known, even by the world, as what the tenets of Christianity are, has not that person become a "straw man?" And is this not true if we do not judge this for what it is making us also a "straw man?" What is a "straw man?" It is a person whose function is only to cover another's activities, to be a front man, or a conveniently weak or innocuous person, and even to be an issue used as a seeming adversary or argument.

     What is the value you place upon Authentic Christian Faith, or to be an Authentic Christian? If your value is built upon your love for God, and then for yourself to be as God desires you to be, to take intentional action to become pleasing to God, then you will have love to give to another and you will not be a hypocrite, or a stumbling block to another. An Authentic Christian knows that if he/she is to hold the favor of God and that above the favor of men, then something may have to change, or to change from the inside/out and become indifferent to any dishonor might throw at you because you are practicing Authentic Christian Faith. Keep the faith once delivered.

Therefore, thou son of man, prepare 

     thee stuff for removing, and remove

 by day in their sight; and thou shalt 

     remove from thy place to another place

 in their sight: it may be they will consider, 

      though they be a rebellious house.  

                      Ezekiel 12:3

Spring cleaning: Now, your mind

Richard L. Crumb