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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | How do we understand these words? | John 6:63 | JCrichton | 122160 | ||
"It seems ironic that Jesus is saying it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can understand it. And yet, the people who were hearing him were not understanding. Many of his disciples, when they had heard (his preceding statements), had said, “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:60)... It seems that the people became exasperated. They walked away (v. 66)... I wonder what happens here, today, when people do not understand, and turn away. What role is the Spirit playing?" Hi, Aixwn7z4! Then and now the problem is not that Jesus is speaking in values beyond comprehension... It is not that the Holy Spirit is making people stumble and closed-minded... The truth is that it is our choice whether we listen to the Holy Spirit and humble ourselves to His guidance! Not all of the disciples left Jesus! Only those who chose not to follow... those who were too proud to let God accomplish His Will with them and through them! There was a loss then, as there is so today, but as Jesus said: ...it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:14) God Bless! Angel |
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2 | How do we understand these words? | John 6:63 | Aixen7z4 | 150766 | ||
It has been a long time, and we have learned a lot. I trust that the Lord has given you grace to stay humble. As we remain humble, he gives more grace (James 4) and more knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). But how can we know if we are sufficiently humble? Someone pointed out at a recent meeting that we can become proud of our humility. Isn’t that amazing? We decided that we could combat this by always reminding ourselves that we are not humble enough. The standard, after all, is our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:35). We always have a ways to go to be like him in anything (Philippians 3). I mentioned somewhere else in the thread that our group had done an exercise in humility. I think we all felt more humble for it. Yet I wonder about that humility thing. Would true humility have kept me from reporting on that meeting? Someone got the idea it was a good meeting, with everyone in one accord. The truth is that everyone in the meeting was struggling. Many were admitting pride in their Christian heritage, and some were confessing they could not be in one accord with people from certain denominations. I returned to the church that had sent me to the meeting and, without knowing what I had just been through, they proceeded to tell me how proud they were of their heritage. Yet, in some ways, I am identified with them. We had been reading the first part of Philippians 2, and I have often wondered whether we understand that passage. I have heard it read so many times, and the emphasis has been on the fact that Jesus humbled himself. Yet we seem to miss the point that we are to be like him, of the same mind. Someone says we should focus on him and not on ourselves. The passage saying, though, that the goal is to be likeminded, and a humble spirit is the means to that end. Put that together with the fact we have to be willing to obey the word (John 7:17) before God will reveal the meaning to us (Psalm 25:12) and what do you have? The point made so long ago, that we must be humble (Psalm 25:9) and patient (Hosea 6), so that the Holy Spirit can show us (1 Corinthians 2) what he alone knows, the mind of God in the word of God. |
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3 | How do we understand these words? | John 6:63 | JCrichton | 150796 | ||
Hi, Aixen7z4! The struggle goes on... When we ignore Christ's command to be humble it is, in part, because we we get immersed in ourselves... we fail the first Commandment and we put God not above our ego but below it, we are then able to choose ourselves instead of Christ! "But how can we know if we are sufficiently humble?" The fact that we must constantly check ourselves is a clear gauge of our capacity to be sufficiently humble--we can never be humble enough! Though this is not because humily is so beyond our understanding or spiritual awareness or willingness to serve Christ... rather, it is because we abide in the flesh and Satan, that ole embodiment of pride, assails our weackest link: our ego. Was it pride that prompted you to share your experience at the meeting?, I think not! I think that it was determined by your desire to demonstrate that ecuminsim is possible for Christians, even when the Body of Christ is represented by a diverse group of Believers. There's no pride in demonstrating that we can be one in Christ! "Yet, in some ways, I am identified with them." Here's where we tread beyond humility... there's a fine line between rejoycing in Christ for Christ's sake and rejoicing in ourselves or our "accomplishments;" if the focus of contentment/pride is in ourselves/congregation (I/we did this or that; I/we have done more or outdone him/her/them...), we have left all humility behind and have embraced pride! Conversely, when we move in Christ and for Christ we will be able to remain humble (2 Corinthians 5:20-21; James 4:6; Romans 12:16)... even when we err, we would be receptive to the Holy Sprit and we will quickly repent from our transgression as we humble ourselves to Christ! Can we be humble enough?... no, pride wont let us! But we are humble in Him who died for us; Him who was raised; Him who sits at the Father's right Hand, always interceding in our behalf! So, if we humble ourselves to God, He will lift us up--both exaltation and eternal life! "The standard, after all, is our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:35)" I do not follow you on this example... could you clarify? "Someone pointed out at a recent meeting that we can become proud of our humility. Isn’t that amazing?" True! Society has conditioned us to appeal to the world in false love and false humility... it could easily be that by professing to be humble we may be expecting acknowledgement of our "sincere humility"--Jesus spoke on this to the disciples when He warned them not to imitate the Pharisees and Sadducees! God Bless! Angel |
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