What ever you are going through in your life at this moment God’s goal is to clothe you in humility which is the character of Christ i.e. the Christ-life and not the self-life. Human humility is an oxymoron it is a contradiction in terms. It is impossible for any human to be humble apart from the supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit by means of sanctifying a Christian in the image of Christ. God’s personal path for each of His blood bought children in humility is to strip us of all our pride by showing us the sin our self-sufficiency and to cause us to trust in Him for our every need. He does this by taking from us our idols and all those things that direct our minds away from Him as the Source of our life, our peace, our sufficiency, our contentment and our joy so that we reflect the Christ-life to a sin cursed world to the glory of God.

Purpose: To learn from Scripture why the Father wants you to be humble and that His process of humbling you in not to harm you but to conform you to the image of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ for His glory and your good. Furthermore, this personal path of humility is the only way for you to not trust in yourself and to totally trust in the wisdom, grace and love of your Lord to do to you what seems best to Him so that you grow in the    grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your Father has a time planned to humble you.

Ecc 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;

Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;

Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

Ecc 3:6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

Ecc 3:7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;

Ecc 3:8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

The importance your Father places on humility.

Psa 9:12 When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.

Psa 10:17 LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,

Psa 18:27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.

Psa 18:28 For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Psa 25:9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

Psa 34:2 My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Psa 45:4 And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility,and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.

Psa 147:6 The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.

Psa 147:7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God,

Psa 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.

Pro 3:34 Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.

Pro 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility.

Pro 18:12 Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility.

Isa 29:19 The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 57:15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Jas 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

1Pe 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

1Pe 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

It is irrational to be prideful because man has no power in and of himself to sustain his life or to gain anything in life apart from God’s sustaining sovereign power and will over man’s life. What was the first sin? The mental attitude sin of pride. The creature desiring to be like the Creator. Self-sufficient — Self-satisfied in need of Nothing.

Isa 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!

Isa 14:13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;

Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Isa 14:15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.

Pro 6:16 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

Pro 6:17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,

1Co 4:7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

2Co 3:4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God.

2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as beingfrom ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Exo 4:11 So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?

1Sa 2:6 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.

1Sa 2:7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.

1Sa 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, And He has set the world upon them.

Job 12:10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

Job 34:13 Who gave Him charge over the earth? Or who appointed Him overthe whole world?

Job 34:14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,

Job 34:15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.

Job 34:16 “If you have understanding, hear this;

Job 14:5 Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

Dan 5:23 …and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.

Psa 104:27 These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season.

Psa 104:28 What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.

Psa 104:29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

Isa 42:5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:

Isa 42:6 “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You …

Isa 46:4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you!I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Job 31:4 Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?

Psa 139:2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.

Psa 139:3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.

Psa 139:4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

Psa 139:5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.

Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attainit.

Pro 20:24 A man’s steps are of the LORD; How then can a man understand his own way?

Jer 10:23 O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

Jer 18:6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

Act 17:25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

Act 17:26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

Act 17:28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

Heb 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things arenaked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Psa 22:29 All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

Your Father gives and He takes away to test you and humble you so that your trust and sufficiency is in Him alone in order that you might live the Christ-life and not the Self-life for His glory. He is dedicated to show you that you died and that you are not your life but Christ is your new life.

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Job 1:20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

Job 1:21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

2Co 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

2Co 12:8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

2Co 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Job 42:5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.

Job 42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

Jdg 6:1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

Jdg 6:12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Jdg 6:13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

Jdg 7:2 And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

Deu 8:16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—

Deu 8:17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

Deu 8:18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Psa 73:22 I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

Psa 73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. Psa 73:24 You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. Psa 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there isnone upon earth that I desire besides You. Psa 73:26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Heb 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness;be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”

What ever you are going through in your life at this moment God’s goal is to clothe you in humility which is the character of Christ i.e. the Christ-life and not the self-life. Human humility is an oxymoron it is a contradiction in terms. It is impossible for any human to be humble apart from the supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit by means of sanctifying a Christian in the image of Christ. God’s personal path for each of His blood bought children in humility is to strip us of all our pride by showing us the sin our self-sufficiency and to cause us to trust in Him for our every need. He does this by taking from us our idols and all those things that direct our minds away from Him as the Source of our life, our peace, our sufficiency, our contentment and our joy so that we reflect the Christ-life to a sin cursed world to the glory of God.

Purpose: To learn from Scripture why the Father wants you to be humble and that His process of humbling you in not to harm you but to conform you to the image of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ for His glory and your good. Furthermore, this personal path of humility is the only way for you to not trust in yourself and to totally trust in the wisdom, grace and love of your Lord to do to you what seems best to Him so that you grow in the    grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your Father has a time planned to humble you.

Ecc 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;

Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;

Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

Ecc 3:6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

Ecc 3:7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;

Ecc 3:8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

The importance your Father places on humility.

Psa 9:12 When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.

Psa 10:17 LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,

Psa 18:27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.

Psa 18:28 For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Psa 25:9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

Psa 34:2 My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Psa 45:4 And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility,and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.

Psa 147:6 The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.

Psa 147:7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God,

Psa 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.

Pro 3:34 Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.

Pro 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility.

Pro 18:12 Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility.

Isa 29:19 The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 57:15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Jas 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

1Pe 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

1Pe 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

It is irrational to be prideful because man has no power in and of himself to sustain his life or to gain anything in life apart from God’s sustaining sovereign power and will over man’s life. What was the first sin? The mental attitude sin of pride. The creature desiring to be like the Creator. Self-sufficient — Self-satisfied in need of Nothing.

Isa 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!

Isa 14:13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;

Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Isa 14:15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.

Pro 6:16 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

Pro 6:17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,

1Co 4:7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

2Co 3:4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God.

2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as beingfrom ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Exo 4:11 So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?

1Sa 2:6 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.

1Sa 2:7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.

1Sa 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, And He has set the world upon them.

Job 12:10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

Job 34:13 Who gave Him charge over the earth? Or who appointed Him overthe whole world?

Job 34:14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,

Job 34:15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.

Job 34:16 “If you have understanding, hear this;

Job 14:5 Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

Dan 5:23 …and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.

Psa 104:27 These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season.

Psa 104:28 What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.

Psa 104:29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

Isa 42:5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:

Isa 42:6 “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You …

Isa 46:4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you!I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Job 31:4 Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?

Psa 139:2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.

Psa 139:3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.

Psa 139:4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

Psa 139:5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.

Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attainit.

Pro 20:24 A man’s steps are of the LORD; How then can a man understand his own way?

Jer 10:23 O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

Jer 18:6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

Act 17:25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

Act 17:26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

Act 17:28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

Heb 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things arenaked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Psa 22:29 All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

Your Father gives and He takes away to test you and humble you so that your trust and sufficiency is in Him alone in order that you might live the Christ-life and not the Self-life for His glory. He is dedicated to show you that you died and that you are not your life but Christ is your new life.

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Job 1:20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

Job 1:21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

2Co 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

2Co 12:8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

2Co 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Job 42:5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.

Job 42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

Jdg 6:1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

Jdg 6:12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Jdg 6:13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

Jdg 7:2 And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

Deu 8:16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—

Deu 8:17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

Deu 8:18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Psa 73:22 I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

Psa 73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. Psa 73:24 You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. Psa 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there isnone upon earth that I desire besides You. Psa 73:26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Heb 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness;be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”