Today that word brought about again a deeper meaning. To know that a terrible man like me deserved to be loved by a God that has so much grace. I do not deserve it but He has lavished blessings upon blessings upon my life.

I woke up with much anticipation as I would be handed keys to this:

It has been bestowed upon me the rights to use this bike. Thinking back. Just slightly over three months and I have been blessed with amazing things again and again. Now I’m speechless. Just awed by the grace shown to me.

What do you think? I never thought I’d be riding a purple colored bike haha. Still it is just amazing. Now bikerz adventures will resume hahaha on my Daelim motorcycle, which has been loaned unto me indefinately.

Some of you would be really glad to know that this bike can’t go fast at all. Haha. So I’ll¬† be cruising my way across the island. Still its good to have the wind in my face again….I better wash it more if not pimples will be a problem hahaha.

I must say it is a good bike and will certainly help me cut tonnes of time travelling and fuel costs too. Still all that fills my head is just the word GRACE. Thank you all for loving me so much too. Am I a blessed man or what? What should I name her?

Mat 25:14 ‚Äì 46 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Introduction

Now by secular dictionary definition, ministry is the job in certain parts of the church. When asked what our occupation is as a pastor or any part of full time church work. We are often given the title minister. In fact if all goes well, I will be given the title ministerial worker. Now what does that really mean? That ministry is an occupation and job? What does the bible say about ministry?

I’m dealing with this topic because this is an important area of Christian living. More so, you are now dealing with the 16 fundamental truths of the Assemblies of God. This is the part where we reach truth number….ministry.

I have grown up in church, but honestly I don’t remember ever being taught about ministry but we all know that ministry is very important. Why?

But I will not go into the deep analysis of the theology of what ministry is, instead I want to help you, brothers and sisters come to a deep desire to be part of this huge thing called ‚Äòministry’ and realise that ministry is not just a calling, a function but also something natural.

We are all created to do ministry

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do

First thing first. The word ministry comes from the greek word diakoniÃÅa (Œ¥ŒπŒ±Œ∫ŒøŒΩŒπÃÅŒ±). Now what most people don’t realize is that this word in the bible refers to not just the famous 5 fold ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Evangelist and Teachers. It is used in many instances in the bible and it is not restricted to the use in church alone. For example, discipleship is known as ministry, serving with the ‚Äògifts’ God has given us, preaching of the Word, feeding the poor and many more.

The easiest way to look back to the very beginning of time to why were we created? For God’s pleasure isn’t it? So aren’t we then automatically created to minister to God? Then ask the next question. God commanded us to take care of the world. Is that ministry also? When God created Eve, weren’t they created to minister to each other? Ministry was not something we weren’t created for. Every cell in our body is created for ministry.

In the 16 fundamental truths the purpose of ministry is for these 3 things

(1) evangelization of the world (Mark 16:15-20),

(2) worship of God (John 4:23,24), and

(3) building a Body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son (Ephesians 4:11,16).

Ministry is a privilege

Matthew 20:25-28 ²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.“

Now if Jesus counted is as a privilege to serve us humans how can we then perceive ministry as a job/burden?

Have you ever wondered what Jesus was doing for the first 30 years of his life? Was he busy preparing to be a superstar? Day dreaming about being rich?

No! He was humbly working in his father’s workshop serving the people just like you and me. Probably smiling at each customer. Making sure that every piece of furniture he makes will be the best that he can do. He was being a good son to his parents. That was his service wasn’t it? He spent 1000 percent more time on serving his family, because he counted it a chore? A job?

Dr. Ironside, when a boy, helped his widowed mother by working during vacations, Saturdays, and out-of-school for a Scottish shoeworker who was a Christian. He posted Bible verses all over the shop so that everywhere one looked, he would see the Word of God. No package went out to a customer without a tract or a word of testimony, and many came back for salvation.

Dr. Ironside’s job was to pound leather for shoe soles. A piece of cowhide was cut to size, soaked in water, and pounded until it was hard and dry. After endless poundings, he was weary. One day, he noticed that another godless cobbler was not pounding, but was nailing the soles while still wet. ‚ÄúSo they come back quicker,‚Äù was the reply.‚Äù The Christian owner explained to Ironside: ‚ÄúI do not cobble just for 50¬¢ or 75¬¢ from customers. I do it for the glory of God. In heaven, I expect every shoe returned to me in a pile, and I do not want the Lord to say, ‚ÄúDan, that was a poor job. You did not do your best.‚Äù

Willing to do Little Things

A good many are kept out of the service of Christ, deprived of the luxury of working for God, because they are trying to do some great thing. Let us be willing to do little things. And let us remember that nothing is small in which God is the source.

D. L. Moody, quoted in The Berean Call, Bend, Oregon, March, 1997

We all have a role to play/How to do ministry?

Let me suggest two things

JUST DO IT!

Reformation’s Two Martins

At the beginning of the Reformation, Martin of Basle came to a knowledge of the truth, but, afraid to make a public confession, he wrote on a leaf of parchment: “O most merciful Christ, I know that I can be saved only by the merit of thy blood. Holy Jesus, I acknowledge thy sufferings for me. I love thee! I love thee!” Then he removed a stone from the wall of his chamber and hid it there. It was not discovered for more than a hundred years.

About the same time Martin Luther found the truth as it is in Christ. He said: “My Lord has confessed me before men; I will not shrink from confessing Him before kings.” The world knows what followed, and today it reveres the memory of Luther; but as for Martin of Basle, who cares for him?

How to reach the masses?

Years ago a convention met in Indianapolis to discuss “How to Reach the Masses.” One day during that convention a young man stood on a box on a corner and began to preach. A crowd gathered, mostly workingmen going home to their suppers. They were electrified by the sermon. They forgot that they were tired. They forgot that they were hungry.

The crowd became so dense that it had to move. The preacher announced that he would preach again at the Academy of Music. They followed him down the street, singing as they went, and they filled the main floor of the building, sitting with their dinner buckets, while he preached again with such power that they were moved to tears.

But he had only a few minutes to preach because the convention on “How to Reach the Masses” was gathering in the same auditorium. While the convention was discussing how to reach the masses, D. L. Moody was doing it! He was preaching the kingdom of God and every man was pressing violently into it!

It is apparent to many that ministry is a difficult thing. Many run from the responsibility not knowing that they are only running away from the very thing they were created for.

Therefore I am not saying what I’m going to suggest here is the only way to do ministry but I really believe that this is something we all can do and start from. I got the idea from the design of my own family.

If we fail to serve each other in the home, we also fail then in our service in church. That is something my father always reminded me since I was young.

I always believe God put each member of our family together for a reason. It doesn’t take me great faith to say that my family made me who I am today.

In fact there are so many things that are learnt at home. Discipline, respect for authority, love, compassion (share about how my father feeds the poor) and so many more. Now each person in my family had to play their role in the family to make it a home

My dad’s role was to be the head. He was the one who has the final say and he bears responsibility for the family. He had to improve the most as a person so that He always made the best decisions. Still His legacy is that he also is the cook of the home. Yes my father is the one who cooks. After one of my father’s sermons where he cooked in church, a sister in the church went home to her husband and told ask him why he never cooks? Pastor cooks also….the result was the husband was so angry and didn’t talk to her for more than a week! From him I learnt what it was to be a Man and more than that, a man of my word

My mother’s responsibility was to be the care giver and manager of the home. She would be in charge of the money, the house condition and all the details of the groceries and so on so forth. She was also the greatest example of the word submission in the house. She was the one who showed what love is and tenderness. Remembering all my classes, my birthday and so much more. Her legacy was that she would fetch me about 50km to music class each week because she believed in my gift of music. She nagged me to practice. I owe all to her in my music career. From her I learnt what it was to be humble and love people just as who they are

My younger brother’s responsibility was to be the youngest. To respect the older people in the family. To respect and honor the older ones. To do the best he can, not to give trouble to the parents. He showed me what it was to love unconditionally though I mistreated him so many times. He showed me what it was to be contented with little and be happy with what God gives because all he got were things that were handed down from me to him. He would take care of my dog. His legacy was to be the most special member in the family that moulded us to see that God can use anyone for His glory. His hardworking nature is something I admire

My responsibility was to be the older son which carries the burden of being the example. Being a pastor’s son and the eldest, the other kids and parents will look at me when they in a way judge my family. I had to be the example to everyone as much as I could. I had to be as good as I can be so that people will see what is true. My legacy is that I wash the dishes and the toilets. In fact I think I still enjoy it today. It taught me what it meant to be humble. No matter how high I can be or how talented I can be I must never be too proud to get down on my knees and scrub the toilet floors.

This to me is the model of ministry. Everyone has a role in the church. Big or small. You see whether five fold or whatever it is not the big things that make the impact. Its the little things. Start with your family. When you see any need in the church, offer your help. When you see a piece of rubbish pick it up. When the chairs are crooked make it look straight. If God gave you a beautiful smile, usher. You can sing in tune, sing! Remember this, if you don’t use your gifts, be careful. I nearly lost my gift of singing because I refused to sing.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude by sharing a testimony about the greatest servant/ministry example in my life. And what a better example today than my mom on mother’s day. When I was born my mom told me she knew I was going to be used by God and so she dedicated me to God. She gave up her career and ministry for many years to take care of me and my brother in our younger years. She had a calling to children’s ministry but she put that aside and focused on us. She did jobs that were totally unrelated to her passion just to make sure that we had food on the table and to be able to spend a lot of time with us. As we grew up, she noticed my talent in music (I don’t know how) and spent all her money to get me a keyboard because we couldn’t afford anything more expensive. She would them bring me along as she teaches in various places to play music for her even though I would scold her when she sang out of tune or went in the wrong timing. She would fetch me miles and miles away to a music teacher I preferred, to make sure I get the best. She never complained though I know I hurt her so many times. I’m sure she felt like giving up on me each time. But she realised I’m God’s gift to her and she needed to give me back to God. So she would always pray for me and my brother.

In the end now she has given both her sons to full time ministry. She still pays for our education. She still helps us when were in need. Do you give everything to God for service? Your talents, your riches, your anger, your joys and even your gifts, that may be your children to God?

This is what ministry is about. In this way she fulfilled all three of the purposes in the fundamental truths.

(1) evangelization – of the world for she continues to reach the lost and now have me working side by side reaching the people God loves

(2) worship of God – By separating herself and me as Holy and living sacrifices for God

(3) building a Body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son – Together as a family we become closer to showing the different characters of God and continually build each other up

If you read the passage in the beginning, you will see that ministry may be something natural and the consequence of not doing what is natural is clearly stated there. This is a challenge to you and I to see that the time is urgent and the time is now. Every one is called into ministry, serve God in your own way but the time is now.

]]> http://leonlimkokweng.com/archive/ministry-a-job-or-something-natural.htm/feed 3 http://leonlimkokweng.com/archive/humbleness-a-type-of-pride.htm http://leonlimkokweng.com/archive/humbleness-a-type-of-pride.htm#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 10:15:03 +0000 WhiRL http://leonlimkokweng.com/?p=208 Someone asked me to post the sermons I’m sharing for this weekend up. I did not do a full script of those and I am working on them just for you. But here is another sermon I wrote. This is probably the best sermon I ever wrote. I also got an excellent remark from the President of Bible School. One of my proud moment in life. I hope you will be blessed by it. I have read it through many times and I still do not understand how I managed to write something like that.

In all this though, I hope you will see something about God you never saw before….with regards from Cambodia.

Leon

Humbleness, A Type of Pride

Mark 7:24-30

^Ôªø

^24Ôªø Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.^{ÔªøaÔªø} He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ^Ôªø

^25Ôªø In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil^{ÔªøbÔªø} spirit came and fell at his feet.

^{Ôªø26Ôªø} The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

^{Ôªø27Ôªø} ‚ÄúFirst let the children eat all they want,‚Äù he told her, ‚Äúfor it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.‚Äù

^{Ôªø28Ôªø} ‚ÄúYes, Lord,‚Äù she replied, ‚Äúbut even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.‚Äù

^{29} Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

^{Ôªø30Ôªø} She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Introduction

Humbleness, A type of pride. What does that mean? The title of my message will draw a certain amount of curiosity. Let me explain.

The term humbleness has been abused in many ways so much so that it often brings a negative connotation. When we see someone who is humble, many times we question if it is for real. But many of us secretly yearn for people that are humble. We like those kind of people.

In society today, humbleness is rarely cultivated. Schools emphasize on being the best or the top. Parents emphasize on good grades looking for ways to get their children to the best school. Things are purchased no longer for their usefulness alone but also their ecstatic purposes. They are built to impress. The more expensive the things you own, the more successful you are. That’s what the world projects.

Almost everything is made to be proud of. Hardly is anything made to look plain. This need to impress drives many to give away their lives and definitely put away the term humbleness in their quests for glory.

Cultural practices that cultivate humbleness especially in the Asian context are often replaced by more convenient methods of fulfilling the so called responsibility. Humbleness though was written all over Jesus life. The moment He came down to earth, He humbled Himself to a magnitude that we can never achieve. He tried to emphasize this humbleness many times to His disciples who couldn’t understand this. This was so obvious when they argued on who is the greatest even though it was close to the time Jesus would die.

In this passage I was taught of what humbleness really means. I would like to let us see how this woman was able to experience God’s grace and miracle because of her humbleness. Also let us see how that situation turned into a type of pride.

I. From Human Pride to Humbleness

It is hard for us to take the first step to be humble. In life as we saw just now, we tend to be caught up in a rat race to climb a ladder that really has nothing on top. God is always knocking on the doors of our hearts to come to Him. A lot of times He has to bring us through humbling situations before we learn to rely on Him again. The story of the syrophoenician woman brought out a lesson that Jesus really wanted us as disciples to always know; True humbleness like of a child. We have to come to a point where we exchange our human pride for humbleness.

What is it to be humble? Humbleness in the biblical world is a value that directs persons to stay within their inherited social status, specifically by not presuming on others and avoiding even the appearance of lording over another. Humble persons do not threaten or challenge another’s rights, nor do they claim more for themselves than has been duly allotted them in life. They even stay a step below or behind their rightful status (e.g., the ‚Äòunworthy’ John the Baptist, Mark 1:7). Conversely, to attempt to better one’s self at the expense of others, to acquire more than others, to strive for honors others currently enjoy are all instances of proud and arrogant behavior.

We can learn from the example of the woman not only about her faith but on what it means to be humble. From the passage, I would like to suggest two ways on how we could humble ourselves.

1. Recognizing Our Identity

Here she was. A Greek influenced gentile (if possible, the Jews would put Greek in small letters). Everything was despicable to the Jews. Gentiles were considered impure simply because they were gentiles. Not only that, her daughter was possessed by an evil spirit, in Greek, unclean spirit.

She was probably pagan and not only that, she hails from a wealthy city that is godless and oppressed Israel. Wait a minute, let’s not forget that she was a woman, in those days that is also an issue. She will definitely not be welcomed into the midst of the Holy One by His disciples if they had a choice.

The Jews had always the sense of pride that they were Yahweh’s chosen people, and the rest of the world is quote unquote worthless. Somewhat like the Chinese language which associates every other race with the word ghost except their own. Their worldview was clouded with much pride of themselves not who God is. ‚ÄúWe have Abraham as our forefather. Did you know that?‚Äù They would say.

Here she comes straight after she had heard news of Jesus with a posture that depicts a huge amount of humility. She fell at His feet. What a depiction Mark wrote. No one just kneels at someone’s feet let alone fall at someone’s feet just because they had nothing better to do. She was desperate; she was really really desperate to help her daughter.

Did Jesus offer her help? The kind Jesus who sits children on His lap and Who is compassionate and loving. No, the rather shocking statement He made was not to just the woman but had a deep impact I believe to the disciples. ‚ÄúFirst let the children eat all they want,‚Äù he told her, ‚Äúfor it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.‚Äù

What is amazing was her response. If I were her, I’d get awfully offended. No matter how desperate I am. I think many would definitely react the same way I do also. But she recognized who she was. A dog! What a humbling experience this was for her and me.

Simpson’s Most Valuable Discovery

In the year 1847, a doctor from Edinburgh, Sir James Simpson, discovered that chloroform could be used as an anaesthetic to render people insensible to the pain of surgery. From his early experiments, Dr. Simpson made it possible for people to go through the most dangerous operations without fear of pain and suffering. Some people even claim that his was one of the most significant discoveries of modern medicine.

Some years later, while lecturing at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Simpson was asked by one of his students, “What do you consider to be the most valuable discovery of your lifetime?” To the surprise of his students, who had expected him to refer to chloroform, Dr. Simpson replied, “My most valuable discovery was when I discovered myself a sinner and that Jesus Christ was my Saviour.”

—Glad Tidings

Is that true of our lives too? Do we recognize ourselves as a sinner? An outsider that is not worthy to come before the King of kings and Lord of lords?

2. Losing ‚ÄòOurselves’

A common concept of pride or human pride is the belief that you are better or more important than other people. Another is your feelings of your own worth and respect for yourself. These definitions are taken from the Cambridge Dictionary.

I have a feeling that she had lost all her pride when she was at Jesus feet. She had no other wish than to see her daughter well again. In fact so strong was her wish that she asked Jesus to ‚Äòdrive’ the demon out. She wanted the suffering of her precious daughter to cease immediately.

She had no other hope. She with all her human abilities had reached its limits. She knew Jesus could make the difference. She was willing to give up everything with the hope of something good.

Yet the quite insensitive reply did not embitter her at all. She didn’t argue. She didn’t spite back with harsh words like many people do today. ‚ÄúWhy don’t you want to help?‚Äù ‚ÄúAren’t you supposed to be a living God?‚Äù

She did not care if others had preeminence over her. She didn’t care if she was referred to as a dog. She didn’t care if others were more important than her. She stooped to the lowest possible that anyone could go. Through all the riddles in Jesus statement, she saw a glimpse of hope, a small hope that an average person would not be able to see because their minds would be running with negative emotions of anger and hurts. She saw the crumbs. ‚ÄúBut even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.‚Äù

If she had not lost her pride, humbled ‚Äòherself’ to the fact that she really has no power to help her daughter, lost ‚Äòherself, she would not have seen that hope. The hope that was written in between the lines! Jesus did not say he did not love the gentiles? He just said that it was not His focus or God’s program to save the gentiles first. God loves the world, and has a plan to save the whole world. The focus was on a smaller group for now.

She knows she cannot insist on God’s mercy and takes no offense in Jesus telling her so. But she knew that if she accepted her rank as a dog, it still meant getting fed with crumbs. Her act of brilliance was birth from an utmost humility. She was willing to accept God’s will in her life as second priority but knew that she wanted so much to save her child even with just a crumb. So she lost ‚Äòherself’ and asks that she be given just a dog’s worth of love. Could someone who sees such humbleness resist the urge to help?

II. From Humbleness to Godly Pride

God is His marvelous ways has a plan for everything. He often turns situations like this into great opportunities to share a truth and make a difference. What uniquely turned the situation in this story was not only the humbleness to recognize and lose one’s self; it was also her realization of God. In her desperate moment she found God.

1. Recognizing who God is

George Washington Carver, the scientist who developed hundreds of useful products from the peanut: ‚ÄúWhen I was young, I said to God, ‚ÄòGod, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‚ÄòThat knowledge is reserved for me alone.’ So I said, ‚ÄòGod, tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ Then God said, ‚ÄòWell, George, that’s more nearly your size.’ And he told me.‚Äù

As we can see, George Washington Carver learnt a lesson about God that day. God is so much bigger than we are. So much more powerful! Many would think that he was a brilliant man, but he realized that all he could really achieve was just a size of a peanut compared to God. Just like the woman, we see that he was humble enough to recognize himself, and then swallowed his pride. He recognized the fact that God was right and brilliantly asks that he be given knowledge about just a peanut.

But much more, we can see these people know that God is the only one who can answer them. What they were asking for was out of their human control. Beyond their human ability to achieve and the fact that they are a dog, a peanut! We can see this clearly manifested in the way she addressed Jesus as Lord. She was a gentile, a prideful woman probably before all these problems came into her life. She had no need for anyone to be Lord of her life. In fact nobody thought her to call Jesus Lord. She did it out of her own recognition that God is God alone and I am man. I think the lyrics of the chorus in Steven Curtis Chapman’s song put it perfectly:

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

It was John Riskin who said, ‚ÄúI believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility, doubt of his own power, or hesitation in speaking his opinion. But really great men have a … feeling that the greatness is not in them but through them; that they could not do or be anything else than God made them.‚Äù Andrew Murray said, ‚ÄúThe humble man feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised while he is forgotten because … he has received the spirit of Jesus, who pleased not Himself, and who sought not His own honor. Therefore, in putting on the Lord Jesus Christ he has put on the heart of compassion, kindness, meekness, longsuffering, and humility.‚Äù

M. R. De Haan used to say, “Humility is something we should constantly pray for, yet never thank God that we have.”

In the passage we can see that Jesus didn’t say he couldn’t perform the miracle just that he won’t do it just yet. Our trust in every situation of life must be put on the one who can save us all. Jesus! We have to come to a point where we really mean what we say when we call Jesus, Lord. We need to recognize who God is. The woman recognized that. She was even proud to be God’s dog. Because being God’s dog and receiving just His crumbs is better than not receiving anything at all.

2. Unleashing faith for Godly Pride

Pride: a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that you get because you or people connected with you have done or possess something good. This is actually the first definition in the line on the three definitions’ I gave on pride from the Cambrigde Dictionary.

Are we proud because of whom God is? Are we humbled by who we are? Are we filled with humility yet filled with pride in the fact we possess a good God, I would even say Great God who love’s us? Who has a plan for us?

The woman had nothing but faith that Jesus could heal her daughter. She had faith that this God was compassionate and loving enough to help her through her troubles. She had faith that she could press on despite a negative answer that this God is powerful and loving enough. A gentile, who knows not who this God is and who had no prior experience with God unlike the Jews.

This faith in God moved the barrier of problems in her life. A miracle happened. She could only be thankful to God in the end. She could only be proud of who God is in the end.

God wants the pleasure of the connection to his people and satisfaction in helping them. Yet He cannot do that until we are humble enough to recognize His power. And when we do so, we not only gain much satisfaction but also give the glory to God because we take none of it for ourselves. The woman must have been naturally surprised that her daughter was healed even though she had the faith. She came back hoping for the best. She had no way to know if it happened. After it happened, she will definitely give God the credit and the people that hear about it will definitely be attracted to find out more.

Even faith a size of a mustard seed can remove mountains. God needs not our effort to glorify Him. His creation naturally glorifies Him in many ways. But if we are willing and humble He will use us to reflect an even greater image of His glory. For when we humble ourselves to the fact of our finite being and sinful nature, we shine the light of God’s glory brighter than when we steal some for ourselves.

Conclusion

In concluding this message, I would like to read this story:

Many years ago, Christian professor Stuart Blackie of the University of Edinburgh was listening to his students as they presented oral readings. When one young man rose to begin his recitation, he held his book in the wrong hand. The professor thundered, ‚ÄúTake your book in your right hand, and be seated!‚Äù At this harsh rebuke, the student held up his right arm. He didn’t have a right hand! The other students shifted uneasily in their chairs.

For a moment the professor hesitated. Then he made his way to the student, put his arm around him, and with tears streaming from his eyes, said, “I never knew about it. Please, will you forgive me?” His humble apology made a lasting impact on that young man. This story was told some time later in a large gathering of believers. At the close of the meeting a man came forward, turned to the crowd, and raised his right arm. It ended at the wrist. He said, “I was that student. Professor Blackie led me to Christ. But he never could have done it if he had not made the wrong right.”

This is just a simple example of how God turns a situation in our lives into His pride. But if we had not been humble enough, those miracles would not happen. Through our lives let us pray that we will not only have the faith the woman had, but we will have the humbleness to recognize who we are and consequently we’ll lose ourselves to God. Recognizing who God is and putting our faith in Him we know that He’ll turn those situations of our lives into miracles for His Glory. Indeed humbleness is a type of pride because in being humble, God is made proud.