Day 11: Pray for Humility and Praise God for His Grace
"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." -James 4: 6–10
Imagine the year is 46 B.C. Your friend, James, lead pastor of the church in Jerusalem, grew up with his big brother Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, THAT Jesus. (The Jesus who walked on the water, healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, claimed to be the Messiah, died on the cross, and rose from the dead.) So, your buddy James, whose brother was Jesus, has just finished his writing project, and he shows it to you.
You read through it, and it’s got some punchy spots: “Count it all joy when you fall into trials of various kinds;” “Faith without works is dead!;” “Nobody can tame the tongue.” Wow! He doesn’t hold back! It's almost like he learned that from his brother’s teaching style!
But then he says, “Check out this chapter! I call it ‘the revival chapter,’” and he hands you his parchment, and it starts like this: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?”
Good question.
You read on: Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. (James 4:1-4)
As you continue reading, you find such a clear description of the human condition. The sinfulness of humanity is truly dark in comparison to the bright, spotless purity of our Lord Jesus. This sinfulness makes us enemies of God! Yet, God has a heart of righteous jealousy for us, as we are His creatures, made for His honor and glory. ("Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, 'He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us'."-James 4:5)
What is the solution?
Grace.
You cannot have too much grace. You can misunderstand it; certainly. You can misapply it and wrongly define it. But the solution for man’s plight under the blazing exposure of the light of God’s holiness is not more effort, more striving, or more resolutions. The solution God provides is this: more grace (James 4:6).
Oh, what a humbling thought! We can stand firm in agreement with the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. And when the devil throws our sins in our faces and declares that we deserve death and hell, we can tell him, as Martin Luther so powerfully stated, this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!"
That, my friends, is the way to humble yourself, to submit to God, and to resist the devil.
The blood of Jesus Christ, shed for sinners–for you and for me–is the way that our sins are cleansed and the way we are washed whiter than snow.
Allow the full weight of the Holy Spirit’s conviction to turn your laughter to gloom. Own your wretchedness with mourning and weeping. Say, “yes, this is the sinfulness of my sin. I will not try to diminish that. It’s ME; it’s ME who needs You."
Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Amen.
Andy Woodard
Executive Director of Christian Union New York