Daily Devotion from LITEBEARERS Website>>>March 14, 2014 Matthew 5:5...Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. The archaic meaning of meek, which was dominant in the time of the King James translation, was kind and gentle. It was not a term of weakness, as we can see in Matt. 11:29 where Jesus said He was meek. Jesus had all power, but He would not use that power to promote Himself. So, meekness includes humility, submission, kindness, and gentleness. (Isa. 29:19; Matt. 21:5; Gal. 5:22-23; and I Pet. 3:4). The meek are those who have a spirit of gentleness and self-control; they are free from malice and a condescending spirit. The meek do not exploit and oppress others; they are not given to vengeance and vendettas, they are not violent, and they do not try to seize power for their own ends. In short, they have emulated the nature of Jesus in their lives and learned from him. This does not mean they are weak or ineffective in life. They may be gentle and humble, but they can and do champion the needs of the weak and the oppressed. But they will never do anything for ulterior motives or for self-fulfillment. How does one become meek? What if ones nature is not meek? The answer to this comes from other passages of the Bible that describe how the spiritual life works. Meekness and gentleness and goodness are part of the fruit of the Spirit - they are produced in the Christian by the Holy Spirit. In order to cultivate a spirit of meekness one must walk by the Spirit, or be controlled by the Spirit of God so that the qualities of Christ can be produced in and through them. Judge yourself in meekness. If you do the following you are not operating in meekness: 1. When someone is talking to you and explaining how the Lord is working in their life or ministry and, all the while, you are busy mentally searching for a personal experience that will either top theirs or show similar attributes of God at work in your life. When you do this, either consciously or subconsciously, you are discounting their experience by offering one of your own, and in so doing you often miss important aspects of the Lords work in His Body. 2. When you will not accept criticism from a brother or sister in Christ given in love and meant to help you grow in your spiritual walk. This is caused by pride, and the assumption that you are right in what you do and no improvement is necessary, or you feel that the person offering the criticism has no right to do so because of their own faults. 3. You are easily offended by others because you have no innate characteristic of humility: the pastor fails to recognize you one Sunday; the music is too loud; the room is too cold or too warm; Sister Mary didnt speak to you when you entered her row; no one asked for your opinion; you feel your time is too valuable to give up some for others; you are seldom available to help others but often seek help yourself; you know when someone is in need, but you fail to heed the Spirits call to help. 4. You feel uncomfortable around people who are different, either by race, ethnicity, lifestyle, socio-economic level, religious background or lack thereof, cleanliness, or some physical characteristic like a handicap. You may even realize this is not right, but you are unwilling to seek Gods help in overcoming this flaw in your Christian character. These are just a few of the areas that indicate a lack of meekness. Ask the Lord today to reveal to you any area in which you lack the characteristics of Christ, and be willing to let the Holy Spirit mold you into the image of Christ. The reward for the meek is to inherit the earth, which is to receive all the blessings of God which will give you a sense of proprietary responsibility for who are and what you do. Walking in holiness is what God desires and what you will be able to do.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 02:25:46 +0000
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