In HOPE

 

 

 

  In HOPE 9.27

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David Timms  

 

 

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 Prayer for Today

Father, You know the depth of my pride and the extent of my pretense. Forgive me for the facade. Deliver me from the charade. I want to find all of my joy simply in knowing You. Grant me the courage to acknowledge that I am nothing apart from You. Help me to release all of my efforts to promote myself and impress others. Guide me today into the freedom and rest of meekness -- the meekness of Christ. Amen.

Hope Happenings

Hope International University recently established a Gateway Program that offers lower division (Freshman & Sophomore) undergraduate courses fully online for just $150 per unit. These courses run for 5 weeks at a time, and are fully accredited and transferable. They provide a great option for students who cannot get classes that they need in other colleges of universities. For more information, see www.hiu.edu.

 

 

 

www.growingdeeper.com 

“The heart of the world is breaking under the load of pride and pretense.
There is no release from our burden apart from the meekness of Christ.” 
~ A.W.Tozer, The Pursuit of God, p.109.

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Pride & Pretense

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

Jesus may have said it, but few of us believe it. The earth does not belong to the gentle and humble. They get taken advantage of. They get run over by the powerful and beaten down by the assertive. They lose in the cut-throat competition of our culture. They suffer at the hands of the violent and the aggressive.

Blessed are the meek.  It seems ludicrous to suggest. Meekness is synonymous with weakness in the eyes of the world. Humility is what you accept when you have nothing to be proud of. But A.W. Tozer nails it right on the head. The burden of pride and pretense steadily crushes us.

Our sensitivity to what others think or say about us betrays the talon-grip of pride in our life. The ease with which a casual or careless word can wound us and stir us to sleepless nights exposes our pride even further. And our insistence that all is well when all is not well reveals the deep pretentiousness of our hearts.

We want family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to admire us. So, we carefully craft an image and defend it with vigor. Fearful that folk might see the real us (with its weaknesses and warts), we work tirelessly to project a preferred (and prideful) “false self.” And living this way, with one eye over our shoulder, shrivels the soul.

We need not characterize the meek and the humble as awkward, bumbling milk-sops without a backbone. True meekness often demonstrates remarkable strength and courage. But more importantly, by embracing the meekness of Christ we begin to release the burden of pride and pretense. Once we reach the point that we care nothing for what others say or think of us because we care only for Christ, the burden lifts entirely.

Does this mean we adopt a reckless, cavalier, or condescending attitude towards others and their perceptions? Not at all. We love them deeply and listen to them sincerely. But we’ll find rest for our souls not in perpetuating our pride and pretense but by embracing the meekness of Christ.

Sincere humility does not diminish us. It liberates us.

 In HOPE –

David

 

 

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You can find back issues of "In HOPE" (2005-2009) at http://www.hiu.edu/inhope/ .

David Timms serves in the Graduate Ministry Department at Hope International University in Fullerton, California. "In HOPE", however, is not an official publication of the University and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Administrators or Board. "In HOPE" has been a regular e-publication since January, 2001.