REMINDER: RSVP TO ME AT THIS EMAIL ADDRESS IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL SINGLES CHRISTMAS PARTY AT GLENMARY COUNTRY CLUB ON TUESDAY DECEMBER 21 at 7PM. We must have an accurate count a week prior to the event. (facility will hold only 100)
**********************************
Meekness: Character and Power
read pages 107-114 Character Matters by Mark Rutland
Interesting thoughts on Abraham Lincoln regarding the state of the nation following the Civil War.....Only his meekness, his refusal to use his power in unrestrained vengeance, saved the South and the nation from a postwar nightmare even worse than it was. Lincoln, long known for his honesty, proved the depth of his great and noble character with meekness.
The greatness of the powerful is made manifest in restraint. Misunderstood by many, meekness is often thought to be only for the weak-sister types. Meekness, however, is the supreme virtue of leadership without which power becomes tyranny. Meekness is power under control.
Meekness is not even possible until power is at risk. Learn of meekness from the lions. The mother lion, not the cub, is meek.
Meekness is willing to forgive when forgiveness will earn no reward. When a culture distorts meekness to become weakness, its leaders grow increasingly ruthless. The weak in any society depend for proection, not on the mighty, but on the meek. Take, for example, the relationship between mother and child. The infant, born or unborn, is subject to its mother's power. Life and death are in her hands. Postmodern Western society sees no virtue in meekness, and mothers grow more ruthless in their power.
The Meekness of Jesus Christ:
Having full authority in the Godhead, He laid all that aside and clothed Himself in mere mortality. Phil. 2:6-7. Servant...Slave.
Christ Jesus laid aside His rights as God to become not only a man but a slave of men. He was crucified by men whom He had created. God, willing to lay aside His authority over the earth and become man, is meekness perfected.
The Blessings of the Meek:
There are great promises for the meek.:
Christlikeness: Matt 11:29 We must settle ourselves into the double yoke with Jesus on one side and us on the other.
Happiness: It makes a man fit to live with because he is not easily threatened by the loss of his power.
It makes a man fit to do business with. And because they are honest, the meek tend to prosper.
It makes a man able to be alone. He is secure in the fact that God communes with him in the secret place.
Inheritance: The meek shall inherit the earth. To inherit means to come into authority, to gain dominion over. Matt. 5 and 2 Cor. 4:7 "earthen vessels". Self-possession, dominion over appetites and passions, is the inheritance of the meek. One day, the flawless new earth will be reserved only for the meek.
Guidance: Psl 25:9. God will guide the meek into what is right and teach them His way. The meek live in peace instead of in the world's confusion and turmoil.
Judgment for Meekness:
Psl 76:9....God Himself will judge and save all the meek of the earth. The meek can rest themselves in the face of injustices, because ultimately God will set it right!!!!!!
Rev. 6:10 We dare not turn a blind eye to injustices and become complacent, but justice and vengeance are not the same. Rom. 13:1-4. Vengeance and wrath are not emotions that humans are capable of handling. Vengeance is right but it must never be in the wrong hands. Vengeance in our hands will destroy us. We are not God, and vengeance is a godly thing.
May these thoughts bring godly character into our lives,
Becky
SMALL GROUP SOURCE CLASS WILL MEET 6:15PM IN FOYER AT MINOR LANE THURS. DEC. 9 AND DEC. 16 !!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment