Joni And Friends 20 March 2024 Devotional Message
Joni and Friends 20 March 2024 Devotional Wednesday Message. As you study today’s devotional, remember this; “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 (NLT)
TOPIC: A Humiliating Word from God
“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving—in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her.” – Jeremiah 2:23-24
Every time I find pride raising its ugly head or when I feel a bit too complacent, I read the book of Jeremiah. All fifty-two chapters. I say, “So I think I have it all together? Not sullied with sin’s stain?” Then I launch into the first chapter. Somewhere around Jeremiah 2:23-24 my pride deflates. God’s Word hits hard: my pride sniffs out trouble like an ass in heat sniffing the wind. How humiliating!
Yes, God’s Word can produce humiliation in our hearts. That’s because a passage like Jeremiah 2:23-24 reveals the core of who we are. If pride has its way, evil in us will fizz to the surface and spread poison. Pride will make us hateful, and in order to avoid the scrutiny of the Spirit, we will inflict pain on ourselves and flail out at others.
But who wants to live like that? I’d rather let God’s Word humiliate me. Yes, it hurts to be sandblasted to the core. To be told by the Spirit that we are not as wise or winsome, loving or patient, as we thought. But when the mask of pride is ripped away, there’s something refreshing about knowing ourselves at the core.
When we admit to the Lord the stain of sin in us, he gives a spirit of humility. We rise, renewed. When we begin to get a tad self-sufficient, the Spirit presses in. So we seek the humiliation of God’s Word again, destroying the self-display. The transaction then is able to continue. God offers the spirit of humility as we hold fast to God’s Word. Stray away from a passage like today’s, and…humility dissipates.
Humble me by your Word today, Lord.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY