for men to seek their own glory is not glory

Proverbs 27:2. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

And the good news this Tuesday morning friends, is that the temperature is about 4 degrees above freezing! Wow! We haven’t seen above freezing temps in a long, long while. And although it’s somewhat cloudy and damp, what with a li’l drizzle earlier on, and the snow melting some, thankfully, the sun is fighting valiantly to make its presence felt. (smile)

Let’s hope that the snow doesn’t melt too quickly and cause flooding, or there isn’t too much water in the streets and walkways, so that it doesn’t freeze to ice, when the temperatures plummet below zero at nightfall, and cause even more problems. For the ice is the most dangerous and treacherous aspect of winter, because it can show up at anytime and anywhere, looking innocuous, but packing a very serious wallop. So, if we have to go out at night, or even in the early morning hours, please let’s be careful with the icy conditions that might exist out there.

Now, let’s turn to this interesting and rather apt poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, simply titled, ‘Sane Estimate.’ And I’m obviously not sure if I’ve ever shared this one before, but even if I have done so, we know that they all are worthy of sharing several times. (smile)

So, please read with me: ‘Lord, help me to face with honesty And genuine appreciation The talents and abilities You have given As special gifts to me. Give me a sane estimate of myself. Neither exaggerated nor mud-crawling. Just SANE, as Your Word admonishes. May I be joyfully satisfied With Your unique plan for me. When at times I’d secretly LOVE to ride On a colourful float Beautifully adorned Waving to cheering crowds Smile at me, Lord. With a twinkle in your eye Remind me again That somebody has to build the float.’

And that’s the indisputable truth my brethren! Someone has to build and decorate the float before we can ever dream of riding on it, and ofttimes the job falls to us, but we don’t want to get into the building, just the riding and looking pretty up there. But that’s not what our God likes to happen all the time. Yes, sometimes we might get the easy ride, but more often than not, we are expected to build the ride.

But getting back to the basic premise of the poem, our sane thinking of ourselves, that’s especially important in these times with so many power-hungry, dictator-like, arrogant, greedy and egotistic people and leaders around the globe. The world’s gone crazy for power and glory; however one can get it. Note the number of physical and very emotional strife-filled places in our current world. And it doesn’t seem to be getting better, but worse. However, as true believers in Christ, we are expected to hold a sane and rational opinion of ourselves; not too haughty and prideful, but neither too lowly and unimportant, or as the poem says, ‘mud-crawling.’

And believe me, many of us Christians do exactly that; have too low an opinion of ourselves, believing we’re not worthy of acknowledgement or any importance, and thus remain forever mired in the mud-crawling attitude. But please, let’s remember that God has NEVER made anything or anybody without a useful and important purpose. That’s why He’s given each of us special gifts, talents and abilities, so that we can accomplish the important work He’s created us for. And if we keep demeaning and belittling ourselves, then we’re basically saying that God doesn’t know what He’s doing, which obviously is heifer dust. (smile)

And the scripture verse for our poem today tells it very much like it ought to be. Bruh Paul makes it quite clear to the church at Rome in these admonishing words. ‘For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.’ (Rom. 3:12) Yes friends, that’s how we ought to behave. And Bruh Paul goes on to explain it more fully in the verses that follow (4-8), which you can, or rather are expected to read and meditate on for yourselves. (smile)

Meanwhile, the scholars explain those verses (3-8) thus: ‘The righteousness of God will cause the believer to conduct himself in humility in the local church. Paul meets two dangers that the individual faced in the exercise of his spiritual gifts. He might overestimate himself and try to exercise a gift God never gave him. Or he might underestimate himself and fail to exercise the gift God has given to him. Paul shows that God has given each believer specific gifts to enable him to do what God wants him to do. No one is excluded.’

And please note that last sentence friends; NO ONE is excluded from God’s generous giving of spiritual gifts, since He has work for every believer to accomplish. And as we all know, Cousin Sol has a word, or several words on all those things that trouble mankind. (smile) Here are couple on this subject of humility and sane estimating of oneself.

The first one says: ‘It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search (seek) their own glory is not glory.’ (Prov. 25:27) There’s much truth in that; eating too much honey is not good for us, neither is seeking our own glory, or as the old folks would say, ‘blowing one’s own trumpet.,’ which fits in very nicely with this other quote from Cousin Sol. ‘Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.’ (Prov. 27:2)

And it’s very noticeable in today’s world that that proverb is not being much heeded, if any at all, because everybody, from the top leaders, right down to the lowliest folks are blowing their own horns. Because that’s what the world believes it takes to get ahead in its evil and ungodly state. But children of God, we know so much better, so please, let’s live up to our spiritual gifts nuh, and with God’s help, neither overdo nor underdo our God-given capabilities.

Now, it’s time to go home declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel! As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’

And having made that declaration, (yesss!!!) we are now duty bound to go out and share the amazing LOVE, gifts and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…there’s a fine line between excessive pride and belittlement of self…it’s called HUMILITY…

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Proverbs 25:27. It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search (seek) their own glory is not glory.

Oh Friends, life’s definitely interesting and amusing yes! And sometimes we need to laugh at it and also take it with a grain of salt. What sparked my enthusiasm today was a quote from one of my daily devotionals. This quote is attributed to one Sydney Smith, but when I tried to find out about him, I discovered that there were several people by that name, including a couple of women.

Anyway, I believe they are referring to an English clergyman, wit and writer who lived between 1771 and 1845. The quote states: ‘I have gout, asthma and seven other maladies, but am otherwise well.’

That had me laughing because it reminded me of myself. I have numerous maladies myself, but other than that, I’m very well. Hn, hn! It’s like sometimes when I’m asked, ‘How are you?’ I reply, ‘My body’s a mess, but my soul’s in beautiful shape!’ And that’s often the truth.

At those times I’m reminded of the old hymn: ‘When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.’

Yes my people, that’s how we need to be, regardless of the trials and tribulations we’re going through. No, it’s not always easy, but as true believers in Jesus, we are required to stand strong and persevere.

That reminds me of Bruh Paul’s situation. ‘And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet (beat) me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought (pleaded with) the Lord thrice (three times), that it might depart from me.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength (power) is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities (weaknesses) that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, than am I strong.’ (2 Cor.12:7-10)

Yes my brethren, in our weakness, God’s strength and majesty are magnified! So much so, that nowadays when some malady, old or new bothers me, I ask the Lord to help me with them, but I don’t keep harping on it, because I’ve learned from hard experience that some things you just need to go through, and in His own time, He will solve the problem(s) one way or another.

Now I merely ask Him for the strength to keep on keeping on, while I’m undergoing whatever ailment is then affecting me. It glorifies God when we continue doing what we ought, while undergoing suffering and rough times.

That brings us to our Bit, which is tied up to a certain extent with what we’ve already been talking about. ‘It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search (seek) their own glory is not glory.’

Rather true and wise words from Cousin Sol! Too much honey, or today we’d say sugar, is definitely not good for us, neither is too much boasting or self-promotion. As the old people would say; we’re not supposed to blow our own horn.

And as Bruh Paul wrote to the Corinthians, re his spiritual authority: ‘For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.’ (2 Cor. 10:12)

Yeh Friends, we’re not supposed to measure and compare ourselves to and by others, for that will only get us in serious trouble. In fact we should not boast of our accomplishments at all!

Listen to Cousin Sol as he opens Proverbs 27 by staunchly declaring: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.’ (Prov.27:1-2)

Unfortunately though my fellow believers, our current world is one that glorifies boasting. And the sad fact is that our standards are set so low now, that any run of the mill, mediocre accomplishment a few decades ago, are now seen as great stuff. Everybody is an expert, a superstar, or some high flying personality… that is until their Achilles heel is exposed, and they are unseemingly toppled from their haughty pedestal.

Oh my brethren, we all do some things fairly well, but we also do other things poorly. So there’s no need to boast about our doings, especially when whatever we excel at is basically through the workings of Almighty God, through the skills with which He’s endowed and blessed us with.

That’s why Bruh Paul said to the Corinthians: ‘But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.’ (2 Cor.10:17-18) And that’s the gospel truth my people!

And we’ll end with some important info from the scholars on the subject. ’10:17-18. Lest the Corinthians interpret what Paul has to say as an expression of conceit, Paul shows that, in the final analysis, his commendation comes from Christ. Paul was always careful to show that any success he enjoyed in the ministry was not due to his own innate ability, but to Christ working in him.’ (cf. Rom. 15:17-18).’

That’s more gospel truth Friends! So please, in all our doings, let’s not try to take the praise and glory that truly belongs God, for remember these specific words out of the mouth of His servant Isaiah: ‘I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.’ (Is.42:8)

That says it all my fellow believers! So let’s ponder our own glorying today, and if necessary bring it into alignment with God’s Word, through His help obviously. That’s wisdom of the wisest kind! (smile) Much LOVE!

…to boast, to boast, and yet to boast…not of myself or of my doings…but of the majesty and glory of Jehovah God…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 August 2014 Proverbs 25:27

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