Month: June 2024

Psalm 34:18 (NKJV) 18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

As we have worked our way through this week’s devotionals, many of them have had a theme of the importance of humility.

God wants us to be humble before Him, contrite (repentant) of heart.

This does not mean that we must feel perpetual guilt. It simply means that we must recognize our frailty and our faults as humans and come before God with an attitude of repentance and remorse for our shortcomings.

A haughty spirit will always land us in trouble. Haughtiness is a form of pride, which God warns us about.

Proverbs 16:18 (NKJV) 18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

The opening scripture states that God is near those who have a broken heart.

Often, the phrase “broken heart” refers to a heart that has been broken due to emotional trauma.

Additionally, a heart that is “broken before God” is one that recognizes its need for God.

Such a person has seen their own shortfalls and knows that God is the only One who can fix them and make them new. In humility, this person surrenders completely to God, broken in spirit and placing themselves in His hands to be shaped and molded as a potter molds and shapes clay.

As we discussed earlier this week, David was powerful, yet humble, acknowledging his need for God in every aspect of his life.

John the Baptist was powerful, yet humble, deferring to Christ as the One he was sent to point people to.

And God calls us to be humble as well, learning to put Him first in every aspect of our lives.

Humility keeps the lines of communication open between us and God, allowing us to hear Him clearly, whereas pride will cut those lines quickly, leaving us struggling to hear Him at all.

Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) 15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

John 1:26-27 (NKJV) 26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

John the Baptist was known for his fiery speech and his disdain for the religious leaders who frequently questioned him.

He went as far as calling them a brood of vipers!

John was adamant about the necessity of repenting from sin. His intense words on this topic made him both reviled and feared by many, including king Herod.

Because of this, king Herod had him beheaded.

But in all the fiery speech and intensity that John exhibited, there was a humility that is often overlooked.

John knew in his heart that he was there only to point people to the coming Messiah, his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth.

His humility was evident when the religious leaders sent their underlings to question him about who he was.

He clearly pointed to the fact that he was not the messiah, but simply the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.

When questioned further, John explained that he baptized only with (in) water, and that his baptism was unto repentance, whereas One was coming after him Whose sandal straps he was not worthy to untie.

John had every opportunity to grab the attention of those around him, shining the spotlight on himself.

Instead, he pointed solely to the One who was to come. The One who was already among them, but they did not yet know.

The most powerful of John’s statements was his allusion to the fact that he was not even worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus.

This was a task that was typically allotted to slaves. And yet John lowered himself to not being worthy of even this lowly task.

One of his final recorded statements of humility was one we likely all know well; “I must decrease, He must increase” in which he spoke of Jesus to his own disciples when they questioned John about why some disciples were leaving him to follow this unknown Messiah.

Let us also learn the importance of humility from this powerhouse prophet of God.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Psalm 51:10 (NKJV) 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

The world has a way of trying to wear us down.

Each day presents new challenges that can easily affect our walk with God if we allow them to.

We feel peer pressure to conform. We are inundated with the perversions of the world. We are enticed with ideas that are contrary to God’s word and His ways.

The list of things we battle each day is endless.

The battles that we face individually will vary from one person to the next, all the while sharing a common thread with every believer; to derail our walk with God and destroy our faith in Him.

That is the single goal of the enemy of our souls.

How we handle this onslaught is a choice we make day by day, minute by minute. And the decisions we make will affect our future battles.

How we choose today will impact every day thereafter, sometimes creating a domino effect, for the good or for the bad.

Now, that may sound gloomy. It may make us feel like it is a battle that we can never win.

But we can win!

David cried out in the verse above, asking God to create in him a clean heart, and renew within him a steadfast spirit.

David understood what was required to live a life that was pleasing to God.

He knew that only God could change His heart and make his spirit steadfast (faithful, devoted, loyal, true, etc.).

So, he leaned completely on God to make him who he needed to be to carry out the tasks that God had set before him in a way that pleased God and brought glory and honor to Him.

There is much we can learn from David.

Humility is one of the biggest factors that made Him who He was. He knew he was frail as a human, so He cried out to God frequently, asking for His help.

Let us also do the same, keeping ourselves humble before God, allowing Him to lead us, guide us, and correct us when we need it.

In doing this, we will find satisfaction and peace that the world could never offer us.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.