The Lord Exalts the Humble

Kazden Colpitts

6/6/2016

Team Tour/Cambodia

2 Samuel 3:1,

“There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.”

This verse begins with “there was a long war.” Saul’s and David’s army fought against each other. They were both of the same country, but they were divided. Saul had become consumed with bitterness toward David because of David’s rise to leadership. David had been experiencing a lot more success than Saul had. 1 Samuel 18:7 says that “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” As a result of Saul’s bitterness he turned his armies on David. This war extended beyond Saul’s death. Saul’s people inherited this bitterness toward David.

The second part of this verse says that “David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.” David was a righteous man. He loved Saul but the contention would not relent unless someone won. God’s favor was upon David, for it was prophesied that he would become king by the prophet Samuel. In Acts 13:22 it says, “And when He (God) had removed him (Saul), He raised up David to be their (Israel’s) king of whom He testified and said, “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.” David’s heart was toward God, but Saul had to be removed from power by the God of hand.

The world tends to look at the outward. Saul was the perfect leader in the people’s eyes but his heart was hard toward God. David wanted to please God and ultimately God gave him favor over the house of Saul. Therefore David became stronger and stronger. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to become weaker but that’s what happened to Saul when he became overcome by envy against David. Saul was proud and sook the destruction of David but David was humble and loved Saul. The very thing that Saul sook on David ended up coming down on the house of Saul. Yet, David wasn’t seeking the destruction of Saul but he ended up defeating his armies. God has a way of humbling the proud and exalting the humble, and that’s the classic theme of the war between David and the house of Saul. The Lord exalts those who exalt Him in their humility and that’s what we should all desire to do.

Application: Center my heart on the Lord through prayer so that I might exalt Him and that he would humble me so that I would please Him and be in His will.

James 3:16

"For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."

1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” Confusion cannot be of God but is a consequence of envy and self-seeking.

When I get confused I often become frustrated. I have a tendency to let that confusion build up inside without looking to God for peace. Confusion has a way of separating myself from the presence of God, along with everything else that is evil. When I am out of the presence of God, I am living in the flesh.

1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The way to deal with envy and self-seeking is to bring it to the Light where I can return to the presence of God. Lately I have been struggling with being on the same page with those who I am with all the time. Out of self-seeking, my sin has continually isolated me from others. This is my weakness. I am prone to be an independent. But as I have been learning, I am so much weaker alone than I am when I am united with others. Selfish ambition has taken too much of my life. Seeking my personal interests has removed me from being of one mind with others and stirred up misunderstandings.

Philippians 2:1-4 says, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Lord, open up my heart more to others. Soften my heart towards the interests of others. Soften my heart to You, Lord. I continually get lost and confused. My sin has separated me from walking in the light with others and You over and over again. Keep doing a good work in my heart. Amen.

Application: Come to the light about my envy and self-seeking with my teammates and seek the Lord to eliminate the confusion that has come between them, me, and God.

Isaiah 58:11

Isaiah 58:11

“The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do no fail.”

The Lord has always guided me better than I could guide myself. When I have tried to come up with my own strength to get through a drought in life, I have always been left unsatisfied. Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” God has brought me through a drought to get me to realize this. Without Him, I am living in vain. Nothing I do on my own strength is going to satisfy my soul in drought. The Lord will satisfy my soul in drought if I believe that it is He who guides me continually, and it is He who strengthens my bones.

Often I find myself having multiple spiritual deficiencies every day. I find myself anxious because I fail to believe that the Lord really does guide me continually, and it is Him who will satisfy my soul in those times, and He is the one who strengthens my bones. All of this is a promise if my motives are on loving the Lord and loving others. When I have dual motives, I become anxious and unstable in all of my ways. When I surrender to the Lord daily any ulterior motives I have and ask for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, then I am satisfied no matter how mundane the task.

I want to continue living in God’s peace, knowing that He is guiding me and will satisfy me in drought. I need His strength because my flesh is weak. I don’t want to be like the person in James 1:23-24 who immediately forgets what he looked like when he walked away from the mirror. After spending three months in Guatemala, God taught me so much. It became a daily habit to go through the day reflecting and meditating on the word of God after my devotion with Him in the morning, but it’s been so difficult to do that on tour because of the changing on the schedule.

Application: Tomorrow, the first of the May, I am going to challenge myself to seek the Lord every day, expecting that He is going to speak to me in my devotions and throughout the day, wherever it is He has me.

Ecclesiastes 12:1

April 15, 2016

Inductive Bible Study

Ecclesiastes 12:1

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them.”

Sometimes I stop and think about just how good life is for me. I have no health problems, I’m young, I have energy, I don’t need a ton of sleep, I have a sharp mind, and my whole life is ahead of me. But the belief that life is great and my whole life is ahead of me is an illusion. There is no guarantee that I’ll live to see old age. Not even my next minute is guaranteed. The way I have thought in the past is that while I am in my youth I should go and do whatever I want just because I can but wisdom says differently.

In Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 it says, ”Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity.”

What this verse is telling me is to live with the consciousness that God will judge me for my actions and that when old age comes I will see that the things I did as a youth didn’t produce anything. Nevertheless God wants to see me enjoy my life. If I walk with God while I am still young I am going to be sustained when the difficult times come. But for so many people, they resist God until it’s late in life. It may not be too late, and there’s no condemnation for coming to Christ no matter how bad your past was, but the sooner I remember my Creator, the longer I will live in fear of Him. Living in fear of Him is what’s going to make all the difference in my life.

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of your life will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”

Application: I have come to discover about myself that I have a problem of worrying about the future. I prevent myself from living how God would have me live today because I am so caught up in what I want my life to be 10 years from now. What I am looking for is something to sustain me or to keep my focus on so I have the motivation to get through the times of difficulty when they come. But as Ecclesiastes 12:1 points out, I need to simply remember my Creator when those times come. Looking to someone or something else besides God is vanity. I need to look to my Creator, and not to a counterfeit, and enjoy my youth while I have it but with that knowledge of God.

How can I let go of this fear of the future? Today I am going to pray and seek the Lord that He would make me to know that He will provide and that He would teach me how to enjoy my youth the way He intends for me to live it.

Colossians 2:5

IBS

April 18, 2016

Colossians 2:5

“For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.”

Since leaving the environment of Guatemala a few weeks ago and going into a new environment that is constantly changing, I have faced a major challenge. That challenge is what Paul says is, “to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.” It has become increasingly easy to go throughout my day without spending any time in the word. I have become lazy in my devotion to the Lord. As a result I have started losing a sense of self awareness in how I have been treating others and directing my actions according to the Word of God. The environment I had in Guatemala promoted so much spiritual growth and getting in tune with God but being back in the United States has thrown me back into a culture that is spiritually dead. I have seen and heard of so many people who have gone from mountain top experiences with God but overtime have fallen back into a state of disconnection from Jesus. I don’t ever want to be out of communion with God again. I want to fall even more in love with Jesus. I was once in a place where I absolutely needed God but right now I feel so full and blessed that I don’t feel like I need Him as much as I did. There was a time where I looked to Him in the mornings as my sufficiency, but I have been looking to others things and have begun to put them above God. Things like sleep, caffeine, relaxation, and breakfast have become idols that I have allowed to take over my mornings and turn into a barrier between me and God.

Application: When I return home to Vancouver, Washington, in the fall, I want to be found by my pastors, as Paul wanted to see, being in good order and steadfast in my faith in Christ. I know they are here with me in spirit, although absent in the flesh, and they will rejoice to find that I am abiding in Jesus. I know that it’s not about pleasing them but pleasing God. Out of the grace He’s had on me, I want to get to know Him more and this is a step I feel I need to take to get and of this sluggishness of faith I have been experiencing.

How? I am going to fast from caffeine while making it my goal to wake up at 5:30am to pursue the Lord in scripture and prayer before eating.

Inductive Bible Study March 11

Friday March 11, 2016

IBS

Matthew 18:15

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”

People have feelings. If you push someone the wrong way, they will react, but if you handle it properly you can prevent a flood of anger. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Relationships are too precious to mess up. Something so small can turn into a huge conflict just because someone says something the wrong way or lashes out a little anger on someone else.

Matthew 18 is a great guideline to preserving peace in relationships. Early in the chapter, Jesus warns us that we need to be sensitive in how we deal with children and those who are lost. If we cause someone to stumble because we can’t exercise love, we’d be better off never even coming into the picture. Then in verse 15, we are told to deal with strife privately and reconcile if possible. But, if you can’t reconcile with that person, then it would become appropriate to bring other people into the picture. In verse 16 it says, “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.” So, if you can’t reconcile with a person privately because the other person isn’t willing, then other people should get involved. Towards the end of chapter, we are told to be forgiving of others. If we don’t forgive our brothers for what they’ve done against us, God will not give us grace. God has given us so much grace that we should be compelled to extend that grace to anyone else who offends us.

Being someone who usually won’t say anything when strife comes up, I realize that I need to heed the words of Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turns away wrath.” Often by not saying anything, I have stirred up strife in itself. Either by not being forgiving or showing an attitude of anger towards someone, I have non-verbally communicated something in opposition of love. I have come to understand this about myself recently. Simply by opening my mouth with a soft answer, I can prevent a lot of confusion and anger among others.

Prayer: Help me to be more open with my brothers and find people I can trust and begin building that trust with them.

Helping Those Who Can't Help You Back

Wednesday March 9, 2016

IBS

Romans 12:15

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

Walking in unity should be a constant state. Unfortunately, most people will only be there in your times of rejoicing. As soon as your life goes downhill, many if not all will abandon you. Romans 12:15 is a call to be there for those who rejoice, as well as those who weep. The following verse says, “Be of the same mind toward one another.” This doesn’t just mean among friends but all people. We always hold our friends on a higher level of importance than those who are on the “outside.” However, God wants us to treat everyone with the same mind. Even your enemies are included in this.

Luke 6:32-36 says,

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

I serve a merciful God. He’s a God who is kind to even the worst of people. He gives us a freewill and allows us to suffer the consequences of our own actions. However, to be a son of Him, we need to walk in the light, helping those who can’t return the favor. It is better to give to those who can’t give back. Most of my friends are capable of returning the favor when I do something for them. That’s one of the reasons we are such good friends. When one of us is down, we help each other back up, but it’s usually based on a past obligation. If one of us pays for lunch or gasoline, the other is sure to return the favor. It’s great to have those relationships, but God rewards us for helping those who are incapable of repaying us for our help.

It can be such a joy to give without receiving anything back. Sometimes it almost hurts though, because we are so used to receiving. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” God is the God who rewards what is done in secret. If we give openly, we will have our reward right then and there, but if we give in secret, God will reward us in a much more satisfying way.

As Acts 20:35 says, “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Application: Today I am going to do something for someone who can’t help me. As I am in Antigua, Guatemala, there are many poor people who are incapable of doing anything to give back. Also, I am going to ask the Lord that He would help me to give with the right heart, not to make myself feel better or get noticed by someone else, but out of gratitude to God who has had incredible mercy on me. All I am doing is sharing the mercy that God has shown me.