Tag : humility-2
Tag : humility-2
Our team is one week away from attending the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention where the who’s who of Christian media gather. In addition to taping eight POP Talk TV and radio shows with Michelle Burden and Renee Rollins, I will be pitching two documentaries at the convention, and I am praying through how to do that with humility.
When people promote projects or themselves, the tendency is to talk about their qualifications and experience to give them a snapshot of who they are, but I have found that boasting too much about myself, unsolicited, never feels good, and I generally regret it.
Instead, I believe we should pray for favor from God and that He will open the right doors. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up” (NIV). Ruth from the Bible provides an example of how actions can speak louder than words. After her husband died, she moved to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law Naomi and caught the eye of Boaz who was kind to her. Ruth asked, as she humbly fell on her face and bowed down to the ground, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before” (Ruth 2:10–11). Ruth did not have to pitch herself! It was taken care of by God as He provided favor with Boaz who she later married.
One of the other aspects of the NRB convention is that you can interview guests who are recognized worldwide. Even though we had booked our eight slots, we made time to interview a well-known Messianic rabbi, but the rabbi could not make time for us. This was a closed door and although disappointed, we are not fretting about it, because we’ve prayed through who we are supposed to interview. So as we get ready to enter this non-stop, high-energy media convention, I will look for the divine appointments, and will hopefully place others above myself. I am also praying the projects we have completed will speak for themselves.
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Join Pearls of Promise on our Tour of Israel January 9-18! It is going to be a fantastic journey to the Holy Land, with the covering of international tour company, Educational Opportunities. Click on the link to find out more.
Holy Land with Pearls of Promise Ministries – January 2024
Categories: Blog
My word for the year is “humble.” I’ve been asking myself: “Is that a humble way to act?” “Is that a humble thing to say?” “Is that a humble thought I just had?” I have caught myself many times in prideful thinking and the process of eliminating it reminds me of getting a facial. Before you receive the relaxing massage, you have to go through the extractions, which can hurt a little. God has to extract pride (and it may hurt a little) in order for us to be a more beautiful vessel.
James 4:10 says, “Humble yourself before the LORD and he will lift you up.” 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”
Sometimes the way God removes pride is to allow humbling circumstances in our lives. I’ve experienced that recently. Over Easter weekend, I badly sprained my foot. While helping to set up a conference near Atlanta over the weekend, I strained my back when lifting a box of books. After that, I could not carry anything heavy and was a little off-balance with both a sprained foot and a bad back. When it was time to leave the Atlanta area, I had to have help taking my suitcase down the stairs. For an independent woman like myself, that was very difficult.
I’ve been reading a Jewish spirituality book called Everyday Holiness by Alan Morinis. Morinis says one way to be humble is to make space in our lives to listen to others, even ones who happen to hold a lesser station, rank or intellectual attainment. He then told the story of a rabbi who made what appeared to be an arrogant statement. The rabbi said, “I’m smarter than a thousand men.” However, after saying that, he followed with: “Because of that, my obligation to serve God is also that of a thousand men.”[1] The greater our capacity, the more we need to use for God’s glory. He wants our gifts to spill out to others.
God’s kingdom is upside down. The way up is down to our knees placing our lives at the feet of Jesus. When we do that, he raises us up in His power.
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).
Will you consider taking the pride test for a month? Ask yourself the questions I ask myself daily:
“Is that a humble way to act?”
“Is that a humble thing to say?”
“Is that a humble thought I just had?”
This practice has changed my life and it could transform yours as well.
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Will you join me for POP Chat tomorrow night from 6:30-7:30 p.m. CT? I’ll be sharing a message I believe God gave me called “The Majesty of His Mercy.” Our worship leader is gifted flautist Katherine Legg. If you would like to sign up for a wonderful time of teaching, worship, fellowship and discussion, just click on the link:
[1] Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness, (Boulder: Trumpeter, 2007), 51.
Categories: Blog
What kind of feet do you have?
For a tall girl, I have small, delicate feet with a high instep. There are some shoes I cannot wear because of my feet, and historically, I’ve sprained my ankles because my feet don’t provide enough support.
However, feet are not only physically important. They are also spiritually significant.
In the Bible, when speaking about our call to share about our hope, Isaiah says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isaiah 52:7, ESV).
Our feet (or path) can be directed by the Word of God. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105, NIV).
Our feet can either be secure in God, or wobbly in the world. “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure” (Psalm 40:2, NKJV).
Feet also represent a great act of humility demonstrated by Jesus, one day before his arrest and just after the Passover meal with his disciples. That’s when he washed each of his disciples’ feet. “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:3–5, NKJV).
This humble act was a demonstration of servitude, something we should emulate, no matter what position we hold.
Recently, I had an opportunity to experience something close to Jesus’ humble foot washing example when I visited a former worldwide ministry leader who I considered a mentor. She had suffered a stroke and was not herself. While there, she wanted me to rub her feet, and I considered it an honor to massage the feet of a woman who had poured so much into me, and perhaps millions of others.
My guess is Jesus also saw it as an honor to wash His disciples’ feet. After all, they had been with Him from the beginning and He knew what was ahead of them. It was His last teaching, showing them how to be a servant leader.
What does washing someone’s feet look like in your life? See it as a Easter metaphor for a humble act. This holy week, pray about how you can serve a friend, family member or stranger. Jesus set the example for us, even though He knew He was going to the cross the following day.
Categories: Blog
Every year I ask God for a word to live by, but some years I like the word more than others. I remember the year my word was “sacrifice.” In 2016, we downsized our home and I went back to work part-time. We sacrificed so I could continuing doing ministry.
This year I believe my word is “humble” so what does that look like? Living out this word results in a lot of daily questions like: “Was that a humble thing to say?” “Was that a humble way to act?” “Do my thoughts reflect humility?” I am thinking more before I speak in an effort to avoid creating any insecurity in the person to whom I am speaking.
We are only eight days into the New Year and I have already failed. We are in Florida this weekend and last night we were out to dinner with a childhood friend of my husband’s and his wife. At some point he said, “Weren’t you working on a book?” I should have responded, “Yes, I wrote an apologetics book last year to reach my Jewish brothers and sisters.” Instead, I said “I’ve written ten books.” Do you see the difference? I wanted him to know that I had not written only one book. There were more. This was not humble! So, I am not perfect, but I have another 357 days to get it right.
Jesus wants us to be humble like He is humble. Philippians 2:3–4 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Do you put others before yourself? Do you speak only of yourself in a conversation, rather than try to engage the other person? Do you try to one up someone’s story? In that same passage it says that Jesus, even though He was God, took on the form of a servant, and made himself nothing. I have had to undo some pride learned in a near twenty year television career, and I’ve realized while I am valuable to God, I am not that important in the world. I am just a microscopic part of a mammoth plan formed by the Creator.
So as I round this bend into 2022, I also desire to be like John the Baptist who said, “He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30, NIV).
Happy New Year and I pray that God will give you a word for the year as well.
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Thanks for hanging in here with us! Over the past couple of months, our website has been going through a server changeover so we were unable to post blogs. However, we think the process is done and we are back! We hope you will now enjoy uninterrupted Pearls of Promise messages that we feel are divinely inspired. Have a blessed 2022!
Categories: Blog
“The greatest among you must be a servant” (Matthew 23:11, NLT)
Over the past week, I have watched God’s hand move mightily over our Level-Up Women’s Conference. He is calling people to attend who I don’t know, and then some of the women I serve with in leadership from another organization, have come forward to either attend or help. One of those leaders said, “I’m just coming to serve. What can I do?” That touched my heart because she’s traditionally published and speaks all over the country. She should be speaking, and probably will be in the future. That’s when I thought of the passage, “The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11–12). When God has promotes us to a position of high standing, it takes more humility to serve—yet that is what Jesus calls us to do.
What I’ve concluded is: The “greatest” thing we can ever do is to be the “least.”
I am about to speak at two other conferences before Level-Up, and I am praying I go in with a servant’s heart, even though I will be in front, sharing a message. If the conference facilitators need help moving chairs or putting food out, I want to be available. And when any of my friends hold their own events in the future, even if I am not chosen to be a presenter, I desire to have a servant’s heart and do whatever I can to help them.
God has been working on some areas of my life through the battle I had with COVID, as well as the preps for our Level-Up Women’s Conference. Around the time I felt discouraged about our conference, I received messages like “Don’t waver in the waiting” “Trust me” and “I am working behind the scenes.” I see that happening now, and I am humbly grateful to my great and compassionate heavenly Father, who loves and cares for me and desires to give me success in the work I’m called to accomplish on His behalf. One of my favorite verses is “God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful” (1 Thessalonians 5:24, NLT).
I know you’ve probably seen this happen in your own life. What about you, when have you seen God work on your behalf behind the scenes?
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It’s not too late to register for our Level-Up Women’s Conference on October 9th at Northview Baptist Church in Lewisville. Right now we have a “Buy One, Get One Free” (BOGO) Ticket available on Eventbrite. Here’s the link: https://levelupdallas2021.eventbrite.com
Join us as we “Level-Up Truth, “Level-Up Trust,” and “Level-Down Trials.” Guest speakers include KCBI Morning Show Host, Rebecca Carrell, Gateway Church Pastor, Elizabeth Settle, Human Trafficking Survivor, Sandy Storm, Austin-based Ministry Leader, Gina Wright, and Newcomer, Alexis Arellano. Worship Leaders are Debra Camp and Katherine Legg. The entire Pearls of Promise Team, Rosemary Legrand, Dr. Lynnette Simm, Aurora Ortega Geis, and myself will also be on hand as speakers, so please don’t miss this opportunity to be renewed and refreshed during a difficult season.
Categories: Blog