April 17, 2025 • 26 mins
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Pride forms a barrier between us and growth. When we believe we have all the answers, we create no space to receive new wisdom or healing. This spiritual principle appears throughout Scripture - God exalts the humble but resists the proud. Why? Because humility acknowledges our need for something beyond ourselves.
Jesus consistently bypassed religious elites to fellowship with society's outcasts. When questioned about dining with "sinners," His response was profoundly simple: "Those who are well have no need for a physician." Only those who recognize their sickness seek healing. During Holy Week, we're reminded how Jesus entered Jerusalem on a humble donkey. The common people recognized Him while religious authorities questioned His authority, unable to see God's work because it didn't conform to their expectations.
Many of us struggle with the idea of submission because those in authority over us, who were supposed to protect us, hurt us. When those meant to protect us cause harm instead, walls form. We associate submission with control rather than its true purpose: receiving protection, wisdom, and growth from those further along the journey. God never forces submission - He guides and instructs while preserving our freedom to choose. True authority serves rather than dominates.
The most extraordinary miracles often aren't physical but internal - deep healing of wounded hearts that transforms victims into vessels of healing for others. This restoration begins with humility to admit we need help and continues as we forgive what we cannot forget. Your healing journey isn't just for you; your testimony builds faith in others that their wounds aren't beyond God's reach.
Are you struggling with trusting authority? Has pride built walls that keep even God at a distance? Consider how humbling yourself might create space for the healing and growth you've been seeking. Your breakthrough may be just one prayer away: "Lord, help me."
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audrey (00:00):
Hello friends, welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I hope that you're doing well.
We are Today's an exciting day.
My oldest, two sons, david andLuke, are going to the prom
tonight.
One is a senior, one is ajunior.
They're excited about that.
I've been helping them getready, get their tux ready,
those kind of things.
We're taking photos, and sothat's a milestone.
(00:24):
Photos, and so that's amilestone.
I'll probably post a couple ofphotos on social media if
they'll let me.
They don't like that and Iunderstand, but it is an
important day and I am mom, somaybe they'll let me.
Also, easter is this Sunday.
Looking forward to that.
We don't have a whole lotplanned for next week.
(00:45):
Next week my boys are off forspring break, off of school for
spring break, and we don't havea whole lot planned for that,
but just to rest, which I thinkis a wonderful plan.
I do have some fun thingscoming down the pike, some new
work, some new projects that I'mworking on.
One is a Bible study.
(01:06):
I'm working on a Bible studyfor you guys, for those who want
to go a little deeper in theword with me.
Also, I am knocking around theidea of starting a devotional
podcast like a daily devotionalpodcast.
I'd love to hear if anyone outthere is interested in that.
Just a short five, six minutepodcast each day, monday through
(01:27):
Friday, because I really enjoypodcasting and encouraging you
in the world.
So if that is something you'dbe interested in, give me a
shout.
Let me know if you would liketo stay up to date with me and
things that are going on.
You can sign up for my emailnewsletter.
I send out an email at leastonce a week, sometimes twice,
just depending on what's goingon, but if you go to the show
(01:48):
notes and click on join my emaillist, you'll be the first to
know when I add things and whatthings are going on, and
sometimes I'll share things withthat group that I don't share
on the podcast.
Today I want to talk with youabout the importance of staying
humble and how that helps usgrow.
God has set up principles inhis kingdom and it is good for
(02:12):
us to learn what thoseprinciples are, because our life
goes better and things gobetter for us when we understand
the world that we're in, andthe one way we do that is
through God's word.
God's word is infallible.
It is eternal.
It is the way God set up theuniverse.
In his word, he has sharedthings with us, important things
(02:34):
, and as we get in the word andwe find out these nuggets, these
valuable truths, it helps us torun our own life better.
But in order to do that, ithelps us to run our own life
better, but in order to do that,we have to admit that there are
things we don't know.
(02:55):
A person who is controlled bypride, a person who cannot admit
that there are things that theydon't know, cannot grow.
See, in order to grow, you haveto admit, at least to yourself,
that there are areas where youneed help, and to ask for help
is to humble yourself and to sayI need help, I do not
understand this.
Sometimes we have trouble doingthat.
(03:17):
So we have to admit toourselves that there are things
that we don't know before we canlearn new things, because if we
think we know everything, thenwe really don't have any room
for anything else.
If we think we have it alltogether, then there's really no
room for growth, because wedon't need anything.
(03:40):
See, that's one of the blessingsof remembering that we're a
work in progress.
That's one of the things thatremembering that we're a work in
progress.
That's one of the things thatcan be comforting when you look
at your life and you see all themistakes you've made and you
can admit that you've made a lotof mistakes To me, it comforts
me to remember that I'm a workin progress, that none of my
mistakes have caught Jesus offguard, that he's not surprised
(04:03):
or ashamed or embarrassed of me.
He knows I'm a work in progressand he knows I need him and I
know I need him.
And that puts me in a goodposition, because when you know
you need something and you knowthat something is Jesus, he has
promised to be there for us.
He's promised he'd never leaveus, he'd never, he will never
forsake us.
You know it says in Matthew 23,12, god exalts the humble but
(04:33):
resists the proud.
You know there's a theme thatgoes throughout the Bible God
exalts the humble but he resiststhe proud.
See, if we can humble ourselfbeneath the mighty hand of God,
he will exalt us in due time.
But he resists those who areprideful because they don't need
him.
When Jesus came to the earth, hedid not associate with the
people that the leaders thoughthe should associate with.
(04:55):
He humbled himself to go to thehumble.
He humbled himself to hang outwith those who were sick, who
were sinful, those who did nothave it all together, those who
were looked down upon by therest of society.
He humbled himself to be foundwith them.
And when questioned about that,lord, why do you eat with
(05:17):
sinners?
Lord, why are you having a mealwith a tax collector?
He said those who are well haveno need for a physician.
A meal with a tax collector?
He said those who are well haveno need for a physician.
He understood and heunderstands our needs.
(05:38):
We need him.
We have a sin problem and heunderstood that we all have a
sin problem, whether we think wedo or not.
No matter how much we put on,no matter how much you know, we
try to cover up our sin problem.
He knew every man has a sinproblem, no matter how good they
think they are, no matter howmuch they think they have worked
, you know, out of that hole orhow much they have dolled up the
(05:59):
outside.
Jesus knew that in the heart,everyone has the same sin
problem.
We may not have all the samesins, but we've all got the same
problem and that is that wehave a sinful heart.
And he is the solution.
But he went to those whoactually saw that they had a
(06:21):
need.
Because if you don't have aneed, if you don't recognize
your need, then you're not goingto accept or receive the
solution.
Now, james 1.5 says if anyonelacks wisdom, let him ask of God
, who gives liberally to all,and it will be given to him.
But see, that's another exampleof if you have a need, you have
to humble yourself to ask.
(06:42):
And you know Jesus isn't askingus to do anything he didn't do.
It says in Philippians that hehumbled himself to become a man.
He is God.
And he humbled himself to takeon the body of a man.
He became a man of flesh andblood.
And then it says he humbledhimself even more to die on a
(07:02):
cross.
So not only did he come as aman, he could have came as a man
, as king, you know.
He could have came, as you know, an all grander, but he didn't.
He came as a humble carpenter,but then he died as a criminal.
So he humbled himself to becomea man and then he died a very
shameful death.
And he did that.
(07:23):
He humbled himself so he couldlift us up.
He said in the last chapter ofMatthew, in chapter 28,.
Before he ascended back toheaven, he said all authority
has been given to me.
Why was all authority given toJesus?
Because he obeyed.
He was a man, he was God, buthe was a man who obeyed to the
(07:45):
end.
He humbled himself, and so God,the Father, lifted him up,
exalted him and now, beingexalted, he draws all men to him
.
But while he was on this earth,while Jesus was on this earth,
what we have recorded in theBible shows us that he greatly
(08:05):
upset the status quo of his day.
The religious system that hewas born into was not ready for
him and those who were in chargeof that religious system.
He upset them time and timeagain because he was challenging
number one what they knew andwhat they thought, but also
(08:29):
their own authority.
Their power over men rested intheir authority, and so when
Jesus came on the scene and hedidn't play by their rules, this
greatly upset them, and so theystarted questioning his
authority.
At the time of me recordingthis, we're in the middle of
(08:50):
Holy Week, it's Wednesday Sundaythis past Sunday was Palm
Sunday and we're coming up onGood Friday, and so we're
celebrating the last week ofJesus's life here on earth
leading up to his crucifixionand death and burial and
(09:11):
resurrection.
That week began with Jesusentering into the city of
Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
See, he humbled himself.
He rode in on a donkey and thecommon folk not the religious
leaders, but the common folkwere shouting to him Hosanna in
the highest, and they werecalling him son of David.
(09:32):
See, they recognized him forwho he was.
The humble recognized him asthe kink, the one promised.
And this made the Phariseesfurious.
So they asked him aren't yougoing to stop them?
Don't you hear what they'resaying?
They understood very well whatthe people were saying about
(09:54):
Jesus and they weren't wrong,and so Jesus did not correct
them or stop them or rebuke them.
But this made the Phariseesfurious and shortly after that,
as he came into the city, hewent to the temple and he saw
the money changers in the templeand it made him angry and he
(10:15):
flipped over the tables and hesaid you have turned what is
supposed to be a house of prayerinto a den of thieves.
And this further infuriated thePharisees and those and the
religious leaders and those whoran the temple.
They were angry with him.
So they came to him and askedhim who are you, by what
(10:36):
authority are you doing thesethings?
And this is an importantconversation that he had with
those who were in charge at thattime, who were the religious
leaders.
And we know that because it'sin three of the Gospels it's in
Matthew, matthew 21.
It's in Mark, mark 11.
And it's in Luke, luke 20.
(10:59):
And in this conversation theycome to Jesus and they say by
whose authority are you doingthese things?
And he tells them and I'mparaphrasing, I'm taking all
three and putting it in my words, so that's why I give you the
scripture reference.
You can go and read it foryourself.
And he says I will answer yourquestion by whose authority I do
(11:21):
these things.
If you answer my question, bywhose authority did John baptize
?
Was it by the authority of manor the authority of God?
See, john the Baptist was theforerunner of Christ and he was
out in the desert baptizing inthe Jordan, and people were
flocking to him to be baptizedand they were repenting for
(11:42):
their sins.
But the Pharisees refused to bebaptized by John the Baptist.
They didn't recognize what Godwas doing through him.
They didn't recognize hisauthority.
They would not stoop down to bebaptized by this lunatic out in
the desert.
But God was moving and he wasbypassing the religious leaders.
(12:02):
But God was moving and he wasbypassing the religious leaders.
See, jesus was under that sameauthority.
God was doing a new thing.
There was an anointing onJohn's life, and so God was
flowing through John.
That was God's authority andthe people recognized it.
And now the Pharisees are in adilemma because if they say it
(12:23):
was the authority of God, thenhe will say well, why didn't you
believe him?
Why didn't you submit and bebaptized under John, if you
believed?
Because many people flocked toJohn.
The people believed him to be aprophet of God, and he was.
But the Pharisees did not honorhim as a prophet, they did not
(12:44):
submit to that authority.
But if they were to say, well,john's authority is of man, then
the people would have rose up,because the people knew, they
recognized this is God'sauthority, and so they would
have been angry.
So they were in a quandary.
They couldn't answer either way, and so they told Jesus we
can't answer that.
So he said well, I won't tellyou by what authority I'm doing
(13:09):
these things, because it was thesame authority.
So if they weren't going torecognize the authority of God
flowing through John.
They weren't going to recognizethe authority of God flowing
through Jesus and they refusedto recognize that Jesus was from
God, even though he was doingall of these things that only
God could do.
Now you might say why am Ibringing all this up?
Where does all this come from?
Well, who we submit to?
(13:39):
What authority we submit tomatters we have and I'm doing a
generalization here.
Okay, as a people, we have madethe word submission a bad word,
and the Bible says submit, yeone to another.
But we've made that word a badword, and with good reason.
The principle of submission hasbeen weaponized and used for
(14:02):
control.
Weaponized and used for control.
See, god never controls us.
He leads us, he guides us, heinstructs us, he corrects us.
But we're always free to obeyor free to disobey.
He tells us the truth and heleads us in the path of life.
(14:24):
And if we have ears to hear andwe're smart, if we're wise, we
will obey.
But that involves submitting tohis authority, recognizing that
he's God and we're not, andthat he has our best interest in
mind, and following him.
True submission is an act ofthe will and it cannot be forced
To force someone to submit orto obey is to control and
(14:44):
manipulate, and God doesn't dothat.
The idea of submission and theidea of authority is from God.
See, all authority comes fromhim.
He set up authority.
Authority has been set up forthe protection of those under it
.
A father loves, protects,sacrifices, serves, instructs
(15:07):
his children, but so many peoplehave been hurt by the very
authority that was set up andestablished to protect them that
we have a lot of trust issues,and rightly so.
I've seen a lot of people whohave been hurt by authority, who
have built up this wall, thiswall of offense and this wall of
(15:32):
pride, and they will not submitto authority, they will not
honor the authority that God'sput in their life or recognize
it, because they associateauthority with abuse.
And they have been hurt.
And we rise up with this prideof I will not submit, I will not
(15:56):
be hurt again, I will not, I donot need anyone, and we put
this wall around us and we thinkthat we're protecting ourselves
, but what we're really doing iswe're keeping God out and we
get to the point we cannothumble ourselves to any
authority.
So therefore, we cannot receivethe blessing that comes from
(16:18):
authority, the protection, theinstruction, the grace, because
we refuse to submit and I don'tmean submit as in you know, bow
down and whatever you want, I'lldo that.
That's not what I mean.
I mean a recognition of youknow.
This person has been put in mylife for my good, that God wants
(16:41):
to do something in my lifethrough this person.
This person has something orknows something that I need, and
that's how we receive from eachother, especially someone who
has been walking with the Lordlonger than we have, and that is
a discipleship, right, that'show we disciple.
There's a person who's beenwalking with God longer than me,
who knows something that Godknows I need, and so he brings
(17:03):
these people into our lives.
That God knows I need and so hebrings these people into our
lives.
But when we've had abuse orwhen we've been hurt or offended
or you know, those thingsdistort our ability to receive
from other people.
But Jesus is a healer and hecan help us.
You know, a lot of times peopleask I come from a denomination
(17:27):
where we believe in healing, webelieve in praying for the sick.
Is everybody healed?
No, not physically, they're not.
But the Bible says if any amongyou are sick, call the elders
to pray, and so we pray and wepray, believing the Lord to
touch that person.
And I have seen miracles.
(17:48):
I thank the Lord for physicalmiracles, but I'm going to tell
you, I have seen miracles of thesoul and the heart and the mind
that are just beautiful.
Now I've seen God come in andheal years of trauma and anger
(18:10):
and resentment just by thatperson asking, admitting they
need help and saying Lord, helpme, lord, I need your help.
And, guys, he wants to do that.
He wants to touch us where wehurt the most.
He wants to heal us where we'vebeen broken.
And it starts with thathumbling ourselves and believing
(18:36):
that God has our best interestin mind and and forgiving what
we can't forget.
Now, I didn't coin that phrase.
There's a book by LisaTurkhurst titled Forgiving what
you Can't Forget, and Irecommend that book.
It's a wonderful book abouthealing and finding peace and
(19:00):
creating a new life in Christ.
Guys, god has a path for us, hehas a plan for us.
He wants us to grow, he wantsus to become more and more like
him and to become more and morewise and to become women of
strength, women who havesomething to give to the world
(19:21):
and to those who need it, thosewho are hungry and thirsty and
need him.
He wants to use us to do that.
But we ourselves must be healedbefore we are able, before we
are ready, to share those thingswith others.
See, hurt people hurt otherpeople.
If we've not been healed of theissues of our heart and we're
(19:44):
still holding resentment andanger and that pride that tries
to say I don't need anything oranyone else, if we are still
there, then we're not healed andwe're not going to be effective
in the kingdom because we aregoing to put our fence on other
people and we'll have trustissues.
(20:04):
We won't be able to trust eventhose who have our best interest
in mind, because they willremind us of those who hurt us.
But see, jesus, I'm not sayingit's easy process.
It's definitely not an instantprocess, but I'm saying it's a
possible process that Jesusbrings healing to the soul.
But first we have to believeit's possible that Jesus brings
(20:26):
healing to the soul.
But first we have to believeit's possible and then we have
to humble ourselves to ask, andthen we have to be willing to
walk on the road of healing.
Just to share a little bit aboutmy past.
God has healed me of so manythings, things I never thought I
could be healed of.
But see, it takes faith.
(20:46):
Jesus said anything is possibleto those who believe, only
believe.
And there were seasons in mylife that I just thought I'm a
mess, I'm never going to be ofany value to anybody else.
You know, lord, heal me.
Lord, I want you to heal me,but I just I don't see how I
don't see a way out of this.
(21:08):
And I'm here to tell you todaythere's a way out.
He is a healing God, he is aforgiving God.
He does miracles, and you knowhow I know he does miracles,
because I see myself every dayin the mirror and I think that's
a miracle.
He restores us to make us avessel that he can use to pour
(21:30):
out to others, and that's abeautiful thing.
Faith comes by hearing, andhearing by the word of God, and
sometimes people need to hearyour story.
They need to hear your storybecause you have a story of
healing or a story of what Godhas done in your life, and maybe
they hear your story becauseyou have a story of healing or a
story of what God has done inyour life and maybe they're
struggling with the same thingand when they hear your story,
it will build hope.
(21:51):
It will build faith in theirheart that if God could do that
for her, then he could do thatfor me.
And so I want to encourage youtoday stay on the path of
healing, stay on the path ofgrowth.
But you got to humble yourselfbeneath the mighty hand of God
so he can exalt you in due time.
You got to trust him with yourhurts, that he's not going to
(22:11):
hurt you, that he loves you, andI love you too.
And before we go today, I'd liketo pray with you, father, I
thank you that you specialize inhard cases and that you are not
intimidated, lord, by our pastor our hurts, though they seem
(22:31):
insurpassable to us.
And I pray today that hopewould grow in the hearts and the
minds of those who arelistening today, that you would
help them to find that road ofhealing and to walk with you.
Lord Jesus, you said those whoare well do not need a physician
.
So, lord, I confess today thatI need a physician, that there
(22:55):
are areas in my own heart, lord,that are not healed yet.
But I'm on the path and I pray,lord, god in heaven, that you
would lead us as we walktogether to you.
And Lord, that until you come oryou call, we would stay on the
path.
And Lord, that you would bringhealing, not just to us but
through us to other peoplethrough our testimony and our
(23:16):
faithful walk with you.
And we honor you, lord, and wethank you for your miracles in
Jesus name.
Amen for your miracles in Jesusname.
Amen.
That's it for today.
If today's message spoke to you, would you please share it with
a friend, and also if you wouldplease leave me a review
(23:38):
wherever you listen to podcasts,I would really appreciate it,
because that helps other peoplefind this show and it may be
just what they need.
As always, I'm cheering you onand until next time, stay rooted
, stay faithful and keep youreyes on Jesus.
God bless.
Hello friends, welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I hope that you're doing well.
We are Today's an exciting day.
My oldest, two sons, david andLuke, are going to the prom
tonight.
One is a senior, one is ajunior.
They're excited about that.
I've been helping them getready, get their tux ready,
those kind of things.
We're taking photos, and sothat's a milestone.
(00:24):
Photos, and so that's amilestone.
I'll probably post a couple ofphotos on social media if
they'll let me.
They don't like that and Iunderstand, but it is an
important day and I am mom, somaybe they'll let me.
Also, easter is this Sunday.
Looking forward to that.
We don't have a whole lotplanned for next week.
(00:45):
Next week my boys are off forspring break, off of school for
spring break, and we don't havea whole lot planned for that,
but just to rest, which I thinkis a wonderful plan.
I do have some fun thingscoming down the pike, some new
work, some new projects that I'mworking on.
One is a Bible study.
(01:06):
I'm working on a Bible studyfor you guys, for those who want
to go a little deeper in theword with me.
Also, I am knocking around theidea of starting a devotional
podcast like a daily devotionalpodcast.
I'd love to hear if anyone outthere is interested in that.
Just a short five, six minutepodcast each day, monday through
(01:27):
Friday, because I really enjoypodcasting and encouraging you
in the world.
So if that is something you'dbe interested in, give me a
shout.
Let me know if you would liketo stay up to date with me and
things that are going on.
You can sign up for my emailnewsletter.
I send out an email at leastonce a week, sometimes twice,
just depending on what's goingon, but if you go to the show
(01:48):
notes and click on join my emaillist, you'll be the first to
know when I add things and whatthings are going on, and
sometimes I'll share things withthat group that I don't share
on the podcast.
Today I want to talk with youabout the importance of staying
humble and how that helps usgrow.
God has set up principles inhis kingdom and it is good for
(02:12):
us to learn what thoseprinciples are, because our life
goes better and things gobetter for us when we understand
the world that we're in, andthe one way we do that is
through God's word.
God's word is infallible.
It is eternal.
It is the way God set up theuniverse.
In his word, he has sharedthings with us, important things
(02:34):
, and as we get in the word andwe find out these nuggets, these
valuable truths, it helps us torun our own life better.
But in order to do that, ithelps us to run our own life
better, but in order to do that,we have to admit that there are
things we don't know.
(02:55):
A person who is controlled bypride, a person who cannot admit
that there are things that theydon't know, cannot grow.
See, in order to grow, you haveto admit, at least to yourself,
that there are areas where youneed help, and to ask for help
is to humble yourself and to sayI need help, I do not
understand this.
Sometimes we have trouble doingthat.
(03:17):
So we have to admit toourselves that there are things
that we don't know before we canlearn new things, because if we
think we know everything, thenwe really don't have any room
for anything else.
If we think we have it alltogether, then there's really no
room for growth, because wedon't need anything.
(03:40):
See, that's one of the blessingsof remembering that we're a
work in progress.
That's one of the things thatremembering that we're a work in
progress.
That's one of the things thatcan be comforting when you look
at your life and you see all themistakes you've made and you
can admit that you've made a lotof mistakes To me, it comforts
me to remember that I'm a workin progress, that none of my
mistakes have caught Jesus offguard, that he's not surprised
(04:03):
or ashamed or embarrassed of me.
He knows I'm a work in progressand he knows I need him and I
know I need him.
And that puts me in a goodposition, because when you know
you need something and you knowthat something is Jesus, he has
promised to be there for us.
He's promised he'd never leaveus, he'd never, he will never
forsake us.
You know it says in Matthew 23,12, god exalts the humble but
(04:33):
resists the proud.
You know there's a theme thatgoes throughout the Bible God
exalts the humble but he resiststhe proud.
See, if we can humble ourselfbeneath the mighty hand of God,
he will exalt us in due time.
But he resists those who areprideful because they don't need
him.
When Jesus came to the earth, hedid not associate with the
people that the leaders thoughthe should associate with.
(04:55):
He humbled himself to go to thehumble.
He humbled himself to hang outwith those who were sick, who
were sinful, those who did nothave it all together, those who
were looked down upon by therest of society.
He humbled himself to be foundwith them.
And when questioned about that,lord, why do you eat with
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sinners?
Lord, why are you having a mealwith a tax collector?
He said those who are well haveno need for a physician.
A meal with a tax collector?
He said those who are well haveno need for a physician.
He understood and heunderstands our needs.
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We need him.
We have a sin problem and heunderstood that we all have a
sin problem, whether we think wedo or not.
No matter how much we put on,no matter how much you know, we
try to cover up our sin problem.
He knew every man has a sinproblem, no matter how good they
think they are, no matter howmuch they think they have worked
, you know, out of that hole orhow much they have dolled up the
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outside.
Jesus knew that in the heart,everyone has the same sin
problem.
We may not have all the samesins, but we've all got the same
problem and that is that wehave a sinful heart.
And he is the solution.
But he went to those whoactually saw that they had a
(06:21):
need.
Because if you don't have aneed, if you don't recognize
your need, then you're not goingto accept or receive the
solution.
Now, james 1.5 says if anyonelacks wisdom, let him ask of God
, who gives liberally to all,and it will be given to him.
But see, that's another exampleof if you have a need, you have
to humble yourself to ask.
(06:42):
And you know Jesus isn't askingus to do anything he didn't do.
It says in Philippians that hehumbled himself to become a man.
He is God.
And he humbled himself to takeon the body of a man.
He became a man of flesh andblood.
And then it says he humbledhimself even more to die on a
(07:02):
cross.
So not only did he come as aman, he could have came as a man
, as king, you know.
He could have came, as you know, an all grander, but he didn't.
He came as a humble carpenter,but then he died as a criminal.
So he humbled himself to becomea man and then he died a very
shameful death.
And he did that.
(07:23):
He humbled himself so he couldlift us up.
He said in the last chapter ofMatthew, in chapter 28,.
Before he ascended back toheaven, he said all authority
has been given to me.
Why was all authority given toJesus?
Because he obeyed.
He was a man, he was God, buthe was a man who obeyed to the
(07:45):
end.
He humbled himself, and so God,the Father, lifted him up,
exalted him and now, beingexalted, he draws all men to him
.
But while he was on this earth,while Jesus was on this earth,
what we have recorded in theBible shows us that he greatly
(08:05):
upset the status quo of his day.
The religious system that hewas born into was not ready for
him and those who were in chargeof that religious system.
He upset them time and timeagain because he was challenging
number one what they knew andwhat they thought, but also
(08:29):
their own authority.
Their power over men rested intheir authority, and so when
Jesus came on the scene and hedidn't play by their rules, this
greatly upset them, and so theystarted questioning his
authority.
At the time of me recordingthis, we're in the middle of
(08:50):
Holy Week, it's Wednesday Sundaythis past Sunday was Palm
Sunday and we're coming up onGood Friday, and so we're
celebrating the last week ofJesus's life here on earth
leading up to his crucifixionand death and burial and
(09:11):
resurrection.
That week began with Jesusentering into the city of
Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
See, he humbled himself.
He rode in on a donkey and thecommon folk not the religious
leaders, but the common folkwere shouting to him Hosanna in
the highest, and they werecalling him son of David.
(09:32):
See, they recognized him forwho he was.
The humble recognized him asthe kink, the one promised.
And this made the Phariseesfurious.
So they asked him aren't yougoing to stop them?
Don't you hear what they'resaying?
They understood very well whatthe people were saying about
(09:54):
Jesus and they weren't wrong,and so Jesus did not correct
them or stop them or rebuke them.
But this made the Phariseesfurious and shortly after that,
as he came into the city, hewent to the temple and he saw
the money changers in the templeand it made him angry and he
(10:15):
flipped over the tables and hesaid you have turned what is
supposed to be a house of prayerinto a den of thieves.
And this further infuriated thePharisees and those and the
religious leaders and those whoran the temple.
They were angry with him.
So they came to him and askedhim who are you, by what
(10:36):
authority are you doing thesethings?
And this is an importantconversation that he had with
those who were in charge at thattime, who were the religious
leaders.
And we know that because it'sin three of the Gospels it's in
Matthew, matthew 21.
It's in Mark, mark 11.
And it's in Luke, luke 20.
(10:59):
And in this conversation theycome to Jesus and they say by
whose authority are you doingthese things?
And he tells them and I'mparaphrasing, I'm taking all
three and putting it in my words, so that's why I give you the
scripture reference.
You can go and read it foryourself.
And he says I will answer yourquestion by whose authority I do
(11:21):
these things.
If you answer my question, bywhose authority did John baptize
?
Was it by the authority of manor the authority of God?
See, john the Baptist was theforerunner of Christ and he was
out in the desert baptizing inthe Jordan, and people were
flocking to him to be baptizedand they were repenting for
(11:42):
their sins.
But the Pharisees refused to bebaptized by John the Baptist.
They didn't recognize what Godwas doing through him.
They didn't recognize hisauthority.
They would not stoop down to bebaptized by this lunatic out in
the desert.
But God was moving and he wasbypassing the religious leaders.
(12:02):
But God was moving and he wasbypassing the religious leaders.
See, jesus was under that sameauthority.
God was doing a new thing.
There was an anointing onJohn's life, and so God was
flowing through John.
That was God's authority andthe people recognized it.
And now the Pharisees are in adilemma because if they say it
(12:23):
was the authority of God, thenhe will say well, why didn't you
believe him?
Why didn't you submit and bebaptized under John, if you
believed?
Because many people flocked toJohn.
The people believed him to be aprophet of God, and he was.
But the Pharisees did not honorhim as a prophet, they did not
(12:44):
submit to that authority.
But if they were to say, well,john's authority is of man, then
the people would have rose up,because the people knew, they
recognized this is God'sauthority, and so they would
have been angry.
So they were in a quandary.
They couldn't answer either way, and so they told Jesus we
can't answer that.
So he said well, I won't tellyou by what authority I'm doing
(13:09):
these things, because it was thesame authority.
So if they weren't going torecognize the authority of God
flowing through John.
They weren't going to recognizethe authority of God flowing
through Jesus and they refusedto recognize that Jesus was from
God, even though he was doingall of these things that only
God could do.
Now you might say why am Ibringing all this up?
Where does all this come from?
Well, who we submit to?
(13:39):
What authority we submit tomatters we have and I'm doing a
generalization here.
Okay, as a people, we have madethe word submission a bad word,
and the Bible says submit, yeone to another.
But we've made that word a badword, and with good reason.
The principle of submission hasbeen weaponized and used for
(14:02):
control.
Weaponized and used for control.
See, god never controls us.
He leads us, he guides us, heinstructs us, he corrects us.
But we're always free to obeyor free to disobey.
He tells us the truth and heleads us in the path of life.
(14:24):
And if we have ears to hear andwe're smart, if we're wise, we
will obey.
But that involves submitting tohis authority, recognizing that
he's God and we're not, andthat he has our best interest in
mind, and following him.
True submission is an act ofthe will and it cannot be forced
To force someone to submit orto obey is to control and
(14:44):
manipulate, and God doesn't dothat.
The idea of submission and theidea of authority is from God.
See, all authority comes fromhim.
He set up authority.
Authority has been set up forthe protection of those under it
.
A father loves, protects,sacrifices, serves, instructs
(15:07):
his children, but so many peoplehave been hurt by the very
authority that was set up andestablished to protect them that
we have a lot of trust issues,and rightly so.
I've seen a lot of people whohave been hurt by authority, who
have built up this wall, thiswall of offense and this wall of
(15:32):
pride, and they will not submitto authority, they will not
honor the authority that God'sput in their life or recognize
it, because they associateauthority with abuse.
And they have been hurt.
And we rise up with this prideof I will not submit, I will not
(15:56):
be hurt again, I will not, I donot need anyone, and we put
this wall around us and we thinkthat we're protecting ourselves
, but what we're really doing iswe're keeping God out and we
get to the point we cannothumble ourselves to any
authority.
So therefore, we cannot receivethe blessing that comes from
(16:18):
authority, the protection, theinstruction, the grace, because
we refuse to submit and I don'tmean submit as in you know, bow
down and whatever you want, I'lldo that.
That's not what I mean.
I mean a recognition of youknow.
This person has been put in mylife for my good, that God wants
(16:41):
to do something in my lifethrough this person.
This person has something orknows something that I need, and
that's how we receive from eachother, especially someone who
has been walking with the Lordlonger than we have, and that is
a discipleship, right, that'show we disciple.
There's a person who's beenwalking with God longer than me,
who knows something that Godknows I need, and so he brings
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these people into our lives.
That God knows I need and so hebrings these people into our
lives.
But when we've had abuse orwhen we've been hurt or offended
or you know, those thingsdistort our ability to receive
from other people.
But Jesus is a healer and hecan help us.
You know, a lot of times peopleask I come from a denomination
(17:27):
where we believe in healing, webelieve in praying for the sick.
Is everybody healed?
No, not physically, they're not.
But the Bible says if any amongyou are sick, call the elders
to pray, and so we pray and wepray, believing the Lord to
touch that person.
And I have seen miracles.
(17:48):
I thank the Lord for physicalmiracles, but I'm going to tell
you, I have seen miracles of thesoul and the heart and the mind
that are just beautiful.
Now I've seen God come in andheal years of trauma and anger
(18:10):
and resentment just by thatperson asking, admitting they
need help and saying Lord, helpme, lord, I need your help.
And, guys, he wants to do that.
He wants to touch us where wehurt the most.
He wants to heal us where we'vebeen broken.
And it starts with thathumbling ourselves and believing
(18:36):
that God has our best interestin mind and and forgiving what
we can't forget.
Now, I didn't coin that phrase.
There's a book by LisaTurkhurst titled Forgiving what
you Can't Forget, and Irecommend that book.
It's a wonderful book abouthealing and finding peace and
(19:00):
creating a new life in Christ.
Guys, god has a path for us, hehas a plan for us.
He wants us to grow, he wantsus to become more and more like
him and to become more and morewise and to become women of
strength, women who havesomething to give to the world
(19:21):
and to those who need it, thosewho are hungry and thirsty and
need him.
He wants to use us to do that.
But we ourselves must be healedbefore we are able, before we
are ready, to share those thingswith others.
See, hurt people hurt otherpeople.
If we've not been healed of theissues of our heart and we're
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still holding resentment andanger and that pride that tries
to say I don't need anything oranyone else, if we are still
there, then we're not healed andwe're not going to be effective
in the kingdom because we aregoing to put our fence on other
people and we'll have trustissues.
(20:04):
We won't be able to trust eventhose who have our best interest
in mind, because they willremind us of those who hurt us.
But see, jesus, I'm not sayingit's easy process.
It's definitely not an instantprocess, but I'm saying it's a
possible process that Jesusbrings healing to the soul.
But first we have to believeit's possible that Jesus brings
(20:26):
healing to the soul.
But first we have to believeit's possible and then we have
to humble ourselves to ask, andthen we have to be willing to
walk on the road of healing.
Just to share a little bit aboutmy past.
God has healed me of so manythings, things I never thought I
could be healed of.
But see, it takes faith.
(20:46):
Jesus said anything is possibleto those who believe, only
believe.
And there were seasons in mylife that I just thought I'm a
mess, I'm never going to be ofany value to anybody else.
You know, lord, heal me.
Lord, I want you to heal me,but I just I don't see how I
don't see a way out of this.
(21:08):
And I'm here to tell you todaythere's a way out.
He is a healing God, he is aforgiving God.
He does miracles, and you knowhow I know he does miracles,
because I see myself every dayin the mirror and I think that's
a miracle.
He restores us to make us avessel that he can use to pour
(21:30):
out to others, and that's abeautiful thing.
Faith comes by hearing, andhearing by the word of God, and
sometimes people need to hearyour story.
They need to hear your storybecause you have a story of
healing or a story of what Godhas done in your life, and maybe
they hear your story becauseyou have a story of healing or a
story of what God has done inyour life and maybe they're
struggling with the same thingand when they hear your story,
it will build hope.
(21:51):
It will build faith in theirheart that if God could do that
for her, then he could do thatfor me.
And so I want to encourage youtoday stay on the path of
healing, stay on the path ofgrowth.
But you got to humble yourselfbeneath the mighty hand of God
so he can exalt you in due time.
You got to trust him with yourhurts, that he's not going to
(22:11):
hurt you, that he loves you, andI love you too.
And before we go today, I'd liketo pray with you, father, I
thank you that you specialize inhard cases and that you are not
intimidated, lord, by our pastor our hurts, though they seem
(22:31):
insurpassable to us.
And I pray today that hopewould grow in the hearts and the
minds of those who arelistening today, that you would
help them to find that road ofhealing and to walk with you.
Lord Jesus, you said those whoare well do not need a physician
.
So, lord, I confess today thatI need a physician, that there
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are areas in my own heart, lord,that are not healed yet.
But I'm on the path and I pray,lord, god in heaven, that you
would lead us as we walktogether to you.
And Lord, that until you come oryou call, we would stay on the
path.
And Lord, that you would bringhealing, not just to us but
through us to other peoplethrough our testimony and our
(23:16):
faithful walk with you.
And we honor you, lord, and wethank you for your miracles in
Jesus name.
Amen for your miracles in Jesusname.
Amen.
That's it for today.
If today's message spoke to you, would you please share it with
a friend, and also if you wouldplease leave me a review
(23:38):
wherever you listen to podcasts,I would really appreciate it,
because that helps other peoplefind this show and it may be
just what they need.
As always, I'm cheering you onand until next time, stay rooted
, stay faithful and keep youreyes on Jesus.
God bless.
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