Category Archives: Recovery

The Favor of Humility

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Many of us want to be blessed and highly favored, but just saying those words doesn’t mean that we are. God chose Mary, but the only way she was able to receive her blessing was because she submitted to God. And the only way she submitted to God was because she was humble. God has many blessings in store for us, but sometimes we forfeit them because we lack humility. I believe God wants to use us for singularly spectacular missions so that we can truly say we are blessed and highly favored beyond our position in Jesus Christ. But the only way God can use us is if we are humble like Mary:

We must 1) acknowledge God’s greatness and 2) understand His process like Mary did. In Luke 1:46-55, Mary acknowledged that God
1. is mighty
2. is holy
3. keeps his promises; and
she understood something about how he chooses people to bless beyond his daily mercies. In Mary’s own case, she said God regarded her low estate. She observed that he
4. debases the mighty;
5. exalts those of low degree;
6. is merciful to those that fear him;
7. helps those who serve him;
8. gives good things to the needy; and
9. denies those who are not in need.

I think seeing what Mary saw about God will guide us so we don’t expect God to bless us because we think we deserve it. The two main requirements for blessings from God that I see in this passage are humility and fear of the Lord. When we are humble, we will exalt God. When we fear God, we want to please him so we exalt Him. If we are truly humble and have fear of God, we can expect blessings because that’s what God promises (James 4:10). But doing what looks like humility and fear of God (to try to receive blessings) will only get us called out (Acts 8:9-23). As we know, we look at the outward appearance of things, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). So let’s take a lesson from Mary that we might humble ourselves, fear God and allow God to perform the details of giving us blessings. I believe there will be a lot more of us who will truly be able to say they are blessed and highly favored.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Blessed and Highly Favored, Part 2

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In this day of social media, so many have begun to attract friends, fans and followers to promote themselves and their messages. In a more traditional way, telling people that you’re “blessed and highly favored” is about self promotion. We want people to look at us or to ask us questions to understand why we’ve used that phrase. But the term is almost exclusive and makes me wonder if we should use it at all.

In Scripture, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the only person who is called this because of the special grace shown to her to give birth to the Savior. And the only group of people who is called this is referring to Christians (Ephesians 1:6). So I believe to say this word about yourself because of how well things are going in your life is misplaced because the type of grace given to Mary to do what she did won’t happen to anyone else. I also think this phrase is empty because it applies to all Christians, conveying our position in Christ and not how we are doing (i.e., how we feel).

Whether or not we use the term “blessed and highly favored,” I still want us to consider the conditions surrounding Mary’s blessing that I believe we need to ponder when we receive “blessings.”

• God selected Mary (Luke 1:30).
• God chose the type of blessing she would receive (giving birth to Jesus, the Savior of mankind; Luke 1:31-32).
• God chose the method to administer the blessing (through the Holy Ghost; Luke 1:35).
• God decided when Mary should broadcast the blessing (after three months; Luke 1:56).
• God told her what her blessing was for (Luke 1:32-33).
• God did the work (Luke 1:37).

If we believe that God has selected us to receive a blessing, I think we ought to be clear that God indeed did select the type of blessing; that we allow Him to give it to us the way He wants to give it to us; that we should allow Him to tell us when and with whom to share it; that we make sure we handle the blessing the way God intends; and that we allow Him to bring our blessing to pass without interfering.

Many times we claim something we believe will make us “blessed and highly favored” that God has not chosen us to receive. But once we recognize the blessing that will come from Him, let’s not dictate to God how we want to receive the blessing (i.e., specifying the “perfect” time for it or how it—or he—should look) let alone start to pursue the blessing when He didn’t tell us to. Once we get the blessing, let’s make sure we share it with those that He tells us to, particularly those who can rejoice with us (Romans 12:15). And, finally, we need to make sure we handle the blessing the way He wants us to. Just because He gives us money doesn’t give us license to spend it how we want. We must seek God and not simply rest on being “blessed and highly favored.”

Remember, the material gain and positions you have or see others with may not be blessings from God but enticements from Satan to do his bidding (Luke 4:1-12). Everybody claiming to be “blessed and highly favored” is not “blessed and highly favored.” Just because fruit is born doesn’t mean that the fruit has come from the right tree (Matthew 7:17, 12:33). “Blessed and highly favored” was the mantle given to Mary because of her humility, and humility always brings exaltation (1 Peter 5:6).

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Blessed and Highly Favored

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Blessed and Highly Favored!

We toss this phrase around like stove-top popcorn cooking without a lid. You can expect just about anybody who is saved and has wonderful things happening in their lives to say or be tempted to say this phrase. But what does the phrase mean? And even if we know what the phrase means, can we say that it applies to us?

This phrase is taken from Luke 1 that describes Mary, the mother of Jesus and a model of submission, and hints to why God chose her to be the vessel to give birth to God in bodily form. What a high calling! Let’s take a look at the biblical account, check it against our own behavior and determine for ourselves if we think it’s appropriate to say we are blessed and highly favored.

Typically, we casually use this saying, but this seemed to be a rare proclamation in Mary’s day (Luke 1:29). We describe ourselves as blessed and highly favored, but others said this about Mary (1:28, 30, 42, 45). We tend to magnify ourselves when we say this, but Mary magnified God (1:47). And because of whatever blessings we have we rejoice in what God does for us, but Mary rejoiced in who God is (1:47).

So think about this:

1) Mary’s humility showed immediately after Gabriel complimented her. Instead of saying, “Oh thank you,” like many of us would have done, she was troubled by and wondered what the compliment meant (1:29). Do we pause to consider the motives of others who compliment us or are we just quick to agree with them?
2) Only after others complimented Mary did she acknowledge her position with God (1:48).
3) When Mary acknowledged that she was highly favored, she submitted to God. When she acknowledged that she was blessed, she magnified God (1:38, 46-47).
4) When she magnified God, she didn’t just say “I magnify God” but demonstrated so by rejoicing in who God is and what He did because of who He is (1:46-55).

With Mary as the model of being blessed and highly favored, let’s check to see if we are cautious about receiving accolades; let others initiate accolades about us before we acknowledge them; and magnify God by rejoicing in who He is and proclaiming what He does because of who He is.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Help With Submission

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I messed up on Monday. The same day I wrote about my struggle with being gracious that has challenged my submission was the same day I failed with that struggle. Submission is not easy. And sometimes, like Monday, I think it sucks in the traditional way. I have a hard time remembering that submission sucks out the bad to make way for the good. To help me focus, I know I have to:

? Want to do right. I have to seek God to give me the desires of my heart. He knows the ones that should be there and submission is at the top of the list (Psalm 139:23-24).
? Think about doing right. Philippians 4:8 should be at the forefront of every Christian’s mind no matter what the issue is. Thinking about the good submission brings will help me to carry it out.
? Remember the example of right. Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of submission. He left heaven, veiled His glory and came to earth, following the will of God the Father (Philippians 2:1-8). I must remember that if God himself came down from heaven and gave up His right to rule, then surely I, who don’t have a right to rule, can submit to those God gave to lead me. Also, seek guidance from women you know who submit.
? Know that I can do right. God has placed in me the ability not only to want to do right but the ability to do right (Philippians 2:13).
? Focus on helping to set other things right. I will envision how my submission will influence generations to come, and let a better world be my incentive for submission.

As I am on my journey, I will keep these books close at hand:

• Liberated Through Submission, by P.B. Wilson
• Authority and Submission, by Watchman Nee
• Touching Godliness Through Submission, by K.P. Yohannan

I hope you journey on to submission. With all this help, I intend to and expect to succeed with grace which will lead me to submission.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Submission Benefits

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If you want to know the state of Christianity, take a look at Christian marriages. What you will find is divorce among Christians is as high as those of non-Christians (The Barna Group of Ventura, California). Christian husbands and wives are intended to be role models of what Christianity is all about. As it stands, Christian husbands and wives have been poor examples for the Christian faith, and, because of this, I believe the impact of Christianity has suffered. Nonetheless, the mandate for husbands and wives still remain. We are to model Jesus Christ’s relationship to the church. Our marriages must show what good leadership and good submission are about, thus putting our great sacrificial leader on display and showing why we sacrifice our lives for Him.

But I don’t know how many of us consider that our marriages are a model to impact Christianity. I don’t know how many know that husbands and wives are both called to submit (a husband to God’s command of leadership and a wife to God’s command of submission to her husband). And I surely don’t know how many women realize that the calling of submission is greater for wives because we have to submit to God, other believers and to our own husband (James 4:7 and Ephesians 5:21, 22). And this greater calling gives us more opportunities to excel or fail. Because the lives of so many in our sphere are at stake, I want you to remember that submission sucks (see prior post). And because submission sucks, so many can be blessed through us. I believe the greatest individual beneficiary of submission is our own children.

When children see submission at work daily in us, they are ingrained with its power:

  • 1) They understand what a godly wife looks like and will know what type of woman to be or to pursue.

    2) They understand order. With a hierarchal structure, children recognize authority and submission and can use this understanding in the workplace, whether they are a leader or subordinate.

    3) They have stability, knowing they can count on the consistent provisions that their parents’ roles bring to the home as opposed to whichever parent feels like fulfilling a particular role on any given day.

    4) They understand the interaction between Jesus Christ and His church. Even though they may not know that’s what they are seeing, as they study the Bible more, they will see that this interaction is being modeled in their home.

    5) They understand how they should submit to Jesus Christ. Seeing submission at work paves the way for children to embrace submitting to salvation through Jesus Christ and to His lordship.

    • With children as the greatest individual beneficiary of submission, the body of Christ has the greatest chance of repairing its scarred reputation of being no different from (or worse than) the world. I believe our children who embrace submission because of our model will perpetuate God’s intent for marriage and cause thousands to be drawn to Christianity, thus building up the Kingdom of God. By submitting for your children’s sake, you submit for the Kingdom’s sake and become a repairer of the breach (Isaiah 58:12). Women, won’t you join with me to be (one of) the greatest factors to the growth of Christianity? Lay aside your flesh and move according to the Spirit. Let’s do this for Christ and His Kingdom.

    Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith