We used to sing a song that went like this…“Down at your feet O Lord, is the most high place. In your presence Lord, I see your face.” This came to mind when our speaker on Sunday, Robert Hotchkin, was sharing on humility. (Oh yes, I hear the groans..”Do we have to talk about that?”) I know it is not the most popular subject and I do not know if anyone will really read it. My feeling about humility is that the times I have humbled myself and really determined to be a servant to everyone and become less and allowed Him to become more in me were                                                                                                                                   some of the best times of my life.

Deciding to be the servant is the hard thing (at least for me)  but then, when I do it it feels good. I remember a time when I was in a very low place that I decided that I would think of how I could fix the torn carpet in our church. They could not afford to have it all replaced and I thought to myself, “With the Lord’s help, I think I can repair this carpet so no one can tell there was a tear,” so I set to work. God helped me and I felt good about how the Lord directed me to do this. There have been other times when I deliberately humbled myself and gave money, time and ministry to folks who were not really my friends. Even in my own family, I have had to humble myself and do the hard thing and reach out in loving ways where my old nature would have been to blast them for being such jerks.

I want to tell you about a time when we were ministering in the jails. We were not having any success and so we had a prayer meeting before going to the jail and asked the Lord for a great breakthrough. That day, we arrived only to discover that there was a riot going on with the prisoners. I thought, “Oh, they will not let us go in today.” But they got everyone calmed down (calmed down was a relative term) and said: “Now you can go upstairs and visit them.” I am going “Yikes, help Lord!” Well, He did! There was one prisoner that showed up and he laid into me like I was the worst garbage heap in the world. He shouted every foul word and profanity at me and some that I had never heard before! I wanted to rise up and say that that is unfair. But, the person next to me said to me. “Just listen!” That was the Holy Spirit speaking to me. The Lord gave me just the right words for this man. I said to him “I am so glad that you laid all of that on me so that you do not have to bear it.” He melted in front of me and he was responsible for making sure that all of the prisoners were respectful, listened and were dressed clean and well. We accomplished a lot for the Lord after that. There were healings, salvations, deliverances and a move of God in that jail!

The victory for us is that we always want the world to see Jesus in us. We know that this is the path that Jesus took when He was with us and that we are to follow Him. We also know that it is impossible unless He is in us working and willing us of His good pleasure. So, the more we humble ourselves and empty ourselves, the more Jesus can have of us. The song goes, “more of You and less of me.”  But, also realize that He has given us all of Himself, so it is we who are the redeemed that have to acknowledge that He has given us everything that we need. So, what is the problem? Sometimes, we do not know that He is all in all in us. We need to unwrap the package of salvation inside of us and let Jesus shine out of us. I remember the parable of the sower. Some seed fell on less than desirable ground, but some fell on good ground and produced a great crop. I want to ask you a question. Can you make yourself into good ground? My understanding is that no we cannot. It is Jesus in us that changes us into that “new creature.” It is us handing over our wants, wills, desires, and plans to Him to give us His wants, will, desire and plans in exchange. So, this writing could be called “The Great Exchange.” Thanks for listening.

Your servant in the Lord,  Joyce Euren
Published on 6/13/18