humility Archives - Marissa Henley

Cast Your Anxieties {No Matter What Monday}

January 16, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

For the last two weeks, we’ve been talking about how Jesus humbled Himself to dwell among us and suffer for our salvation. Today we’re looking at one way we can respond to His humility—to humble ourselves by trusting Him with our worries.

You may have read or even memorized I Peter 5:7 before: “ . . . casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” I memorized this verse at Bible Study Fellowship as a young child, and it’s still one of my favorites. But I Peter 5:7 is a sentence fragment. It’s grammatically and ideologically connected to the previous verse:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all of your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (I Peter 5:6-7).

As we’re humbling ourselves, we’re casting all our anxieties on Him. We hurl our worries from our weak hands into His mighty hand, acknowledging that He is God, and we are not.

Throw your financial uncertainties on Him. He is your provider.

Throw your family worries on Him. He loves your loved ones even more than you do.

Throw your fears for the future on Him. His purposes cannot be thwarted, and He will be faithful to you.

Throw your failures on Him. He saves you by His grace and mercy.

As you let go of your worries and cast them on the Lord, you can have confidence that He will receive them. As verse 7 promises, He cares for you. Your worries do not fall on deaf ears or a hard heart. Your cares are cared for by your Heavenly Father.

No matter what you face this week, cast your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.

Christ Jesus Lived and Died for You {No Matter What Monday}

January 9, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Last week we saw that Jesus gave up the perfection of Heaven to rescue us (Philippians 2:5-7). In the following verse, we learn He didn’t just trade Heaven for Earth. He traded glory for a gruesome execution.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)

Jesus “humbled Himself by becoming obedient.” He was the only sinless man who has walked this earth. His perfect obedience qualified Him to take your place on the cross. As the only one undeserving of God’s punishment, He became a substitute for you when God poured out His wrath on Him. Jesus lived the perfect life that you cannot live.

Jesus “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” In the first-century Roman empire, crucifixion was regarded as the worst form of execution. The shame of hanging naked in public was nothing compared to the excruciating pain of bones breaking and slow suffocation. This painful, shameful death was reserved for the most heinous criminals.

Jesus humbled Himself for you. There was no other way to save you. You could not save yourself by good works, and you could not meet God’s standard of righteousness. Because of His great love for you, Jesus left the glory of Heaven, lived a perfect life, died an agonizing death, and experienced the wrath of the Father.

Because of His sacrifice, even though you live an imperfect life, you can one day taste the glory that Jesus left behind.

No matter what you face this week, Christ Jesus lived and died for you.

Your Savior Humbled Himself {No Matter What Monday}

December 26, 2016 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Have you seen the television show “Undercover Boss”? In each episode, the CEO goes undercover as an entry-level employee of his company. The boss learns what life is like for the men and women whose jobs and lives are very different from his own. Often, the undercover boss is shocked by what he learns. And then he gives a promotion and tear-inducing gifts to one of his employees, and they all live happily ever after. (It’s “reality” television!)

When Jesus took on flesh and dwelt among us, He didn’t leave behind a board room and a chauffeur. He left Heaven. He left perfection. He left blissful fellowship with His Father.

And Jesus was not surprised by what He discovered when He arrived. He knew this world was groaning under the weight of sin, sadness, and death. That was exactly why He came to rescue us. He came to dine with prostitutes and wash the filthy feet of His betrayer. He came to save His children from the bondage of sin.

Philippians 2:5-7: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

What would motivate someone to leave perfection and humbly put on frailty and pain? Why would anyone trade the glory of Heaven for a life spent serving His enemies and giving His life for them? This is how much Christ loves you—He humbled Himself not only to sympathize with your weakness, but to rescue you. He gave up Heaven so that one day you could join Him there.

No matter what you face this week, your Savior humbled Himself because of His love for you.