Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion - September 29th - James 4:6-7

James 4:6-7 Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Did you know that God is capable of hatred? Perhaps you think God is so nice that He couldn’t bring Himself to hate anything. However, the Bible is quite clear that God seethes with hatred at times. In Proverbs 6:16, we learn that God hates seven things, and top of the list is pride. God’s problem with pride is that it is a complete rejection of Him. The proud person doesn’t have any need for God but lives a life in defiance of His will, so we read that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We therefore need to unpack carefully what this word ‘humble’ means, because it is clearly the gateway to true blessing. Humility doesn’t sound too attractive. We have awful images of people putting on an act, claiming to be but a mere worm and totally unworthy. That’s what we can neatly call false humility. True humility is the reverse of pride. The proud person has hands that are so full of their own excellence that they are unable to receive anything from God. The humble person stands in complete contrast and comes to God with empty hands, longing to receive His blessings. Humility is quite simply the key that unlocks the door to the life that God wants us to live. Question Think of somebody in whose life you have seen true humility. What have you learned from their example? Prayer Lord, thank you that You are so eager to bless my life. Help me to come to You today with empty hands, ready to receive whatever You want to give me. Amen