Broken vs. Proud

What kind of heart does God revive? A broken and contrite one.~BROKEN~ ~~~~~~~~~ Are overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need. Therefore, they can esteem all others better than themselves. Are willing to yield the right to be right Have yielded their rights; have a meek spirit, self-denying. Desire to serve others and make others a success. Are thrilled that God would use them at all, they rejoice when others are lifted up Quick to see when they were wrong; they recieve criticism with a humble spirit Willing to be open, transparent and get close to others Quick to admit failure and seek forgiveness. Grieved over the cause, the root of their sin. Compare themselves to the holiness of God and feel a desperate need for His mercy Not concerned with self at all Continually sense their need for a fresh encounter with God ~PROUD~ ~~~~~~~~ Focus on the failures of others; they have a critical fault-finding spirit. They look at everyone else's faults with a microscope, but their own with a telescope Have to prove that they are right Are protective of their time, their reputation, and their rights Desire to be served and be a success Have a drive to be recognized and appreciated; they get wounded when others are promoted Quick to blame others for their problems; are unapproachable or defensive when criticized Keep others at arms length; find it difficult to share their spiritual need with others Have a hard time saying, "I was wrong, will you please forgive me?" Concerned about the consequences of their sin Compare themselves to others and think they are doing alright. Don't think they have anything to repent of Self-concious Don't think they need reviving, cleansing - but they're sure everyone else does! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Our generation has been programmed to pursue happiness, wholeness, good feelings about ourselves, positive self-image, and affirmation. But God is not as interested in these ends as we are. He is more committed to making us holy than making us happy. And there is only one pathway to holiness, and that is the pathway of humility or brokenness. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." Prov.16:18 Brokenness does not mean, as some think, having a sad, gloomy, downcast countenance-never smiling or laughing. It is possible to shed buckets of tears, without ever experiencing a moment of brokenness. Brokenness is not a feeling: it is a choice, an act of will. Brokenness is a lifestyle of unconditional, absolute surrender of my will to the will of God - a heart attitude that says, "Yes, Lord!" to whatever God says. Brokenness means the shattering of my self-will, so that the life and Spirit of the Lord may be released through me. Brokenness is my response of humility and obedience to the conviction of the Word and Spirit of God. And as the conviction is continuous, so must the brokenness be continuous. Finally, do the very thing you know God wants you to do, but your flesh is telling you not to do! Ultimately, brokenness is a matter of surrendering control of my life to God. The heart that has been emptied of itself and broken of it's willfulness and resistance, is the heart that will experience the filling and the reviving of our glorious, holy God, Who humbled Himself, that He might lift us up. Proud/Broken by Nancy L. DeMoss Revive our Hearts ministry

Amen!Isaiah 66:2b - But on this one will I look, on him who is broken and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at My word.I have asked God over and over to break me and give me a heart that is broken so He can mold me and form Christ in me. The breaking process is a painful process and when we ask for God to do this He will. The problem is we often don't know what we are asking for, only that it is the right thing. God is faithful and will bring us through the breaking with the glory of Jesus Christ in us. The breaking never seems to end does it.God bless,Mike

Yes!Thank you Chanin.The breaking never seems to end does it.No. It doesn't seem so, but there is still "time's of refreshing" right?

I didn't know if anyone had heard about this: In July 1995 at Moby Gym in Colorado there was a meeting for about 4 thousand staff members of Campus Crusade for Christ. They were to make revival their focus.Nancy DeMoss was to speak (she has a heart for revival) she prayed for direction for months before about what to speak about and finally two weeks before she knew she was to speak on brokenness and humility.She spoke on Monday morning about what the Lord had been teaching her about brokenness in her own life. About 10 minutes before the close of the message she saw two men out of the corner of her eye walk to the front and kneel.At the close of the message she recommended they sing an old hymn that had been sung in past student revivals: "Pass me not, O gentle Savior,Hear my humble cry; While on others thou art calling, Do not pass me by."That was about 10:30am that morning. "What happened over the next hours and days is almost too sacred and precious to describe.""I have struggled with whether or not I should write even this brief account. I tremble at the thought that I might in any way deflect any credit or glory for that divine visitation away from God"."As He began to move in the hearts of His people, all scheduled events were cancelled; the same thing happened the next day and half of the following day....scores and scores of men and women came to the microphone to confess specific sins before God and their fellow workers. Pretense and masks were stripped off...""As each person would end his or her confession, ten, twenty, thirty or even fifty people would leave their seats rushing to encircle the person and pray for him or her. Earnest intercession poured forth on behalf of broken believers who were repenting of every conceivable sin and bondage."After a couple of days, Henry Blackaby was scheduled to speak. As he sat by and watched all of this he felt led to speak on true repentance the next morning."Then for the next 7 or 8 hours, he stood by the side of others who came to the microphone to confess the issues over which God had convicted their hearts.""The way up is down, death brings life, and brokenness is the pathway to wholeness."Quotes taken from "Brokenness - the heart God Revives" by Nancy L. DeMoss

Wonderful...!"What happened over the next hours and days is almost too sacred and precious to describe.""I have struggled with whether or not I should write even this brief account. I tremble at the thought that I might in any way deflect any credit or glory for that divine visitation away from God".Isn't that the truth?To be able to share something like this and not draw attention to yourself.Glad she did!And I am glad you did :-)