I was going back over this again this weekend, just meditating on it- so i thought I would post it again :-) What kind of heart does God revive? A broken and contrite one.~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! ~~~~~~~~~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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~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
