Knowing God Requires Humility

I wanted to propose a method or ground for and a caution for knowing God.

Philippians 2, vs. 1-4 makes it clear that humility is defined by God to be considering others more important than ourselves... in terms of concerns or needs. God says this is what it means to be Christlike and thus pleasing to the Lord.

The opposite of this is putting our needs and concerns first because we consider ourselves more important and others second in line ( perhaps subconsciously and never admittedly, but nonetheless, putting ourselves and our needs first). This is called pride since it is the opposite of humility. Pride is an abomination to the Lord.

Now, assuming that is correct, apply this Biblical standard....

God draws near to the humble. The proud He knows from afar.

It strikes me that we need to have a broader definition of humility and a fuller explanation as to why many don't know God as they ought and can't know God as they ought unless change of mind occurs.

There is a humility before God that requires me to confess my sin and unworthiness to God. There is a second kind, equally important though; that is the kind of humility before men that requires me to embrace the attitude of Jesus and assume the form of a servant to the needs of others and be concerned far less with my own.

I fear there are many in the faith, including me at times for those who think I'm coming off as self righteous, who have the humility before God as required, but not the humility before men as likewise is essential. They do not know God as He intends, as He makes Himself available, or even as He demands from His true disciples. Knowing God is not only a privilege and an offer. It is the meaning of eternal life. That is why serving others as a first priority of my life, as Christ did in His, is so inextricably linked to possessing eternal life. Jesus said, the Father loves me because I lay down my life for my sheep. A shocking statement for some.

I think the reason why many Christians struggle is that we don't pursue love we pursue trying to fulfill commandments that were inherently designed to point out sin in a person's life and as Paul said excite the flesh unto rebellion. The apostle Paul said love is the fulfillment of the law, instead of pursuing God through love that being who he is we pursue God through trying to keep commandments and inevitably we fail because the new man which is created according to God in true righteousness and holiness is not under the law but under grace and Grace is God's love which has the power to effectively Transform us and empower the inner man to express love which is to express God to others. Operating our Christian life through the compassion that comes through the spirit is the only way to fulfill the law. Our reliance is then in God alone our abilities to live the Christian life using God alone, otherwise we place our reliance on our abilities to do what is right that is how the natural man and the carnal nature operate. That is how all those who lived in the Adamic realm live. To be filled with God's spirit, to walk in the fullness of God, is to walk in God's love and to allow the nature of Christ, the humility of Christ to be lived through us. Understanding how the old nature works, the old linage of Adam, and understanding how the new nature works which is Christ in us is a key to understanding the sinfulness of the old nature, and our ability to reject and repent not just from sinful acts alone but repent completely from walking in the nature of adam is the goal the high calling in Christ. True repentance then eventually leads to the death of the old man through divine infillings of the holy spirit, in revelations of the new nature combined with partaking in the sufferings of Christ which acts to humble us and crush our pride, in one sense there is truly the dark night of the soul for everybody who wants to move and walk in the love of God and express the compassion of Christ in every area of our life, especially towards our enemies. These types of truths are not taught much in the church because it's not understood much by teachers and pastors because many of them have never gone through the Dark Knight of trial and tribulation to the degree required to produce this fruit in a riped stage so our beloved pastors and teachers teach from what they know and understand I think it may take 20 to 30 to 40 years to get to a place of humility in this present season where the crushing of the grapes before the new wine our new nature is fully expressed and realized. This process needs to be sought after and pursued and desired above all other things in the Christian life, but it's not so, we have Christianity in the teenage stage, and that's even from the pulpit but God in these last days will produce a fully mature bride he will produce the vintage wine, he's kept the best wine for the end of the feast. The lack of faith by Christians in this process will stall the process of Perfection, the apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus shows that the fivefold ministry was given for the purpose of equipping and preparing the bride for this process and to guide her through the process of maturity. As a church, we must move through the feast of Passover and the feast of Pentecost in which we now live and we must move into the feast of Tabernacles, we must keep the three feasts, And we will by the Grace of Christ.🙏✝️🕎