In so many words, the whole of the beautiful story that is the Holy Bible, is that God is ultimate, gorgeous, worthy of all adoration...AND that we are entirely too wrapped up in ourselves to notice His majesty the majority of the time.  Humility...a word that has been dilluted and mutated throughout the modernization of mankind, finds its ultimate root in the truth that everything is NOT about us.  In our society, we perceive humility to mean making less of yourself.  Lowering, shadowing, dimming the glow of your own essence in order to not be deemed PROUD.  Yet, even this definition, however incorrect, of humility is nearly extinct in practice, because PRIDE is not a terrible thing in our world, but rather something to be...um...proud of.  If you are prideful, you must have reason to be, right?  Therefore, there must be something to boast of that justifies being proud.  You're just calling a spade a spade and relishing in what YOU'VE done for YOU, by YOURSELF, of YOURSELF...etc, etc.  Pride is something that people aspire to, not something they despise.  But, guess what?!  We are to despise pride, recognize it as the consuming virus that it is, and fight against it by turning our lense to gaze apon the beautiful and righteous Yahweh God that we should be joyfully serving, just because He IS.  This infection of pride has no human cure, you cannot rid yourself of it, no prescription of discipline can purge it from your system, and unlike some viruses, it doesn't even run its course and leave you.  It latches on and breaks down your vision of Holy God as the first and only thing to boast of.  It tells you that YOUR story is more precious and interesting than His, and it wraps you up in the unfolding of YOUR narrative so that you miss the beautiful fullfilment of His.  Biblical humility is recognizing that God Almighty, and His working in this world of fallen men over the course of time, is the epitomy of beauty, intrigue, excitement, justice, and truth.  Biblical humility is closing the ever-unfolding pages of your vain ME tale every day, to open and indulge in HIM all day and all night.  It isn't natural to do this.  In fact, its awkward to "set yourself" to this initiative...and to do it just because you want more of Him, in closer proximity, with mounting intensity every second that He sustains your breath of life.  But, as Uzziah did in 2 Chronicles, you must seek instruction in the fear of the Lord, recognize Him above all things, set yourself to seeking Him, and make everything all about Him just because He is who He is at all times, forever and ever AMEN.  Before you end up strong, realize it, think it's of yourself, and earn a humbling by the hand of the Lord...which was leprosy in Uzziah's case.  ~ Lori Michelle 10/25/05

{Lest I rocket into pride by journalling this broadcast to anyone but myself, who needs it far more than I could blog in the limits of this virtual space, I apologize for the soap box...but I was hit over the head by a strong voice of the Lord through the speaker at our Tuesday night worship service tonight, and just had to release before I imploded...}