5-24-2016
We have all heard it said that they who come to the Lord do so in humility and in truth.

How do you recognize humility ?  Humble people realize they are flawed and understand that without God they exist for nothing.

Humble people are repentant.  They know they have done bad things and they are sorry for it and seek to set things right.

The bible says if you have wronged someone then you go to that person and admit you did wrong and tell them you are sorry.  These things only work if the one who is in the wrong is willing to do something to set things right.  Sometimes I refer to this as a sacrifice.  The point is evident to an intuitive logical reasonable person.  Making the effort can be enough of a sacrifice.  If money is taken or property is damaged the sacrifice may require a method of restitution to set things right again.
The most important thing to note is don't take long about setting things right.  The longer it takes to do the right thing the harder the feelings become for the offended party.  It can reach a point where a resolve to the conflict becomes impossible.

The humble know there's nothing we can do physically to earn our way to Heaven to be with God, but they also understand that during this life there are things that are required to find restitution.  These things are outlined in the bible.  If they do all that is asked of them forgiveness can be acquired both from God and from the person they have wronged.  If they make a great effort to set things right and the other party fails to accept the offer / offering then at least they tried and God will forgive them, because they tried.

If you have seen Indiana Jones and the Search for the Holy Grail you will recall the segment where Jones was put to a series of tests that previous people had failed.  Humility and repentance are the first two things then they must walk in the footsteps of God.  These things are based on fact.

How do we recognize the opposite of humility and repentance? Simple.  The opposite are greed, vanity, pride, unrepentant, etc.  These spirits are prone to posturing and banter where-as the person will see themselves as having earned their rewards.  They may think God gave it to them and they deserve it.  They may also think someone is trying to take it from them when they aren't.  For the bible also says the wicked will imagine things that are not true and will even flee when no one is after them.  Not only that they will attack and become defensive when no one is after them.

Greed and pride will go to great lengths to prove they are the deserving party.

They will say things like "I did..." this and that.  "I earned it..."  "God gave it to me..."  "I deserve it.." without regard for anyone else who may have legal claim to part of the prise.

Let us review, Humility says "I don't deserve it."  While Pride and Greed say "I deserve it, it's mine!"

Vanity is the opposite of repentance.  A vain person will seldom ever admit they have done a wrong to anyone no matter how heinous their offenses have been.  The only time they may admit they have done a wrong against someone is when they are caught like a rat and have no other choice.  They may admit it with their mouths but their hearts likely will not agree.  In their own minds they still think they have done nothing wrong.

Humility + Faith will trust that God will take care of us no matter what.

Greed causes people to latch onto physical things like a hungry dog.  It is the opposite of Humility + Faith.

If you apply these things to the highly religious you will find a pattern that existed in Jesus time and existed previous and then to this day in various similar forms.

Vain greedy people love attention.  They like to put on a show to get people to agree with them and pat them on the back.  The Face Book version of this is when people post things to get people to agree with them and click on the like button.  So they often quote scriptures without any lesson content just to get people to click the like button.  This is the equivalent of a pat on the back.  This is the equivalent of having followers.  This feeds their vanity and makes them happy.  Vanity and pride are related spirits.

Jesus spoke of them in various terms during his ministry.  He spoke that it is easier for a camel to pass thorough the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.  Why?  Because rich people are vain and filled with pride.  They think they are someone.  Hollywood is full of them.  Ask yourself why some of them go to church if they can't get into Heaven anyway.  The answer is simple.  They want to appear to be good and worthy of going to Heaven.  They like to put on the show for others to see. They enjoy looking and feeling better than all those they see as being below them.

People who trust in God to take care of them are also mentioned in the bible.  Jesus said if a man shall take your coat give also your shirt.  Jesus said that God knows if a bird will fall from the sky and know that your Heavenly Father cares much more for His children and will care for them.

Therefore please understand that those who say "I worked for it, I earned it, God gave it to me," these people do not trust in God no matter what else they say or tend to believe in.

People who refuse to right a wrong they have done against someone are unrepentant no matter what they say about it if they can't recognize and do right by someone they have wronged they can't seek forgiveness from God and get it either.  They are unrepentant because they have pride and vanity.

Pride, vanity and greed are the opposite of humility.  They don't mix.  God and now you know that and there are no exceptions to the rules.  You can't serve two masters.  You will love one and hate the other just as Jesus has said.

You might ask God to forgive you for something you have done against someone else until hell freezes over but if you are not willing to admit to the person you have wronged and make an attempt to set things right you are still on the wrong side of God.  The act of seeking forgiveness from God for something you did to someone else without first making that effort is in itself vain and superficial.

Vain prideful greedy unrepentant people fill the churches today.  Learn to recognize them and do not be one of them.  This may require some effort on your part but once you let pride, greed and vanity move in it can be very difficult if not impossible to get rid of them.

I can't recall any of the prophets of God mentioned in the bible who were rich.  God had people who were rich but usually the prophets were not well liked while some of them were very well known.

Prophets had to remain humble in order to communicate with God and not end up dead.  It was bad enough for them anyway and many of them did exactly what God told them to do and still ended up being stoned for it.

Prophets deliver messages and warnings from God to those who fail to listen to God's warnings and to follow His rules.  Some may be well known but I don't know any who were truly popular among the people.  They don't tell people what they want to hear they tell them the truth wether they like it or not.

When God tells one of His prophets to do something He will ride their back until they do it or else.  The prophet knows that everything they have is conditional to the agreement they have with God and that everything can be taken from them at any time especially if they fail to do their job.