James 4:10

"Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."Humble yourselves" -Once again, we must cooperate with the will of God. We make the final decision whether or not we will be humbled. "The use of the aorist tense shows that he means. definite act,. decisive and full self-surrender" (Roberts p. 170). This humbling of self involves resisting the devil, drawing near to God, forsaking sinful deeds and thoughts, acknowledging the evil of our ways with serious reflection and appropriate grief. But how many people will say, "I know. am being selfish,. know that. am. sinner,. know that. am without excuse", but at the same time refuse to give up what is wrong? In the context we truly haven't humbled ourselves in the presence of God until we have abandoned our favorite sinful practices and attitudes."in the presence of the Lord" -Which should remind us that confessing our misdeeds to others doesn't make up for confessing them to God. True repentance involves more than just crying on another person's shoulder. Until we have admitted our sin to God, we still aren't where we need to be."and He will exalt you" -"to raise to dignity, honor, and happiness" (Thayer p. 647). Jesus used this same expression on various occasions (Matthew 23:12). "that He may exalt you in due time " (1 Peter 5:6). This exaltation doesn't mean that God will bring material wealth to all the faithful. "When. man gets elected to. political office,. few years pass, later he is defeated. He is elevated, then cast down.. man is. hero and then he is forgotten. But God elevates to eternal rewards" (Draper p. 128). "The immediate attractions of the world must not be allowed to blind us to the prospect of God's far-greater compensation" (Kent p. 152). (Romans 8:18)