Humility may be thought of as the grace to appreciate a position other than the one you believe.  To be willing and able to see from a different perspective opens the door to revelation.  Position affects perception.  Perception alters position.  Through faith and patience we inherit the promises.

Before we were born-again, our position in the world was one of sin, darkness, and alienation.  We were distant from God, and God was perceived to be distant from us.  We had no hope of an eternal inheritance and the world was all we could hope to gain.  But when, through the grace of God, the Word entered our hearts, our position and our perception changed.  Our sin conscience was washed clean by the blood of the lamb.  God who was far away came to live in our spirit, and the possibility of eternal damnation was replaced by the promise of eternal life.  Jesus became the mediator of a new covenant.  The old, written on tablets of stone, was made obsolete.  The new covenant, written on our hearts and in our mind, was the grace of the Holy Spirit.  Instead of being on the outside looking in, we were now part of the kingdom of God.  Yet our position which was altered was still that of a baby.  A babe is unskillful in the word of righteousness, but strong meat is for those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.  (Heb.5:13-14)  Just as a newborn infant doesn't have a past history that is guilty of transgression, or that makes it unworthy of being a full fledged child of its parents with all the privileges of other family members, so is the new creation. (2Cor.5:17)  As a babe in Christ, our position is like being in the boat with the disciples (we are born-again), but one in which when the storms of life come, we cry out to Jesus in fear to calm the winds.  Only as we change our position in the boat standing next to Jesus rebuking the winds and the waves with Him, have we grown to maturity, changed our perception, and are fit to inherit the promises of God.  As Christ's body was rent on the cross to give us access to God, so, too, was the veil torn separating us from Him.  Still it is only by faith, patience, and confession that we can come to a place where our inheritance becomes a reality and we begin to receive the fullness of our salvation.  By changing our position in the word, from a sinner on the outside to a babe in Christ, to a mature Christian able to withstand the onslaughts of the devil, do we change our position in the world from one of powerlessness to one of authority and dominion.  As we feed more and more on God's word, we grow in grace and truth, authority and power.  Our words become the means to our success to bless others and receive the promises from God.  It is only by growing in the word do we move from passive reactors to active initiators.  It is only by growing in the word that our perception changes and our position as sons and daughters of God emerge, bearing fruit.

One further thought.  To perceive, we need to still our soul.  Jesus must calm the storm of our thought life just as He calmed the storm on the sea.  We can not hear God’s voice if our thoughts are so strong that they become an impenetrable screen obscuring reality.  The blood of Christ cleanses our conscience from dead works so we can serve a living God.  We need to be still, listen, and absorb.  By transforming our mind we are renewed.  This transformation on the inside will prove to be the means of evangelizing the world on the outside.  Be so filled with God that even our shadows have the power to heal and so fulfill the word of God. 

Amen.