The Overcoming Life

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves – James 1:22

D. L. Moody

• Publisher: Aneko Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781622453863
• eBook ISBN: 9781622453870
• Topic: Theology & Religion

Are you an overcomer? Or, are you plagued by little sins that easily beset you? Even worse, are you failing in your Christian walk, but refuse to admit and address it? No Christian can afford to dismiss the call to be an overcomer. The earthly cost is minor; the eternal reward is beyond measure.Dwight L. Moody is a master at unearthing what ails us. He uses stories and humor to bring to light the essential principles of successful Christian living. Each aspect of overcoming is looked at from a practical and understandable angle. The solution Moody presents for our problems is not religion, rules, or other outward corrections. Instead, he takes us to the heart of the matter and prescribes biblical, God-given remedies for every Christian's life. Get ready to embrace genuine victory for today, and joy for eternity. Inward topics include:
* Temper
* Appetite
* Envy
* Pride
* The FleshExternal topics include:
* The World
* Business
* Persecution
* Our ChildrenUpdated, Modern English Edition

Part VI

Gifts of Grace

Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. (Matthew 11:29)

Humility

There is no harder lesson to learn than the lesson of humility. It’s not taught in the schools of men, only in the school of Christ. It’s the rarest of all the gifts. Very rarely do we find a man or woman who closely follows the footsteps of the Master in meekness and humility. I believe that it’s the hardest lesson Jesus Christ taught His disciples while He was here on earth. It almost looked, at first, as though He failed to teach it to the twelve men who had been with Him almost constantly for three years.

I believe that if we are humble enough, we will get a great blessing. And I think that blessing depends more on us than the Lord. He is always ready to give a blessing and give it freely, but we aren’t always in a position to receive it. He always blesses the humble. If we can get down in the dust before Him, we won’t be disappointed. It was Mary at the feet of Jesus, who had chosen the good part (Luke 10:42).

Did you ever notice the reason Christ gave for learning of Him? He could have said, “Learn of me, because I am the most advanced thinker of the age. I have performed miracles that no other man has performed. I have shown my supernatural power in a thousand ways.” But no, the reason He gave was that He was gentle and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29).

We read of the three men in Scripture whose faces shone. All three were noted for their meekness and humility. We are told that the face of Christ shone at His transfiguration. Moses, after he had been on the mount for forty days, came down from his communion with God with a shining face. And when Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin on the day of his death, his face shone like the face of an angel. If we desire our faces to shine, we must get into the valley of humility and go down in the dust before God.

Bunyan says that it is hard to get down into the valley of humiliation. The descent is steep and rugged. But it is very fruitful, fertile, and beautiful when we get there. I think that no one will dispute that. Almost every man, even the ungodly, admires meekness.

Someone asked Augustine what the most important Christian quality was. He said, “Humility.” They asked him what the second was, and he replied, “Humility.” They asked him the third, and he said, “Humility.” I think that if we are humble, we have all the graces.

Some years ago, I saw what is called a sensitive plant. I happened to breathe on it, and suddenly it drooped its head. I touched it, and it withered away. Humility is as sensitive as that. It can’t safely be brought out on exhibition. A man who flatters himself and believes that he is humble and walking close to the Master is self-deceived. Humility consists not in thinking poorly of ourselves but in not thinking of ourselves at all. Moses didn’t expect his face to shine. If humility speaks of itself, it is gone.

Someone said that the grass is an illustration of this lowly quality. It was created for the lowliest service. Cut it, and it springs up again. The cattle feed upon it, and yet how beautiful it is.

The showers fall upon the mountain peaks, and very often leave them barren, because the water rushes down into the meadows and valleys and makes the lowly places fertile. If a man is proud and lifted up, rivers of grace may flow over him and leave him barren and unfruitful. However, they bring blessing to the man who has been brought low by the grace of God.

A man can imitate love, faith, hope, and all the other graces. But it’s very difficult to imitate humility. It’s easy to detect fake or imitation humility.

They have a saying in the East, that as the tares and wheat grow, they show which God has blessed. The ears that God has blessed bow their heads and acknowledge every grain. The more fruitful they are, the lower their heads are bowed. The tares which God has sent as a curse, lift their heads erect, high above the wheat, but their only fruit is evil.

I have a pear tree on my farm which is very beautiful. It is one of the prettiest trees on my property. Every branch reaches up to the light and stands almost like a wax candle, but I never get any fruit from it. I have another tree which was so full of fruit last year that the branches almost touched the ground. If we only get down low enough, God will use every one of us to His glory.

As the lark that soars the highest, builds her nest the lowest. As the nightingale that sings so sweetly, sings in the shade when all things rest. As the branches that are most laden with fruit, bend lowest. And as the ship most laden, sinks deepest in the water. Christians who bear the most fruit are the humblest.

Some years ago, The London Times told the story of a petition that was being circulated for signatures. It was a time of great excitement, and the petition was intended to have great influence in the House of Lords. But there was one word left out. Instead of reading, “We humbly beseech thee,” it read, “We beseech thee.” So it was ruled out. If we want to make an appeal to the God of heaven, we must humble ourselves. If we humble ourselves before the Lord, we won’t be disappointed.

As I studied the lives of those mentioned in the Bible who demonstrated humility, I grew convicted. I ask you to pray that I may have humility. When I examine my life next to the lives of some of those men, I say, shame on Christianity of the present day. If you want to get a good idea of yourself, look at some of the people in the Bible that have been clothed with meekness and humility, and note the contrast between their position and your position before God and man.

One of the meekest men in history was John the Baptist. Remember when they asked if he was Elijah, or this prophet, or that prophet?

He said, “No.”

He could have said some very flattering things about himself. He could have said, “I am the son of the old priest Zacharias. Haven’t you heard of my fame as a preacher? I have probably baptized more people than any man living. The world has never seen a preacher like me.”

I honestly believe that today most men in his position would do that. Some time ago, I heard a man on the train talking so loud that all the people in the car could hear him. He declared that he had baptized more people than any man in his denomination. He boasted about how many thousands of miles he had traveled, how many sermons he had preached, and how many open-air services he had held. He carried on until I was so ashamed that I hid my head. This is the age of boasting and arrogance. It is the day of the great “I.”

I recently realized that in all the Psalms you can’t find any place where David refers to his victory over the giant, Goliath. If David lived today, there would have been an entire book written about it immediately. I’m sure many poems would tell of the great things he had done. He would have been in demand as a lecturer, and would have added a title to his name, like G.G.K. for Great Giant Killer. That’s how it is today. We have great evangelists, great preachers, great theologians, and great bishops.

“John,” they asked, “who are you?”

“I am nobody. I’m to be heard and not seen. I am only a voice.”

He didn’t have a word to say about himself.

I once heard a little bird faintly singing close by me, but when it got clear out of sight, its notes were even sweeter. The higher it flew, the sweeter its song became. If we can only get self out of sight and learn of Him who is meek and lowly in heart. We will be lifted up into heavenly places.

Mark tells us that John came and preached, After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals (Mark 1:7). Think of that. Keep in mind that Christ was looked upon as a deceiver and a village carpenter. Yet here’s John, the son of an old priest. John had a much higher position in the sight of men than Jesus. Great crowds came to hear him, and even Herod heard him speak.

When his disciples came and told John that Christ was beginning to draw big crowds, he ...

Table of contents

• Contents
• The Christian’s Warfare
• Internal Foes
• External Foes
• Repentance
• Lessons from Noah and the Ark
• Gifts of Grace
• I Will
• Dwight L. Moody – A Brief Biography