Followers of Messiah have the wonderful benefit of guidance from the heavenly Father by His Holy Spirit.
Knowing Father’s guidance, by His Word and by His Holy Spirit, comes to us through an essential key attitude — humility!
If we want to know Father’s direction, we must choose to humble ourselves.
Messiah Yahushua [ the Hebrew name for Christ Jesus] exhorts us to learn of Him! Why? Because He wants us to learn to be as He is: meek and lowly [humble] of heart (Matthew 11:29).
As children of the Most High, we should naturally have a strong desire to learn of and follow our Saviour in every way!
But, being sincerely humble is not easy!
Our prideful human nature makes us believe that we can handle life without God’s input; that we can manage just fine on our own! But behaving with a prideful spirit only ends in trouble and disgrace as the Proverbs warn us:
Pride goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18; see also Proverbs 11:2; 13:10).
The Spirit is Willing
Walking in humility can be a struggle.
The carnal nature seeks to maintain its identity and independence! But our spirit yearns to be humble, gracious, and acceptable to Yahuwah Elohim [the Hebrew name for the LORD God].
Our flesh boasts of its wisdom and capabilities. But our spirit, our inner-most-being, wants to rely on the truth of Father’s written Word, and on the leading of His Holy Spirit.
Thus the struggle: the struggle between our flesh’s demand for preeminence, and our spirit’s deepest desire to maintain a humble and contrite spirit before Yahuwah, our Creator (Isaiah 57:15 and Matthew 26:41).
When my carnal mind refuses to yield to Yahuwah’s written Word and the Holy Spirit’s leading; when I confidently think I have every ‘right’ to believe my estimation of my situation is correct, then I am exhibiting a haughty spirit! If I am of a wrong spirit, then I will exclaim that my perspective is completely justified!!
These kind of moments test our resolve to speak the truth within our heart (Psalms 15:1-2). Such prideful moments test our perspective about ourselves! Are we thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought (Romans 12:3)? Do we honestly desire to walk in The Way of Truth (Psalms 119:30)?
If we have been behaving with a prideful spirit, then an uneasy, bitter feeling begins to settle over us, and it will not go away — not until we humble ourselves.
Dependence on God
If we are not willing to live our life in dependence on God and on His written Word (including the ‘little things’), then we are fooling ourselves in thinking we are humble.
But when we truly humble ourselves, then we will seek to renounce our independence from Yahuwah, and we will proclaim our dependence on Yahuwah.
This is exactly what Yahuwah instructs us to do:
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God (1Peter 5:6a).
We humble ourselves by choosing, with our words and actions, to depend on Yahuwah’s written WORD, and on the Holy Spirit’s confirming guidance within us. Yahushua told us how we can recognize the Holy Spirit’s guidance:
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come,
He will guide you into all truth:
for He shall not speak of Himself;
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak:
and He will shew you things to come.
He shall glorify me (Yahushua Messiah):
for He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
(John 16:13-14)
As this passage teaches us, the Holy Spirit will guide us in a way that glorifies Yahushua Messiah. And the Holy Spirit will always lead us into the way of humility because this is the nature and character of Messiah: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:29).
If the Spirit of Messiah dwells within us, then the Holy Spirit will confirm in us a direction of yieldedness and humility, just as Messiah did — He yielded and humbled Himself before the Father (Romans 8:9 and John 8:29 and Luke 22:42.
There will be times when our heart’s desire is in conflict with Father’s written Scriptures. This is where the real test of our humility happens! Will we be submissive to the written Word of Yahuwah, or will we trust in our own heart?
If we are completely honest; if we are sincerely humble, then, whenever there is an internal conflict within ourselves, we will choose to wait patiently, while seeking to obey Father’s Word. Regardless of how we may feel, the humble of heart knows that God’s written Word alone is the only path we can trust.
Our feelings will fluctuate, and therefore feelings are not to be our guiding influence.
Will we choose the path of humility and maintain our obedience to Yahuwah’s written Word?
Or will we trust our heart, and do what seems right in our own eyes?
Remember, our heart is not a reliable source of truth (Jeremiah 17:9)! The Proverbs warn us about trusting in our own heart: He that trusts in his own heart is a fool (Proverbs 28:26a).
Humbling Ourselves
When we choose to humble ourselves, most often it means recognizing our arrogance, and then coming down from our high-mindedness. In humility, we will take the necessary steps to repent of our prideful attitudes and behaviours, and repent of any disobedience to Father’s written Words.
It is then that Father opens up His direction and guidance for us.
Many times, His initial direction will mean humbling ourselves before others, which is another real test of our humility and our dependence on God! Will we? Can we? – admit to someone else the sin of our haughty attitude? But often, that is the step that begins to restore our peace with Yahuwah.
Humility is a decision.
We must decide [frequently] to be humble of heart, attitude, and mind if we want to walk with God:
He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what Yahuwah requires of you, but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Humility is very evident in those who know Yahuwah.
Notice these two quotes from men who knew the importance of humility in receiving the Holy Spirit’s guidance:
“Perhaps the greatest hindrance to our work is our own imagined strength. The Father taught me in my helplessness to pray, even about little things, in which another might have felt able to handle himself.” —Hudson Taylor
—
“One of the best things I ever do is get on the floor before the Lord and lie there on my face. When you’re on the floor, you’re safe. There’s no lower you can go. I say to the Lord, ‘Lord, I want You to know, that I know that this is where I belong. I don’t have the answers. I’m totally dependent on You.’ And you wait there until you feel a release in your spirit from the Lord.” —Derek Prince
Without a humble heart-attitude, some situations will thoroughly test our determination to honour Father in all that we do. The testings will often mean a full measure of humiliation.
But if we will ask Yahuwah’s help to walk in humility before Him, then we will be more open to perceiving and receiving His written Word and His guidance in any matter! When we walk in humility, Father delights to impart His grace and strength to us (see James 4:10; Psalms 27:14).
By walking in humility, we will also know the truth of Psalms 119:165 — “Great peace have they which love Your Torah (God’s instructions, teachings, and guidelines): and nothing shall offend them!”
—
Related Articles:
- 4 Keys to Discerning the Guidance of the Holy Spirit
- Let Me Not Wander From Your Commandments
- Turning From Darkness to Light
- Building the Walls of Our Character
- Preparing Your Heart
- The Word – or The Spirit
- A Way That Seems Right: Avoiding the Strong Delusion
—
Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul
Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul 
Another great post, Deborah! I linked this post to a private Facebook group called “Mother’s of the Tribe” in a section on humility. I know it will be well received. :)
Thank you K, for your encouraging comment!
Baruch haba b’shem Yahuwah!
Blessings to you! :)
Deborah,
This post is short of amazing!
It breaks down in layman’s terms how to identify what John said in 1 John 2:16, “16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” This is what hinders us from adhering to the guidance of the Holy Spirit because humility can not come from these 3.
Your comment, “The carnal nature seeks to maintain its identity and independence! But our spirit yearns to be humble, gracious, and acceptable to Yahuwah Elohim” is an understatement! I want to scream it from the rooftop!
Thank you for your obedience to the Holy Spirit! I needed this so much!! Thank you!
BeShea
Thank you BeShea very much for your comment! May Yahuwah bless you and keep you… Numbers 6:24-27