Voice: Li Huan
Today is Thursday, 18th of June. Take a moment to be still in His presence.
Psalm 63:1-7
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.
Luke 14:7-11
7Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,
8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,
9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.
10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.
11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Humility
We are all conscious of our place in the pecking order of life. At formal occasions—a wedding banquet or a corporate dinner, for example—where we are seated can become surprisingly important. Our place at the table seems to say something about our social standing and worth. Naturally, our pride inclines us to seek the seat of honour.
Yet Jesus teaches the opposite. He tells us not to presume upon our status but to choose the lower place. Then, if the host says, “Friend, move up higher,” we will be honoured in the presence of all. Humility, rather than self-promotion, is the path to true exaltation.
Have you ever asked yourself: Why does God exalts the humble?
Is He like us as parents, preferring to side with the humbler child and frown upon the overconfident one?
Human beings live with two very different kinds of life: our real life, and the imaginary one we construct in our own minds or in the opinions of others. We labor endlessly to embellish and protect this imaginary existence while neglecting our real one. Seeking humility, therefore, is first and foremost an act for our true self—before it is even an act of faith. It is deeply human to be humble.
In fact, the Latin word for man (homo) and humility (humilitas) both come from the same root—humus, meaning earth or ground. In pursuing humility, we must go down—below the calm waters of our self-illusions—until we reach the solid ground of truth about ourselves. This is not easy, for a force stronger than the sea—our innate pride—constantly pushes us upward, tempting us to rise above others and even above ourselves. But only when we overcome this illusory self can we stand before God as we truly are. As St. Francis of Assisi said:
“What a man is before God, that he is, and no more.”
True humility is inseparable from truth. Pride is a falsehood about ourselves, and “God is light” (1 John 1:5)—He is truth—and can only meet us in truth. He gives grace to the humble because only the humble recognize grace for what it is.
St. Teresa of Avila once wrote:
“One day I was wondering why God so loves the humble when it suddenly struck me that this must be because He is the supreme Truth, and humility is truth.”
We end with this ancient prayer of St. Ephrem of Syria:
O Lord of my life, take away from me the spirit of laziness,
faint-heartedness, lust for power and idle talk.
Instead grant me, your servant, the spirit of purity, humility, patience and love.
Yes, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own sins and faults
and not to judge my neighbor, for you are truly blessed forever.
Amen.
In closing, be blessed by this song, Cry For humility
Lord I Cry For humility
Crush the pride that has blinded me
Forgive my hidden faults and bring the fear of God
Until Your dread’s in me
I will worship in spirit and in truth
Teach me discipline to meditate on You
You gave up Your life
I must give my all to You
Remove the veil so I can see
Grant me grace to see my wickedness
You must increase
While I become less
Keep Your servant from willful sin
So I’ll stand blameless before Your throne
I will worship in spirit and in truth
Teach me discipline to meditate on You
You gave up Your life
I must give my all to You
Remove the veil so I can see
I will worship in spirit and in truth
Teach me discipline to meditate on You
You gave up Your life
I must give my all to You
Remove the veil so I can see
Remove the veil so I can see
Remove the veil so I can see
I want to see You
I want to know You
I want to see You
It is my all
It is my everything to know You
It is my all
It is my everything to know You
Daily Devotion 
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