Healing Begins with Humility

Pride forms a barrier between us and growth. When we believe we have all the answers, we create no space to receive new wisdom or healing. This spiritual principle appears throughout Scripture - God exalts the humble but resists the proud. Why? Because humility acknowledges our need for something beyond ourselves.

Jesus consistently bypassed religious elites to fellowship with society's outcasts. When questioned about dining with "sinners," His response was profoundly simple: "Those who are well have no need for a physician." Only those who recognize their sickness seek healing. During Holy Week, we're reminded how Jesus entered Jerusalem on a humble donkey. The common people recognized Him while religious authorities questioned His authority, unable to see God's work because it didn't conform to their expectations.

Many of us struggle with the idea of submission because those in authority over us, who were supposed to protect us, hurt us. When those meant to protect us cause harm instead, walls form. We associate submission with control rather than its true purpose: receiving protection, wisdom, and growth from those further along the journey. God never forces submission - He guides and instructs while preserving our freedom to choose. True authority serves rather than dominates.

The most extraordinary miracles often aren't physical but internal - deep healing of wounded hearts that transforms victims into vessels of healing for others. This restoration begins with humility to admit we need help and continues as we forgive what we cannot forget. Your healing journey isn't just for you; your testimony builds faith in others that their wounds aren't beyond God's reach.

Are you struggling with trusting authority? Has pride built walls that keep even God at a distance? Consider how humbling yourself might create space for the healing and growth you've been seeking. Your breakthrough may be just one prayer away: "Lord, help me."

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Family Updates
• 3:28 New Projects and Devotional Podcast Plans
• 4:24 The Importance of Humility for Growth
• 8:55 Jesus and Religious Authority Confrontations
• 18:28 Understanding True Submission vs Control
• 22:58 The Healing Path for Wounded Hearts
• 27:45 Prayer and Call to Action

Transcript

Audrey: 1:13

Hello friends, welcome back to Grace From my Home. I hope that you're doing well. We are Today's an exciting day. My oldest, two sons, david and Luke, are going to the prom tonight. One is a senior, one is a junior. They're excited about that. I've been helping them get ready, get their tux ready, those kind of things. We're taking photos, and so that's a milestone. Photos, and so that's a milestone. I'll probably post a couple of photos on social media if they'll let me. They don't like that and I understand, but it is an important day and I am mom, so maybe they'll let me. Also, easter is this Sunday. Looking forward to that.

Audrey: 1:56

We don't have a whole lot planned for next week. Next week my boys are off for spring break, off of school for spring break, and we don't have a whole lot planned for that, but just to rest, which I think is a wonderful plan. I do have some fun things coming down the pike, some new work, some new projects that I'm working on. One is a Bible study. I'm working on a Bible study for you guys, for those who want to go a little deeper in the word with me. Also, I am knocking around the idea of starting a devotional podcast like a daily devotional podcast. I'd love to hear if anyone out there is interested in that. Just a short five, six minute podcast each day, monday through Friday, because I really enjoy podcasting and encouraging you in the world. So if that is something you'd be interested in, give me a shout. Let me know if you would like to stay up to date with me and things that are going on. You can sign up for my email newsletter. I send out an email at least once a week, sometimes twice, just depending on what's going on, but if you go to the show notes and click on join my email list, you'll be the first to know when I add things and what things are going on, and sometimes I'll share things with that group that I don't share on the podcast.

Audrey: 3:12

Today I want to talk with you about the importance of staying humble and how that helps us grow. God has set up principles in his kingdom and it is good for us to learn what those principles are, because our life goes better and things go better for us when we understand the world that we're in, and the one way we do that is through God's word. God's word is infallible. It is eternal. It is the way God set up the universe. In his word, he has shared things with us, important things, and as we get in the word and we find out these nuggets, these valuable truths, it helps us to run our own life better. But in order to do that, it helps us to run our own life better, but in order to do that, we have to admit that there are things we don't know.

Audrey: 4:08

A person who is controlled by pride, a person who cannot admit that there are things that they don't know, cannot grow. See, in order to grow, you have to admit, at least to yourself, that there are areas where you need help, and to ask for help is to humble yourself and to say I need help, I do not understand this. Sometimes we have trouble doing that. So we have to admit to ourselves that there are things that we don't know before we can learn new things, because if we think we know everything, then we really don't have any room for anything else. If we think we have it all together, then there's really no room for growth, because we don't need anything.

Audrey: 4:53

See, that's one of the blessings of remembering that we're a work in progress. That's one of the things that remembering that we're a work in progress. That's one of the things that can be comforting when you look at your life and you see all the mistakes you've made and you can admit that you've made a lot of mistakes To me, it comforts me to remember that I'm a work in progress, that none of my mistakes have caught Jesus off guard, that he's not surprised or ashamed or embarrassed of me. He knows I'm a work in progress and he knows I need him and I know I need him. And that puts me in a good position, because when you know you need something and you know that something is Jesus, he has promised to be there for us. He's promised he'd never leave us, he'd never, he will never forsake us. You know it says in Matthew 23, 12, god exalts the humble but resists the proud. You know there's a theme that goes throughout the Bible God exalts the humble but he resists the proud. See, if we can humble ourself beneath the mighty hand of God, he will exalt us in due time. But he resists those who are prideful because they don't need him.

Audrey: 5:59

When Jesus came to the earth, he did not associate with the people that the leaders thought he should associate with. He humbled himself to go to the humble. He humbled himself to hang out with those who were sick, who were sinful, those who did not have it all together, those who were looked down upon by the rest of society. He humbled himself to be found with them. And when questioned about that, lord, why do you eat with sinners? Lord, why are you having a meal with a tax collector? He said those who are well have no need for a physician. A meal with a tax collector? He said those who are well have no need for a physician. He understood and he understands our needs. We need him.

Audrey: 6:51

We have a sin problem and he understood that we all have a sin problem, whether we think we do or not. No matter how much we put on, no matter how much you know, we try to cover up our sin problem. He knew every man has a sin problem, no matter how good they think they are, no matter how much they think they have worked, you know, out of that hole or how much they have dolled up the outside. Jesus knew that in the heart, everyone has the same sin problem. We may not have all the same sins, but we've all got the same problem and that is that we have a sinful heart. And he is the solution. But he went to those who actually saw that they had a need. Because if you don't have a need, if you don't recognize your need, then you're not going to accept or receive the solution. Now, james 1.5 says if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives liberally to all, and it will be given to him. But see, that's another example of if you have a need, you have to humble yourself to ask. And you know Jesus isn't asking us to do anything he didn't do.

Audrey: 7:59

It says in Philippians that he humbled himself to become a man. He is God. And he humbled himself to take on the body of a man. He became a man of flesh and blood. And then it says he humbled himself even more to die on a cross. So not only did he come as a man, he could have came as a man, as king, you know. He could have came, as you know, an all grander, but he didn't. He came as a humble carpenter, but then he died as a criminal. So he humbled himself to become a man and then he died a very shameful death. And he did that. He humbled himself so he could lift us up.

Audrey: 8:40

He said in the last chapter of Matthew, in chapter 28,. Before he ascended back to heaven, he said all authority has been given to me. Why was all authority given to Jesus? Because he obeyed. He was a man, he was God, but he was a man who obeyed to the end. He humbled himself, and so God, the Father, lifted him up, exalted him and now, being exalted, he draws all men to him.

Audrey: 9:54

But while he was on this earth, while Jesus was on this earth, what we have recorded in the Bible shows us that he greatly upset the status quo of his day. The religious system that he was born into was not ready for him and those who were in charge of that religious system. He upset them time and time again because he was challenging number one what they knew and what they thought, but also their own authority. Their power over men rested in their authority, and so when Jesus came on the scene and he didn't play by their rules, this greatly upset them, and so they started questioning his authority. At the time of me recording this, we're in the middle of Holy Week, it's Wednesday Sunday this past Sunday was Palm Sunday and we're coming up on Good Friday, and so we're celebrating the last week of Jesus's life here on earth leading up to his crucifixion and death and burial and resurrection.

Audrey: 11:09

That week began with Jesus entering into the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey. See, he humbled himself. He rode in on a donkey and the common folk not the religious leaders, but the common folk were shouting to him Hosanna in the highest, and they were calling him son of David. See, they recognized him for who he was. The humble recognized him as the kink, the one promised. And this made the Pharisees furious. So they asked him aren't you going to stop them? Don't you hear what they're saying? They understood very well what the people were saying about Jesus and they weren't wrong, and so Jesus did not correct them or stop them or rebuke them.

Audrey: 11:58

But this made the Pharisees furious and shortly after that, as he came into the city, he went to the temple and he saw the money changers in the temple and it made him angry and he flipped over the tables and he said you have turned what is supposed to be a house of prayer into a den of thieves. And this further infuriated the Pharisees and those and the religious leaders and those who ran the temple. They were angry with him. So they came to him and asked him who are you, by what authority are you doing these things? And this is an important conversation that he had with those who were in charge at that time, who were the religious leaders. And we know that because it's in three of the Gospels it's in Matthew, matthew 21. It's in Mark, mark 11. And it's in Luke, luke 20.

Audrey: 12:55

And in this conversation they come to Jesus and they say by whose authority are you doing these things? And he tells them and I'm paraphrasing, I'm taking all three and putting it in my words, so that's why I give you the scripture reference. You can go and read it for yourself. And he says I will answer your question by whose authority I do these things. If you answer my question, by whose authority did John baptize? Was it by the authority of man or the authority of God?

Audrey: 13:27

See, john the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ and he was out in the desert baptizing in the Jordan, and people were flocking to him to be baptized and they were repenting for their sins. But the Pharisees refused to be baptized by John the Baptist. They didn't recognize what God was doing through him. They didn't recognize his authority. They would not stoop down to be baptized by this lunatic out in the desert. But God was moving and he was bypassing the religious leaders. But God was moving and he was bypassing the religious leaders. See, jesus was under that same authority. God was doing a new thing. There was an anointing on John's life, and so God was flowing through John. That was God's authority and the people recognized it.

Audrey: 14:15

And now the Pharisees are in a dilemma because if they say it was the authority of God, then he will say well, why didn't you believe him? Why didn't you submit and be baptized under John, if you believed? Because many people flocked to John. The people believed him to be a prophet of God, and he was. But the Pharisees did not honor him as a prophet, they did not submit to that authority. But if they were to say, well, john's authority is of man, then the people would have rose up, because the people knew, they recognized this is God's authority, and so they would have been angry. So they were in a quandary. They couldn't answer either way, and so they told Jesus we can't answer that. So he said well, I won't tell you by what authority I'm doing these things, because it was the same authority. So if they weren't going to recognize the authority of God flowing through John. They weren't going to recognize the authority of God flowing through Jesus and they refused to recognize that Jesus was from God, even though he was doing all of these things that only God could do.

Audrey: 15:21

Now you might say why am I bringing all this up? Where does all this come from? Well, who we submit to? What authority we submit to matters we have and I'm doing a generalization here. Okay, as a people, we have made the word submission a bad word, and the Bible says submit, ye one to another. But we've made that word a bad word, and with good reason.

Audrey: 15:53

The principle of submission has been weaponized and used for control. Weaponized and used for control. See, god never controls us. He leads us, he guides us, he instructs us, he corrects us. But we're always free to obey or free to disobey. He tells us the truth and he leads us in the path of life. And if we have ears to hear and we're smart, if we're wise, we will obey. But that involves submitting to his authority, recognizing that he's God and we're not, and that he has our best interest in mind, and following him. True submission is an act of the will and it cannot be forced To force someone to submit or to obey is to control and manipulate, and God doesn't do that.

Audrey: 16:44

The idea of submission and the idea of authority is from God. See, all authority comes from him. He set up authority. Authority has been set up for the protection of those under it.

Audrey: 16:57

A father loves, protects, sacrifices, serves, instructs his children, but so many people have been hurt by the very authority that was set up and established to protect them that we have a lot of trust issues, and rightly so. I've seen a lot of people who have been hurt by authority, who have built up this wall, this wall of offense and this wall of pride, and they will not submit to authority, they will not honor the authority that God's put in their life or recognize it, because they associate authority with abuse. And they have been hurt. And we rise up with this pride of I will not submit, I will not be hurt again, I will not, I do not need anyone, and we put this wall around us and we think that we're protecting ourselves, but what we're really doing is we're keeping God out and we get to the point we cannot humble ourselves to any authority. So therefore, we cannot receive the blessing that comes from authority, the protection, the instruction, the grace, because we refuse to submit and I don't mean submit as in you know, bow down and whatever you want, I'll do that.

Audrey: 18:27

That's not what I mean. I mean a recognition of you know. This person has been put in my life for my good, that God wants to do something in my life through this person. This person has something or knows something that I need, and that's how we receive from each other, especially someone who has been walking with the Lord longer than we have, and that is a discipleship, right, that's how we disciple. There's a person who's been walking with God longer than me, who knows something that God knows I need, and so he brings these people into our lives. That God knows I need and so he brings these people into our lives. But when we've had abuse or when we've been hurt or offended or you know, those things distort our ability to receive from other people. But Jesus is a healer and he can help us.

Audrey: 19:19

You know, a lot of times people ask I come from a denomination where we believe in healing, we believe in praying for the sick. Is everybody healed? No, not physically, they're not. But the Bible says if any among you are sick, call the elders to pray, and so we pray and we pray, believing the Lord to touch that person. And I have seen miracles. I thank the Lord for physical miracles, but I'm going to tell you, I have seen miracles of the soul and the heart and the mind that are just beautiful. Now I've seen God come in and heal years of trauma and anger and resentment just by that person asking, admitting they need help and saying Lord, help me, lord, I need your help.

Audrey: 20:18

And, guys, he wants to do that. He wants to touch us where we hurt the most. He wants to heal us where we've been broken. And it starts with that humbling ourselves and believing that God has our best interest in mind and and forgiving what we can't forget. Now, I didn't coin that phrase. There's a book by Lisa Turkhurst titled Forgiving what you Can't Forget, and I recommend that book. It's a wonderful book about healing and finding peace and creating a new life in Christ. Guys, god has a path for us, he has a plan for us. He wants us to grow, he wants us to become more and more like him and to become more and more wise and to become women of strength, women who have something to give to the world and to those who need it, those who are hungry and thirsty and need him. He wants to use us to do that. But we ourselves must be healed before we are able, before we are ready, to share those things with others.

Audrey: 21:33

See, hurt people hurt other people. If we've not been healed of the issues of our heart and we're still holding resentment and anger and that pride that tries to say I don't need anything or anyone else, if we are still there, then we're not healed and we're not going to be effective in the kingdom because we are going to put our fence on other people and we'll have trust issues. We won't be able to trust even those who have our best interest in mind, because they will remind us of those who hurt us. But see, jesus, I'm not saying it's easy process. It's definitely not an instant process, but I'm saying it's a possible process that Jesus brings healing to the soul. But first we have to believe it's possible that Jesus brings healing to the soul. But first we have to believe it's possible and then we have to humble ourselves to ask, and then we have to be willing to walk on the road of healing.

Audrey: 22:32

Just to share a little bit about my past. God has healed me of so many things, things I never thought I could be healed of. But see, it takes faith. Jesus said anything is possible to those who believe, only believe. And there were seasons in my life that I just thought I'm a mess, I'm never going to be of any value to anybody else. You know, lord, heal me. Lord, I want you to heal me, but I just I don't see how I don't see a way out of this. And I'm here to tell you today there's a way out. He is a healing God, he is a forgiving God. He does miracles, and you know how I know he does miracles, because I see myself every day in the mirror and I think that's a miracle. He restores us to make us a vessel that he can use to pour out to others, and that's a beautiful thing.

Audrey: 23:30

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, and sometimes people need to hear your story. They need to hear your story because you have a story of healing or a story of what God has done in your life, and maybe they hear your story because you have a story of healing or a story of what God has done in your life and maybe they're struggling with the same thing and when they hear your story, it will build hope. It will build faith in their heart that if God could do that for her, then he could do that for me. And so I want to encourage you today stay on the path of healing, stay on the path of growth. But you got to humble yourself beneath the mighty hand of God so he can exalt you in due time. You got to trust him with your hurts, that he's not going to hurt you, that he loves you, and I love you too.

Audrey: 24:11

And before we go today, I'd like to pray with you, father, I thank you that you specialize in hard cases and that you are not intimidated, lord, by our past or our hurts, though they seem insurpassable to us. And I pray today that hope would grow in the hearts and the minds of those who are listening today, that you would help them to find that road of healing and to walk with you. Lord Jesus, you said those who are well do not need a physician. So, lord, I confess today that I need a physician, that there are areas in my own heart, lord, that are not healed yet. But I'm on the path and I pray, lord, god in heaven, that you would lead us as we walk together to you.

Audrey: 25:00

And Lord, that until you come or you call, we would stay on the path. And Lord, that you would bring healing, not just to us but through us to other people through our testimony and our faithful walk with you. And we honor you, lord, and we thank you for your miracles in Jesus name. Amen for your miracles in Jesus name. Amen. That's it for today. If today's message spoke to you, would you please share it with a friend, and also if you would please leave me a review wherever you listen to podcasts, I would really appreciate it, because that helps other people find this show and it may be just what they need. As always, I'm cheering you on and until next time, stay rooted, stay faithful and keep your eyes on Jesus. God bless.