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There are many people in this world that do not call upon the Lord because
their pride is too great and they don't want to admit of their weaknesses.
We must all realize that we need God in our lives mainly because we are lost
without Him. If you are one who struggles with pride, I encourage you to not
allow pride to keep you from being in God's perfect will and allowing Him to
lead your life as He wishes to do. The Lord can do great things through us,
but we must make ourselves available in all humility to be used of Him. The
Bible declares in 1 Peter 5:5-6, "…Yea, all of you be subject one to
another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and
giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty
hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." (Isaiah 6:8)
I hope this message ministers to your heart to remain humble so the
blessing of the Lord can flow freely through your life.
LOST BUT PROUD
It's a familiar scenario. A man is driving his family on vacation; let's
say they're going from Chicago to California. His wife gently points out
to him that she just saw a sign saying, "Welcome to Kentucky". Kentucky is
definitely not between Chicago and California. Repeatedly, the Mrs.
suggests the Mr. stop and ask directions. Then she says that four-letter
word "I think we're lost." But will he stop and ask for directions? No!
Maybe it's something in the male chromosome like most men, he's too proud
to admit he's lost. And he's probably not going to end up where he hoped.
When it comes to our eternal destination, I think most of us hope to end
up in heaven. But do you know what will keep a lot of people from ending
up where they hope to? Pride. The kind that is just too proud to admit
that you're lost...that you can't get there on your own. There's a powerful
picture of this from the Word of God in II Kings 5:1. It's the story of a
Syrian general named Naaman who discovers that he has the incurable disease
of leprosy. None of his victories, none of his fame can help him. So he
accepts advice to go to the prophet Elisha in Israel who prescribes
something that is not his idea of how to get well. "Go wash yourself seven
times in the Jordan River, and your flesh will be restored and you will be
cleansed."
Naaman is furious. He says, "I thought he would surely come out to me and
stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the
spot and cure me of my leprosy." The general had brought money to pay for
a cure, but the prophet wouldn't take it. Naaman had his own idea of how
he could get cured. But if it wasn't God's idea it wouldn't work. Finally,
"he went down the Bible says and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,
as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean
like that of a young man."
Naaman would go on dying until he swallowed his pride and did it God's way.
You and I go on carrying the death penalty for our sin until we swallow our
pride and come to God His way. Which is to lay aside all our attempts to
get to Him through our own goodness, through our religion, through our
spiritual connections and to go to the cross of Jesus and let Him wash away
our sins.
And only Jesus can. He said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me"
(John 14:6). That's because there was only one way to pay your death
penalty; somebody had to die. And Jesus did. We're drowning and we can't
possibly swim to God. Our only hope is Jesus the Rescuer it's in abandoning
every other hope of heaven and grabbing onto Jesus like He's your only hope
because He truly is.
Don't let your pride make you miss heaven, being too proud to admit you've
never really given yourself to Jesus even though everyone thinks you
have...too proud to come to your spouse's faith...too proud to lay aside
depending on your religion. Let this be your Jesus-day. If you're too proud
to admit you need Him, you'll never end up in heaven. Pride can literally
cost you your soul. Don't let it.
Author Unknown
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Proverbs 16:18-20 "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit
before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly,
than to divide the spoil with the proud. He that handleth a matter wisely
shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he."
1 John 2:15-17 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever."
Proverbs 28:25-27 "He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he
that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat. He that trusteth in
his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes
shall have many a curse."
Psalm 37:3-6 "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and
He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the
LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass. And He shall bring
forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: MY CHOICE
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem25.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: CAST YOUR CARES UPON HIM
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony82.htm
In Christ's Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
