Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”- Proverbs 16:18
“In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.”- Psalm 10:4
Insight: Yesterday, we began our discussion on pride and the negative consequences of it. Today we go even deeper to understand its power to deceive, distract and destroy us. We must understand that our pride is the devil’s playground. Our pride is the great destroyer. It is the area of our life where we reach maximum rebellion against the Lordship of the God of the Universe. It is where we say we don’t need God, we know better than God, we have a plan that is better than God’s and where we reject the belief that there are any consequences to our rejection of God. How wicked and how foolish are we? This is where the devil finds fertile soil in our lives to destroy us. He plays on our pride to bring us to our destruction and many times, by the time we realize it, it is too late. The damage is done and we are left in the wreckage heap of our life. 1 John 2:16 warns us that “for everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” In other words, be careful because there is a mortal enemy out there who is wanting to destroy you and will use your own pride to bring you down.
So in practical terms what does this really mean and what does it look like? Proverbs 16:18 above really sums it up for us, but let’s put it into real life context. Every time I think I know better than God, in my pride I am setting myself up for a fall. Every time I think there are no consequences for my sinful decisions and behaviors, in my pride I am setting myself up for a fall. Every time I put anything else before God, in my pride I am setting myself up for a fall. Every time I think what the world offers is better than what God offers, in my pride I am setting myself up for a fall. This one is a real struggle. My nature is to turn back to lesser things which never truly satisfy at the expense of just being content under God’s direction. What does God offer us? Unconditional love, acceptance, grace and forgiveness. What does the world offer? The allure of deception, tempting me in my pride to give in to my sinful nature. My pride wants to, like the fish, see the worm dangling in front of me but not the hook. My pride says look at that sexy girl or that beautiful car or the huge mansion, it should be yours! You deserve it! Go and take it. No one will know. The devil plays on the allure of deception and our visual nature to hook us in with our pride, only for us to find that the temptation left us empty. The prideful sin that was cloaked in deception looks good but feels bad. Just ask Adam and Eve, who in their pride gave into the deception of a beautiful vision of a luscious fruit, only to find themselves guilt ridden and naked, gone from paradise to imprisonment in an instant, due to their foolish and prideful rebellion. We are sitting targets when we are prideful. I have learned these lessons the hard way throughout my life. Things are not what they always appear to be. The devil wants to trick us in our pride. Seek God first and ask Him to protect you from your pride by humbly submitting to the One who truly knows what is best for us. And then listen to and obey what He says. You will be glad you did in the long run.
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