Praying that your week was fabulous! I'm still studying and listening to the Holy Spirit to determine what can be hindering my blessings. The Word says, "in the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established." Matthew 18:16 (KJV) All week, minister after minister I listened to was speaking about "Pride". Yes, pride! Sure, you probably think this message has nothing to do with you. So did I.
James 4:6 says, "God resisteth the proud". Could it be that I'm operating in pride and causing God to resist me? James was writing to the church! He was not writing to the world. Pride is Self-Centered. Pastor Duane Sheriff describes pride like a stick. One end of the pride stick is arrogance and the other end of the same stick is false humility. Arrogance is an insulting way of acting or feeling that you are better than others. Still not touching you? Think about it this way. God says a certain thing is an abomination, our society says it's a personal choice. That's arrogance. The Word says, "a soft answer turns away wrath", but we insist on giving people a piece of our mind! (Proverbs 15:1) That's arrogance. God says, "Give and it shall be given", but we say hold that dollar until it screams. God knows my heart. Yes, he does, that's arrogance. That's pride!
The other end of that pride stick is false humility. The deacons used to pray, "Lord, here it is again, and again your humble servant, knee bent and body bowed to the mother dust". I smile every time I say that. I love those prayers! So down to earth. We just have to remember to keep it simple. False humility is pride in another way. False humility opposes God by refusing to accept what God says about who YOU are in Christ. We are no longer just sinners saved by grace. After we were saved, the Word says we are now made "the righteousness of God". (2 Corinthians 5:21) Did you get that? You are no longer a worm! Your spirit has been recreated and made new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Jesus said that he came to give us life and life more abundantly, false humility over spiritualizes this and denies that God wants us to prosper in every area of our lives.(John 10:10) That's pride!
Don't confuse confidence with arrogance! We have been given authority by Jesus! He said we would do greater works than he did! (John 14:12) We are to be bold in the Word, not offensive, but BOLD! The Apostle Paul prayed that he would be able to speak the Word with boldness. (Acts 4:29)
So if pride is self-centered, the opposite of pride is God-centered! I don't want God to resist me! I want everything Jesus died to pay for! I intend to study and meditate on the Word. I intend to believe what I read and trust that God is "true and every man a liar". (Romans 3:4)
Love and prayers, Cynthia
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