PRIDE II
…..CONTINUATION (Missed where this started, see the previous post here)…..
Pride is so dangerous that it can bring a man to a place where the focus is on himself or herself rather than God. This leads to spiritual blindness and death. Pride is a sin. The love of pleasure rather than God is the ultimate in today’s time. We make all the excuses to evade God, but the same excuse would not stop our pursuit of personal gains.
2 Timothy 3:2–4
For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.
1 Corinthians 4:7
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
*THE SECRET TO UPLIFTMENT IN LIFE IS HUMILITY!*
Proverbs 29:23
One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honour.
James 4:6
But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
James 4:10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.
If dealing with pride is a war within you, take these steps to be an overcomer.
First acknowledge that you are proud. You cannot solve a problem that you don’t believe exist. Ask God to help you and fill you with the Spirit of humility.
Imbibe a life of gratitude. Henry Ward Beecher said, “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.” Gratitude helps keep one in check. It makes you acknowledge that others matter.
Practice servanthood. A great person is always willing to be small. However, pride opposes servanthood since a proud person expects to be served. Serving others forces us to focus on their needs rather than our own, reminding us that we are a part of something larger than ourselves.
Let me drop this excerpt here from Chris Kwakpovwe, Our Daily Manna devotional, for a lesson or more to be drawn.
The great Evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke had a brilliant Zulu (South African) Evangelist named Richard Ngidi who worked with him. This man was endowed with the ability to do miracles, signs, and wonders. Bonnke would preach and then step down from the pulpit to let Evang. Ngidi to perform what he did best. Yes, he was a solid supporter of Bonnke, and Bonnke’s ministry was rapidly developing, therefore he was the “greater of the two” at that point in time. THEN PRIDE knocked on the door! The brilliant Richard Ngidi began to see himself as Reinhard Bonnke’s creator.
After all, he was the one who orchestrated everything, but Reinhard Bonnke claimed credit and the ministry was named after him. “The day I leave Reinhard Bonnke, he and his ministry will be finished,” he told Reinhard Bonnke’s assistants. He “deliberately did not show up” for a crusade in which he was to minister. Bonnke had been waiting for him for practically the entire night, but he never arrived.
Bonnke found courage, seized the microphone, apologized for the great man’s absence, and was about to end when an uproar erupted from all across the crusade grounds, with yells of “I CAN SEE,” “I CAN HEAR,” “I CAN WALK,” “I AM HEALED,” and so on. BONNKE’S APOLOGIES WERE NOT COMPLETED WHEN GOD SHOWED UP! The miracles occurred, and instead of shame, the night was filled with FAME! Listen, if your LAST HOPE IS IN THE GOD WHO FETCHES WATER WITH A BASKET IN ORDER TO DISGRACE THE BUCKET, you will never be disgraced! That night, God acted abundantly in miracles, signs, and wonders, and it was the start of Bonnke’s ministerial EXPLOSION! Instead of being Bonnke’s day of shame, it became his day of fame, and regrettably, Ngidi’s end. IT WAS THE NIGHT GOD RETIRED NGlDl.
What an account! Whatever gifting or anointing we carry; it is a privilege to be a bearer. And it is because God has given the grace to shine that we shine. If certain things set into a man’s life (e.g turbulence, sickness), it is always interesting to see that the gifts and anointing may not matter.
May we not fall from grace as a result of pride.
Prayers
Father help me, do not let pride eat up my soul. Help me to always acknowledge You in my life in Jesus name, Amen.
THE END
Dan Moore Kris Gage Wake Up Call P.S. I Love You @writingsolo
