Tag: pride
Your sins are your downfall!
Scripture reading for September 8th: Hosea 12-14
“But I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but Me, no Savior except Me. I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot Me. Hosea 13:4-5
For people who have been saved from sin, God’s love initially seems so good. God is good and moves us from darkness and slavery into a new realm of abundance and true soul satisfaction. It would appear that such a people would love and follow God forever, enjoying the abundant life. (John 10:10) Hosea tells how God’s once faithful people became satisfied and promptly forgot Him. The source of this forgetfulness was pride, which became their downfall! (Hosea 13:6, 14:1)
Pride is the sin that caused Satan’s downfall from the highest heavens. Satan desired to be like the Most High and to sit on the throne of God. God’s abundant blessing on his life in making him beautiful and giving him a place of honor brought out iniquity hidden there. (Ezekiel 28:1, 14-17) He was cast down from heaven’s glory to earth. We must be vigilant for this subtle sin that can creep into those who bear God’s image and carry His glory!
“Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously; that we may offer the fruit of our lips.” ” Hosea 14:1-2
God’s mercy is also toward those whose sins have taken them down! Hosea gives a wonderful altar call. Repentance is an act of faith in the patience, kindness, love and mercy of our Lord. We can offer Him nothing but ourselves and our words. God desires to heal us and love us. Check your heart and attitude today and ask God to expose any pride that could be your downfall.
“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely; for my anger has turned away from them.” Hosea 14:4
“Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” Hosea 14:9
The wine of pride!
Scripture reading for August 31st: Daniel 4-6
Alcohol has been around for many years and impairs judgment and often brings delusional thinking. (Proverbs 23:29-35) The effects of alcohol are also a picture of the effect of sin on the body, soul, and mind of a person made in God’s image for His glory!
King Belshazzar of Babylon had a party for a thousand of his nobles. After drinking for a while, the king ordered that the golden goblets that his grandfather had taken from the Temple of God in Israel be brought out. They were filled with wine and toasts were offered to the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. As they were toasting, boasting and celebrating, there appeared what looked like human fingers that wrote upon the wall. (Daniel 5:1-6) This sight was deeply sobering to the king and all present!
The king called all his wise men to read the writing but no one could tell him what it said. Then the queen, very possibly his own mother or grandmother, told him about Daniel. Daniel was now an old man, probably in his 80’s. He was not among those drinking in the palace because of his godly character and life of prayer and consecration to the one true God. (Daniel 5:10-12)
Daniel spoke plainly to Belshazzar about God’s dealings with his father Nebuchadnezzar. He then told Belshazzar that he had failed to honor the God who held his life in His hands. (Daniel 5:22-24) Belshazzar had mocked God and angered Him by his refusal to humble himself and by drinking wine from the sacred goblets. Now the decree on the wall stated that God was sending judgment and Belshazzar’s kingdom would fall and be given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:25-28) That very night it came to pass! (Daniel 5:30-31)
What can we learn from this incident? It is easy to become drunk on the wine of this world and put what is profane in our holy goblets (our bodies and souls). Pride makes us drunk and delusional about who we are and the real source of our life. Those who are consecrated to God have insight and ability to read the handwriting on the wall because they truly know God and His Word! Daniel had read God’s Word in Jeremiah 51:39 and could understand what was happening. Fill your vessel with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit!
Fame, fortune, and falling away!
Scripture reading for April 5th: 1st Kings 9-11
“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.” Proverbs 27:21
Fame and fortune bring lots of praise from the lips of men. These blessings can easily lead our hearts away from faith in the Lord. God warned the Israelites that when they entered the promised land and settled down and became prosperous, they would be tempted to forget God. (Deuteronomy 8:10-13) In a sense, prosperity and fame can be a more difficult test than sexual lust. Solomon found this to be true.
After Solomon finished dedicating the temple and achieving all he had desired to do, God appeared to him a second time. God promised that He would hear the prayers said at the temple and watch over it. God then warned Solomon against turning away from Him and going after other gods. (1st Kings 9:6-9) God understood the test that Solomon would face as his fame and fortune grew.
Solomon was soon headed down a wrong path. His heart was not obedient to the Lord. He left the Caanites in the land and put them in forced labor. Solomon married foreign women and took 700 wives and 300 concubines from among the nations. God had warned that their hearts would be led astray to idolatry. (1st Kings 11:1-6) Solomon’s heart was not fully committed to the Lord and he did evil in God’s sight! He built high places for these gods of his foreign wives and they offered sacrifices, further angering God.
God raised up adversaries against Israel. Hadad the Edomite and Rezon from Aram (Syria) were both hostile towards Israel. One of Solomon’s own officials, Jeroboam, son of Nebat, also rebelled against the king. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to Egypt.
We all think that it would be wonderful to have what Solomon enjoyed, but we must be reminded of how our hearts are tested by this. The pride and power of prosperity can make one as drunk as wine! God is jealous (Exodus 34:14) and will not tolerate idolatry. Many mighty have fallen through pride and idolatry!
Pray today for someone who has fame or fortune, who is in a position of authority and influence. Pray for God’s grace to protect and keep that person from falling away and leading others astray.
Lament for the King of Tyre!
Scripture reading for August 25th: Ezekiel 24-28
Ezekiel was also a prophet to the nations of his day. God gave him a message for Tyre, in the form of a lament or funeral song. Tyre was a city/nation on the Mediterranean Sea that was located partially on an island. Tyre was populated by a proud group of sea people who controlled much of the commerce on the sea and surrounding areas. These people were very rich from their trading. They boasted that they were invincible and were celebrating the fall of Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 26:1-6) God had Ezekiel read a prophetic warning and pronouncement over Tyre. God’s goal was to help them know that “I am the Lord“. (Ezekiel 26:6) The end decreed by God for Tyre: “I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Ezekiel 26:14) Ezekiel wrote a lament at God’s direction for Tyre.(Ezekiel 27) By the way, Tyre does not exist today, except in ruins!
Following that lament, God gave Ezekiel another lament for the ruler of Tyre. The King of Tyre felt that he was “god” and possessed great power, wisdom and wealth. (Ezekiel 28:2) This “king” was proud and felt invincible, but God decreed his removal by death. Pride goes before destruction!
Ezekiel’s strange lament spoke of this “king” being in the Garden of Eden and a model of perfection. (Ezekiel 28:11) He told of being anointed by God to be a guardian cherub on the holy mount of God. It spoke of iniquity being found in this perfect being and God’s removal of him in disgrace. The reason for removal was pride in his beauty and splendor. (Ezekiel 28:17-18) Many commentators feel that this lament speaks of the fall of Satan from heaven as well as the earthly King of Tyre.
We do know that pride causes destruction. As citizens of one of the most powerful nations on earth, we must guard against the sins spoken of concerning this “king” of Tyre. Many have become proud of our wealth and our power, and feel invincible. Many have forgotten that God is sovereign, and act in brazen sin and dishonesty. Satan has been cast down to earth and is at work. A day of reckoning is coming! These laments remind us that God weeps over sin and it’s destruction of people He loves!
The wiles of the Devil
Scripture reading for April 20: 1st Chronicles 17-21
We have an enemy who is known to be crafty and who uses schemes and strategy to gain access to God’s people. His motive is to steal from them, kill them, and ultimately destroy their souls in Hell. (John 10:10) Satan is said to be like a roaring lion prowling around looking for someone to devour. (1st Peter 5:8-9) Several passages of scripture admonish God’s people to flee temptation and resist the devil. (Matthew 6:13) We are in a cosmic battle with evil forces of darkness and are in need of God’s help.
David was a man after God’s heart but he was also prone to temptation and did not always resist. We all remember the time he stayed back in Jerusalem when his army went to war. (1st Chronicles 20:1) It is interesting to note that the incident with Bathsheba is not mentioned in this account. But another incident is mentioned that I had not noticed before. David came and took the crown off the head of the king of the Ammonites who Joab and the army had defeated. This crown weighed around 75 pounds and was full of precious stones. David placed that crown on his own head. (1st Chronicles 20:2)
Right after this, David returned again to Jerusalem and Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census! (1st Chronicles 21:1) This was evil in God’s sight because it was motivated by pride and not by God’s direction. (1st Chronicles 21:7) It appears that Satan gained an inroad in David’s life. We know David was not fighting the Lord’s enemies but stayed home to engage in sexual sin. He had Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, killed. He took this massive crown belonging to a pagan king and placed it on his own head. After this Satan was able to incite him to sin that cost the lives of 70,000 Israelites! Sin always leads to death and Satan’s desire is fulfilled!
However, out of this sin, David did repent. He ended up buying the threshing floor of Arunah as a place of sacrifice to the Lord to stop the plague. This site became the site of the temple! Pride brings destruction, but humility brings repentance and forgiveness. The temple is where God’s presence dwelled and where anyone who had sinned could bring a sacrifice with humility and find forgiveness and restoration! David’s latter Son, Jesus Christ, would offer Himself in this temple to be the final sacrifice for the sins of the world! What grace from a loving God! What a victory over our enemy, Satan, and his schemes of death! Praise the Lord!
“Oh Absalom, my son, my son!”
Scripture reading for March 31st: 2nd Samuel 15-18
“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your god has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 5:16
“This is what the Lord says; ‘out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel'”.( 2nd Samuel 12:11-12)
God’s Word never returns void! It is always true and the one who chooses to go against it does so to their peril. King David disobeyed God’s command against adultery and although he was forgiven, he reaped what he had sown in his own household. Absalom, a son of King David, chose to rebel against his own father and try to take the throne of Israel. His story is recorded in today’s reading. It has a boastful beginning and a sad ending.
Absalom was a master politician. He made all kinds of promises to win the hearts of the people. His heart was plotting a take-over of his own father’s throne and he did it by flattery and empty promises. (2nd Samuel 15:4-6) He secretly set himself up as king and secretly won over David’s trusted counselor, Ahithophel, who joined in the conspiracy. He was a man full of pride and self-promotion who would do anything to gain power.
Ahithophel advised Absalom to take his father’s concubines and sleep with them in front of all Israel. This appealed to this rebel son and he willingly broke God’s commands and dishonored himself and his father, not to mention God! In doing so, he fulfilled Nathan’s word to King David as his own father was confronted with his own sin of adultery! God’s Word is always true and comes to pass! (2nd Samuel 16:20-22)
Absalom’s brief rebellion ends in a tragic way. He was always proud of his long, thick hair. As he was riding his mule through the forest of Ephraim in battle with his father’s men, he caught his hair on a branch and was left hanging in mid-air by his beautiful hair. He was struck down by Joab, David’s army commander, and Joab’s armor-bearers. His life cut short by dishonoring his own father!
When told of his son’s death, King David laments his death and wishes it had been him! What anguish is caused by sin! These sexual sins seem to offer such pleasure, but in reality cause death and agony! We reap what we sow! David’s lament is very touching! In it we hear the heart of God for all his lost children! He wants none to perish, but all to come to repentance. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but wishes for their salvation and restoration! In fact, He sent His own Son to die in our place! Wow! What amazing love! Our Father identified with our sins and weaknesses and and offers pardon and restoration!