Skip to main content

01 Aug 2020 - Pride

1 Aug, Sat
Pride
Isaiah 14:1-17

In this passage it speaks first of the deliverance of Israel (vv.1-2). The next part speaks of God's judgment of Babylon and Babylon's downfall (vv.3-12). Before returning to the downfall of Babylon, it speaks of the fall of a greater power, Lucifer (vv.13-15), the fallen Archangel, who before his fall was the worship leader in heaven. Since his fall he is known as Satan.

Why did Isaiah connect Babylon with Lucifer? The answer lies with what is common- both fell from glory and power and the reason for their judgement and fall is one primary thing, PRIDE.

Pride is darkness. Where pride is at full maturity there is only room for one, self. Everyone else means nothing. Even God has no room in one's heart that is filled with pride. Pride makes one think the whole universe revolves around him. Isaiah uses Satan as the epic example of pride. Pride at its fullness thinks he is God.

Guard your heart against pride. Hear the warning in Isaiah against Babylon. When one is proud he becomes not just enemy with others, but ultimately with God. James 4:6 tells us God opposes the proud. This is the idea that God is enemy to the proud. This is what happened to Babylon and Lucifer.

Pride is always knocking at the door of our hearts. You find it knocking at our hearts when we are successful, powerful, rich, good looking .... and even when we pray better or know the Bible better. Can you identify when pride is knocking at your heart? If you don't hear it knocking you are in trouble, it is probably in your heart already. The right response to pride in our lives is always recognising pride and repenting.

And from there, we will always need to consciously work to keep pride as far as possible. How do we do it? Keeping God and His words in our hearts. Prayerfulness.

Prayer: Lord, help me to recognize where my heart is most prone to allow pride to enter. Fill my heart with your presence and words so that I know who you are, who others are and who I am, so that I worship you and become a servant to others just as you did on earth. Amen

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Danger of Spiritual Infancy (Hebrews 5:11 - 6:12)

Have you met people who refuse to grow up? There are some adults who prefer to remain as children because they do not want to take on adult responsibilities. Not only is immature behaviour unpleasant to observe or deal with, the consequences are often destructive. In Hebrews 5:11-14, the writer expresses his frustration that some members of the church were refusing to grow into spiritual maturity. They were no longer trying to understand God’s word (v 11). Instead of taking on the responsibility of teaching others as they themselves had been taught, they needed to be taught the basics all over again (v12). Therefore, they were unable to take on “solid food” which is for mature Christians, and they were not able to distinguish good from evil (v14) or to understand teaching about righteousness (v13). Spiritual maturity is a necessary part of our walk with God. Remaining as a spiritual infant means that you are not good at discerning right from wrong and you will have a hard time maintain

A prophet prophesies and the church fully obeys (Acts 11:27- 12:4)

During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. 12 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. When Jewish believers from Cyprus (Europe) and Cyrene (Liby

22 Sep 2020 - Isaiah 54 : GOD’S PROMISE FOR FRUITFULNESS AND BLESSING

Daily Devotion Tuesday 22nd September  Isaiah 54 – GOD’S PROMISE FOR FRUITFULNESS AND BLESSING    This scripture is a beautiful promise of encouragement and affirmation to God’s people. If you have served God faithfully, but you feel discouraged, if you feel that your effort thus far has not borne any fruit, if you feel that you have been despised or looked down upon, this promise is for you.    God tells the “barren woman” to sing and shout for joy, because God will give her the desire of her heart and gift her with more children than she can imagine (v1). This is a prophecy for the increase and expansion of the nation of Israel through the birth of many children, and a promise that the city would be rebuilt. The barren woman could also mean a person or a church that is feeling discouraged, unfulfilled or foolish. Perhaps you feel foolish and discouraged for putting your trust in God for so long, but you have not experienced the results that you expected? If you are feeling discourage