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Sunday, November 25, 2007
Pride killed Eve, because she thought she could disobey God and get away with it. Pride says, "I can fix this sin and make it look good. God will understand. I will come through this somehow." Pride is depending upon self, defending self, building upon self and living for self.
Our Father wants to lead us according to His infinite wisdom, to bless and anoint us, but He can't if we insist erroneously that we "know it all."
"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to each other, and be clothed with humility" (1 Pet. 5:5). Humility makes it easy for us to submit. To submit means to be pliable and not insist on our own ways or insist on our ideas all the time. Humility is the gateway to success. It allows us to receive His yoke, which is easy, and His burden, which is light. That does not mean never having to face problems or opposition, but that there is an ease to life. It is called the peace of God that passes all understanding, and Jesus said that is for the humble.
It just means our attitude gets changed by the Lord and we are no longer hung up on whether people see us perform or what they think of us. The truth is, there is pride behind fear. We think, "I am afraid to fail. If I fail, people will look at me and think that I am no good; I want to be good and be proud that I am good."
That has to be broken off your life, and you break it by killing it. Much of the entire Bible revolves around "killing" and "dying." In the Bible, it says that everyday in the temple, offerings are killed and brought before the Lord. There are things in our lives we don't toy around with; we have to kill them and offer them to the Lord. As a priest in God's kingdom, you are to constantly offer up sacrifices before the Lord. When you kill something, it dies. The Bible declares that we have died with Christ. Dead people do not react or fight back. Dead men do not hear insults, and they do not have any fear.
We need to get rid of the oversensitivity in our lives, the fear of rejection and the need to be assured all the time. Humility is reacting only to the truth, while pride is reacting and acting on a lie. When you react only to the truth that the Holy Spirit brings into your life, it will set you free and make you stronger.
When the angel Gabriel visited her, there was certainly a possibility for pride to arise in her. Every revelation or visitation from God could actually become a ground for pride in our lives. However, God knew she would not go that way, because she was lowly in spirit. "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1:48).
Obedience is humility. Mary just obeyed. She didn't rebel. Neither was she full of pride about her calling from God. She just acted upon the Word and the Word was born into her. When you receive the Word and act upon it, the Word will be born into you. Only obedient people are able to receive God's biggest blessings. Only humble people are obedient. Therefore, only the humble are able to access the greatest blessings from God.
Jesus is an example of meekness. He never retaliated in the flesh, but neither was He evasive. In His meekness and mildness, He was very strong. The devil kept calling Him to prove Himself, but Jesus just told him to get away! He didn't have to prove who He was. He knew very clearly His standing with Father God. Similarly, if you are a child of God, you don't have to prove it. You should know who you are in Christ.
So, humility revolves around knowing who we are in Christ Jesus. With Jesus, we realize two truths about ourselves: We cannot do a thing without Him; with Him, we can do all things.
Humility is a mild, loving strength that comes from your character. It flows out of you because you know the Lord. It is a security and an assurance in your life that God is with you. It is the knowing that you are a child of God and you belong to the body of Jesus Christ, who will never forsake you or throw you out. When self-exaltation puts people on their self-conceived thrones, God will not only put them down, but He will scatter them, resist them and send them away empty-handed. But for the lowly and poor in the Spirit, He will receive them with open arms and cause them to receive more and more. And in His presence, there is an abundance of freshness, joy, forgiveness and power.
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Eveline pops at |12:25 PM|
Captivate my heart, dear Jesus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pride
Sermon by Ulf Ekman
Sermon by Ulf Ekman
Pride killed Eve, because she thought she could disobey God and get away with it. Pride says, "I can fix this sin and make it look good. God will understand. I will come through this somehow." Pride is depending upon self, defending self, building upon self and living for self.
Our Father wants to lead us according to His infinite wisdom, to bless and anoint us, but He can't if we insist erroneously that we "know it all."
"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to each other, and be clothed with humility" (1 Pet. 5:5). Humility makes it easy for us to submit. To submit means to be pliable and not insist on our own ways or insist on our ideas all the time. Humility is the gateway to success. It allows us to receive His yoke, which is easy, and His burden, which is light. That does not mean never having to face problems or opposition, but that there is an ease to life. It is called the peace of God that passes all understanding, and Jesus said that is for the humble.
It just means our attitude gets changed by the Lord and we are no longer hung up on whether people see us perform or what they think of us. The truth is, there is pride behind fear. We think, "I am afraid to fail. If I fail, people will look at me and think that I am no good; I want to be good and be proud that I am good."
That has to be broken off your life, and you break it by killing it. Much of the entire Bible revolves around "killing" and "dying." In the Bible, it says that everyday in the temple, offerings are killed and brought before the Lord. There are things in our lives we don't toy around with; we have to kill them and offer them to the Lord. As a priest in God's kingdom, you are to constantly offer up sacrifices before the Lord. When you kill something, it dies. The Bible declares that we have died with Christ. Dead people do not react or fight back. Dead men do not hear insults, and they do not have any fear.
We need to get rid of the oversensitivity in our lives, the fear of rejection and the need to be assured all the time. Humility is reacting only to the truth, while pride is reacting and acting on a lie. When you react only to the truth that the Holy Spirit brings into your life, it will set you free and make you stronger.
When the angel Gabriel visited her, there was certainly a possibility for pride to arise in her. Every revelation or visitation from God could actually become a ground for pride in our lives. However, God knew she would not go that way, because she was lowly in spirit. "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1:48).
Obedience is humility. Mary just obeyed. She didn't rebel. Neither was she full of pride about her calling from God. She just acted upon the Word and the Word was born into her. When you receive the Word and act upon it, the Word will be born into you. Only obedient people are able to receive God's biggest blessings. Only humble people are obedient. Therefore, only the humble are able to access the greatest blessings from God.
Jesus is an example of meekness. He never retaliated in the flesh, but neither was He evasive. In His meekness and mildness, He was very strong. The devil kept calling Him to prove Himself, but Jesus just told him to get away! He didn't have to prove who He was. He knew very clearly His standing with Father God. Similarly, if you are a child of God, you don't have to prove it. You should know who you are in Christ.
So, humility revolves around knowing who we are in Christ Jesus. With Jesus, we realize two truths about ourselves: We cannot do a thing without Him; with Him, we can do all things.
Humility is a mild, loving strength that comes from your character. It flows out of you because you know the Lord. It is a security and an assurance in your life that God is with you. It is the knowing that you are a child of God and you belong to the body of Jesus Christ, who will never forsake you or throw you out. When self-exaltation puts people on their self-conceived thrones, God will not only put them down, but He will scatter them, resist them and send them away empty-handed. But for the lowly and poor in the Spirit, He will receive them with open arms and cause them to receive more and more. And in His presence, there is an abundance of freshness, joy, forgiveness and power.
Eveline pops at |12:25 PM|