fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383 
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Post by fearnot on Apr 26, 2021 11:24:26 GMT -5
My words will be in this color today
and Biblical Scripture in this color today.
I think,
one of the greatest great vulnerabilities of people,
is pride.
It comes in so many packages:
Pride in physical outward beauty
Pride in wealth
pride in power
pride in intelligence
etc. etc. etc.
Pride was the downfall of Satan,
and also Adam and Eve.
When they saw,
what they 'thought'
was an opportunity for,
even MORE....
i.e. to be gods.
2 “Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre,
‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Because your heart is lifted up
And you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods
In the heart of the seas’;
Yet you are a man and not God,
Although you make your heart like the heart of God—
Ezekiel 28:2
So I think, being in a 'teaching' position
( or even, especially,
for pastors,
but really, any Bible teacher)
This verse below, is one to consider carefully:
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands
take heed that he does not fall.
1 Corinthians 10:12
Pride is a slick, sneaky enemy,
of the spirit of men and woman.
I think in the verse above is an example.
One may have been,
a shy retiring type,
but then...
somehow.... is put into a ministerial,
or teaching position...
And almost without knowing it,
pride tiptoes in...
We begin to look for recognition and/or applause!
Humans have to work hard to keep this in the forefront of their mind:
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverted mouth, I hate.
Proverbs 8:13
Sometimes, almost as soon as God blesses us,
in some way,
is when we need to be alert!
Perhaps,
especially,
if,
this is the case
(your blessing is still quite small)
5 that in everything you were enriched in Him,
in all speech
and all knowledge,
1 Corinthians 1:5
Warning alert:
for feelings of some small amount of
superiority
that is subtly attempting to deceive you.
Did the wondering of how many 'likes' you may have gotten
start to take the place of the great commission?
However, that is where the 'sneaky' comes into play:
"I just 'wondered'
to see if God used me as a 'seed' planter,
in a non believer's heart.....
Well,
that could be a 1/2 truth.... is there even such a thing as a 1/2 truth?
Here is something to mediate on:
26 For consider your calling, brethren,
that there were not many wise according to the flesh,
not many mighty,
not many noble;
27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world
to shame the wise,
and God has chosen the weak things of the world
to shame the things which are strong,
28 and the base things of the world
and the despised God has chosen,
the things that are not,
so that He may nullify the things that are,
29 so that no man may boast before God.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29
Done for Today
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Post by Cindy on Apr 27, 2021 10:14:10 GMT -5
I wanted to let you know that I've gotten very little sleep so I'm just not up to posting much today. I'll be in tomorrow, God willing and will read what you wrote then. I'm sure it's good though, everything you write is!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Apr 27, 2021 11:56:45 GMT -5
Awwww thank you Cindy!
Well, not 'everything'
sometimes you have had to correct me.....
but then, that is such a blessing.
I am not sure if I should work on this anymore or move onto the Genesis study...you posted.
I suppose if you think, I could or should expand on this, it could get moved to the weekend study?
I have no idea.
But I think I will start the Genesis
and wait to see what you say.
I am so sorry you are having such sleep issues
I do understand, having them myself.
Sometimes, it is beyond the pale....I sometimes cannot stay awake.....no matter what.
I actually am fighting trying to stay awake today.....
That whole neck pain, also took a lot out of me arrgghh.
Still, I will at least attempt to get started on the Genesis Wiersbe Bible study.
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Post by Cindy on Apr 28, 2021 9:35:54 GMT -5
It's fine if you want to go onto the Genesis study hon. What you wrote here is very good. I would like to add one thing to consider though, just to round it out for other readers. Pride is a sin to be alert for, but so is false humility. Often when trying not to be prideful, we will tend to fall into the sin of false humility which is really just pride in disguise. God wants us to admit when we are good at something or when we do something well. He wants us to admit that we're growing in Christ and to admit it when we have become mature in our faith. When we put ourselves down about things, we're actually lying too. So now we've sinned by lying and by pride (the false humility). For instance when I was a teenager I played the piano very well, especially for someone who'd never had lessons. I had to learn to just say, "thank you" when I was complimented, instead of saying something like, "Oh, I'm not that good" or, "I'm sure you do it better" etc. I learned then that's what we need to do whenever we're complimented, otherwise we're calling the person who gave us the compliment a liar who doesn't have very good discernment!
While it's true that there is nothing good in me or about me that wasn't put there by God, it's also true that I'm so important to God that He chose to die for me on the cross. He doesn't like it when we put ourselves (or others) down. He wants us to speak the truth, even about ourselves, whether we are comfortable about it or not. When I say "truth" though, I mean the truth according to His Word, not according to the world. The world may call me a fool, but God says I can now understand things better then the most educated people of the world because my mind has been renewed and is being renewed daily. The world may say I'm useless since my body has broken down, but God says He can and is using me every day and that I'm very useful to Him as He has planned many things for me to do until I take my last breath here. So as long as I'm breathing here, I'm useful to Him!
OK, I'll shut up now. I just didn't want people to fall into the sin of pride disguised as false humility.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Apr 28, 2021 10:17:06 GMT -5
Excellent point Cindy!
God has given different people different gifts, so I totally agree with you
that the side to beware of is false humility is equally as tricky
and in some ways maybe even more annoying.
But true humbleness, is or can be a virtue.
But no matter what, a heart felt, 'Thank you' to God,
for the gifts He has given,
is always the way to go! :)
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!!
