Pride Comes Before...

I was doing my bible study this morning (yep, you're gonna be hearing a lot about this bible study... it is so good) and the subject was agape love. Agape love is the kind of love God is composed of. Anyway, what struck me was concerning pride. We all deal with it and there always seems to be an over abundance of it for some reason. I learned something new about it today...

Psalm 10:4 NIV

In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

I never realized before that it is pride that keeps us from seeking Him. I thought about that for a while and realized that it's our arrogance thinking that we really don't NEED God. I mean we can handle this life, right? We can make good decisions on our own, after all, God gave us a good mind... We pray about the "important" things and we throw a prayer up for our food and for our kids at night (I am so guilty of this) but do we really spend time SEEKING Him? It takes time to get to know someone. It takes effort. It takes prioritizing what's really important to us and all too often God gets bumped for other seemingly more pressing issues.

Unfortunately, whether on purpose or by our failue to see what's really important, we let pride rule over us if we don't humbly seek God's presence on a regular basis. Pride brings with it a myriad of negative consequences. Here are a few:

...it can be our downfall and cause us to be unfaithful to the Lord (2 Chron. 26:16)

...it brings disgrace (Prov. 11:2)

...it can demote us and strip us of our glory (Daniel 5:20)

...it causes deception (Obadiah 3)

...it puts us in captivity (Jer. 13:17)

I want God to expose the pride that tries to hide itself within me. It may be a little painful to deal with (mostly it's just painful to see the negative in myself) but not as painful as letting it remain in my heart and facing the consequences it brings with it. I will purpose in my heart to make more time for the Lord and to bring EVERYTHING that's inside me and lay it before Him. Not that I will perfect this today or tomorrow or even next year, but I will press toward the mark of living a life free of pride...a life FULL of God. I know it will be worth the effort...

A Woman's Influence

I was so excited to start the first day of the homework for our bible study (Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore). My excitement quickly turned to Godly sorrow when I began to realize the golden nugget I was waiting for from God today was actually a stone thrown right between the eyes of my pride. You know, the pride we don't know we have? As I was reading along about the missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas, Beth points out Acts 13:50 (NIV):

"But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region."

I kind of blew through that with the general point taken that Paul and Barnabas were persecuted... everyone knows that, right? Then Beth asks the question, "Who did the Jews purposefully incite first?" THE WOMEN! It was the God-fearing women of high standing that they went to get things stirred up! Why? Because God has given women the power of influence. She goes on to ask the question "To whom did the serpent go when he sought the ruin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1)? THE WOMAN! He knew that Eve could influence Adam to do anything...

I can't think of any better way to word the next section so I will quote it the way Beth wrote it, it's definitely a "selah" kind of paragraph and one that forced me to look inside myself and repent of some nasty ways I use my power of influence (or manipulation)... So here it is:

"How do you use the fearful gift of influence? At its best, it teaches, nurtures, encourages, exhorts, evangelizes and disciples. At worst, it cripples and kills. The line between influence and manipulation is extremely fine. Influence is so easy to use, it's frightening. Maybe it's the reason God exhorts us to 'gentle and quiet' spirits. We need to think before we speak and act. The warnings in scripture are not provided because we are so lowly, but because we possess such an awesome gift..."

"Today let's risk some honest answers to the question of influence. How do I use the gift of influence in my home? in my church? in my workplace? When you consider your capabilities, both positive and negative, do you see the extreme necessity of learning to live in the Spirit?"

I, for one, have been guilty of using my influence over my husband as manipulation to get what I want. It was not intentional, I was uncomfortable in certain situations so I felt the need to continually express what I thought we should do about it...in my mind it was the only answer that made sense...when in fact it was the only answer that made ME feel the best. I have since repented and will be more cognisant of my intentions.

So, there you have it, folks... day 1 of our bible study and I have already had to sacrifice another giant chunk of my every present flesh.