Weekday Devotionals
Psalm 34:2 My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah: The meek shall hear thereof, and be glad.
Madness of Pride
When I hear the word pride, I think of it from a mother’s perspective. All the accomplishments of my son over the years from learning to talk and taking his first steps to graduating HS and getting his first apartment. I think of pride from a wife’s perspective too. Watching my husband conquer an addiction and grow to be an amazing man of God, allowing God to direct his next steps and being the spiritual leader to our son, me, and all those he ministers too daily.
But there is another, more harmful pride, self-pride. The beginnings of pride can appear harmless, a posed shot on social media, a hidden hunger for approval from others, contemptuous thoughts toward those who’s opinions differ from our own. Any of this sound close to home?
Self-pride, often just referred to as “Pride”, arises out of self-centeredness, “I’m the most important!”
Pride alienates us from God, consciously, and sometimes without even realizing it is happening.
Pride is self-devotion, self-justification, self-sufficiency, self-importance, and self-exultation, in relation to God. Pride leads way to self-glory, in contempt of God and the contempt may even give rise to open revolt.
Philippians 2:3-4 tells us, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
I once heard humility described as living with the right understanding of who God is, who I am and who you are. And as I “just keep going” with my One Year Bible reading plan, I learn a little about how to be humble with each reading, and from so many perspectives.
Be grateful for what God gives you. Psalm 118:24 The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
Remember your inability to control a single thing in this life. Your heartbeat, the blessings, AND challenges you encounter, your health, finances and pretty much everything else. Job 12:10 In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Contemplate areas of weakness. Look at the splinter in your own eye. Proverbs 24:5 A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge increases in power
Serve others. Jesus told us to wash each other’s feet. Matthew 20:26-28 “but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give life as a ransom for many.”
Pray all day, every day, about everything. Prayer is a declaration of weakness and an acknowledgment that you need Gods sustaining grace. Prayer is an act of dependance and humility. When Jesus was on this earth, as a humble man, he too, turned to his God for guidance. John 17:20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
When pride deludes us into thinking we are the author of some gift or victory, one question should snap us back into reality, “What do I have that I did not receive?” When we cannot take ultimate credit for anything, we can finally give credit for everything to God. And we find true humility where every day becomes a day of praise for the true gift from God, Jesus. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
I’ll leave you, but only for a moment, with a statement and a question to ponder.
“The further I am from God the more I “think” I can do it on my own.” -Sam Mosca
How far am I from God? Minute to minute? Hourly? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly? Could I be a twofer? (Twofer: Christmas, and Easter I visit God)
-Sam Mosca
Madness of Pride
When I hear the word pride, I think of it from a mother’s perspective. All the accomplishments of my son over the years from learning to talk and taking his first steps to graduating HS and getting his first apartment. I think of pride from a wife’s perspective too. Watching my husband conquer an addiction and grow to be an amazing man of God, allowing God to direct his next steps and being the spiritual leader to our son, me, and all those he ministers too daily.
But there is another, more harmful pride, self-pride. The beginnings of pride can appear harmless, a posed shot on social media, a hidden hunger for approval from others, contemptuous thoughts toward those who’s opinions differ from our own. Any of this sound close to home?
Self-pride, often just referred to as “Pride”, arises out of self-centeredness, “I’m the most important!”
Pride alienates us from God, consciously, and sometimes without even realizing it is happening.
Pride is self-devotion, self-justification, self-sufficiency, self-importance, and self-exultation, in relation to God. Pride leads way to self-glory, in contempt of God and the contempt may even give rise to open revolt.
Philippians 2:3-4 tells us, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
I once heard humility described as living with the right understanding of who God is, who I am and who you are. And as I “just keep going” with my One Year Bible reading plan, I learn a little about how to be humble with each reading, and from so many perspectives.
Be grateful for what God gives you. Psalm 118:24 The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
Remember your inability to control a single thing in this life. Your heartbeat, the blessings, AND challenges you encounter, your health, finances and pretty much everything else. Job 12:10 In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Contemplate areas of weakness. Look at the splinter in your own eye. Proverbs 24:5 A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge increases in power
Serve others. Jesus told us to wash each other’s feet. Matthew 20:26-28 “but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give life as a ransom for many.”
Pray all day, every day, about everything. Prayer is a declaration of weakness and an acknowledgment that you need Gods sustaining grace. Prayer is an act of dependance and humility. When Jesus was on this earth, as a humble man, he too, turned to his God for guidance. John 17:20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
When pride deludes us into thinking we are the author of some gift or victory, one question should snap us back into reality, “What do I have that I did not receive?” When we cannot take ultimate credit for anything, we can finally give credit for everything to God. And we find true humility where every day becomes a day of praise for the true gift from God, Jesus. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
I’ll leave you, but only for a moment, with a statement and a question to ponder.
“The further I am from God the more I “think” I can do it on my own.” -Sam Mosca
How far am I from God? Minute to minute? Hourly? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly? Could I be a twofer? (Twofer: Christmas, and Easter I visit God)
-Sam Mosca
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