July 31, 2022
Greetings and blessings to all of you. It has been said “that all sin is deceitful, but pride is especially sneaky.” Think of OT people such as David, Samson and the Israelites; we think to ourselves, “What is the matter with them? Why did they act so stupid? How gullible and foolish these guys were.” And in the NT we read about the Pharisees who knew God but refuse to know Jesus. Herod allowed himself to be acknowledged as “ A god” and it cost him his life (Acts 12:21-23) Our Bible warns us about pride. In Proverbs 3:7 the Word tells us “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. And in Matt. 5:3 it says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In James 4:6 it reads, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” In our culture most people worship SELF. When did this begin? Remember when Satan got kicked out of heaven? Was he angry? You bet he was. Satan schemed to cause as much grief in and to God’s creations as possible. He planted the seed of AUTONOMOUS SELFISM into the heart of Adam and Eve. He asked them in the garden, “Did God really say?” At that point the first humans decided they would be better gods than the Almighty. They said “I can do what I what to do even if God says No”. Today our culture promotes this evil. Some say, “if it FEELS good do it.” Then they NORMALIZE the consequences following up with LAWS to mandate them…think about same- sex marriage, abortion, marijuana, transgender, church attendance and divorce. In Ezekiel 28 there was a judgement against the king of Tyre. God promised to send destruction upon him because of his satanic pride. The Lord said to him, “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, “I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas; yet you are but a man and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god.” The king of Tyre not only exalted himself; he made himself out to be a god. He had combined pride and blasphemy. In the Word it says “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” Pride is presented in the Word as a selfish vice. The sin of pride takes root when we stop looking to God (His wisdom, grace, and providence) as the source and begin taking credit ourselves. Saints, be very careful.
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC