Not a Time for Pride – Part 2

What does pride look like today in your own life? Pride can be very subtle and usually is. You think you’re not proud, but then God will show you something and you realize you are proudful. Some years ago, I attended a church conference.  The guest speaker was David Wilkerson from New York.  He gave a powerful and convicting sermon on the pride of ownership of things. I had just purchased a silver and maroon Monte Carlo, and I loved that beautiful sleek car. I had never owned such a gorgeous car in my whole life. David Wilkerson’s sermon was based on James 5. This is what he read and based his sermon on.

Jas 5:1  Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

Jas 5:2  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Jas 5:4  Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

Jas 5:5  Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

Jas 5:6  Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

I was so convicted by that sermon, that not too long after that, I sold my car. I realized it had taken up much too big a place in my life, and I didn’t need a car that size. It used a lot of gasoline, too. But mostly, I realized that I had become prideful because of my good-paying job and the nice possessions I was able to buy. However, looking back, I realize that I was never really comfortable in that elaborate lifestyle.  It took me away from tending to the things of God because I was too busy caring for my things of the world.

Then, as if I hadn’t learned my lesson from the car, a few years later, I went on sick leave for nearly two years from a good paying government job. Once again, I was humbled, needing financial help and needing God, since I was unable to work for such a long time.  My sick leave money had run out after about six weeks or so.  God was really dealing with my heart, and He showed me that I had become dependant on the steady paycheque rather than on Him. So, what is wrong with depending on a steady pay check, or money, rather than put your whole trust in God? I had become self-sufficient and prideful, and I began to forget God. I didn’t need God as much before this, or so I thought, because I had the steady money to fall back on. Perhaps it didn’t help that I was attending a liberal university that had me brainwashed in the heady ways of the academic world. I was also taking pride in my new stores of knowledge.

Whenever mankind has gotten too big for his britches, and so prideful that his shirt buttons pop off from his extended chest, God deals with us.  Look at the Tower of Babel. It was another defiance against God, trying to reach the heavens.  Well, there’s many Tower of Babel’s today - big sky scrapers to signal success, the Eiffel tower, One World Trade Center, CN Tower, etc. God is not mocked.  And then there’s other things that signal human success with great pride such as space exploration, the stock market, the Olympics (although it encourages a healthy spirit of competition), educational achievements, and many more.

Scripture indicates that the very nature of God through the example of Jesus is humility.  And if anyone deserves all praise and glory, it is God!  It is no wonder that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!  Because He totally is LORD OF ALL!  HE WILL NOT GIVE HIS GLORY TO ANOTHER!  All these human institutions and high and mighty attitudes, so many planes flying in the air, thousands of satellites, etc., are nothing to God. He can fling it all into space and through a bottomless black hole never to be seen again.  He alone is worthy of ALL PRAISE, and not our human achievements as great as they may seem!

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa 42:8  I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

If we really and truly want to know God, then we must humble ourselves before Him. And consider, what it is that the Lord God requires of us?

Mic 6:8  He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does Jehovah require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?

I remember when I worked in an office in the city that I had a vision of the downtown. Downtown Winnipeg was mostly comprised then of wealthy financial institutions, some fancy hotels, shopping, huge banks and so on. Much of downtown Winnipeg is like old Chicago with turn-of-the-century old ornate buildings, very chic architecture with unique carvings in the stone, exclusive to Winnipeg. In the vision, I saw all the buildings topple and crumble as an earthquake hit, and it had a profound impact on me. At the time, I longed for financial prosperity, and had struggled in my work life due to ill health. I remember thinking of how these financial institutions will one day be destroyed just like that, and money will be worthless. All the things we strive for mean nothing in the end.  Also, we have to be careful not to love money. Doing so is the root of ALL EVIL!

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

And you can’t serve God and money! You must choose one or the other. Remember the rich young ruler and his encounter with Jesus? He walked away from Jesus and eternal life because he couldn’t part with his wealth.  Here is the sad account:

Luk 18:18  And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Luk 18:19  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

Luk 18:20  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

Luk 18:21  And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

Luk 18:22  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Luk 18:23  And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

Luk 18:24  And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

Luk 18:25  For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Instead, money is to be given away to those in need, and those with money are not to trust in money, but always to trust in the living God! Money can be snatched away and then you have nothing!  I sure learned this first hand!

1Ti 6:17  Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

1Ti 6:18  That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Also, we must guard our heart to ensure we are not loving the world instead of God.  During this time of the pandemic, I have found so many things that I once felt I just had to have, I can now do without!  It is good to go on a diet from the things of the world, and get back to a simple and wholesome life, where we have time for the things of God, and to love others.  While we travelled south by car last winter, we packed only one small (roomy) suitcase, and two small carry-on size suitcases for cosmetics, etc.  We had our phones and our cameras.  I had my diary.  We brought our beloved cat, and most of the rest of the car’s contents was his stuff (we wanted him to have the comforts of home).  What a wonderful freeing feeling to have so little to be concerned with. I never once missed any of the many things (and clothes especially) I left behind at home!

Many times, the following Scriptures have meant so much to me as a wake-up call.  This Scripture is not gray – it is there in black and white; make no mistake – you either love the world, or you love God. You can’t do both at the same time!

Do Not Love the World

1Jn 2:15  Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,

1Jn 2:16  because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Jn 2:17  And the world passes away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.

I so much want to love God more than anything else, and it is a lifetime pursuit. The Lord has recently impressed on me: “Do not seek what the world seeks after.” And then these verses came to mind:

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

The more things we have, the more we have to care for them.  These are all the temptation of the evil one, to entice us away from the things of God, where true contentment awaits.  Striving for the things of the world can never bring us the joy and satisfaction we think and hope it will, and contentment will continue to elude us.  Let’s never take pride in what we’ve accomplished or accumulated, for God alone deserves all the recognition and glory for everything we are allowed to enjoy while temporarily living on this earth!  And remember, you can’t take anything with you when you die.

I encourage you to take some time today to pray, and ask God to search your heart.  Find out what areas you need to bring to Him, and allow Him to do some “heart” cleaning.  And if you haven’t yet encountered Jesus, and you’d like to know more about how to do this, please click on this link for more helpful information.  Do so today, and do not delay.  It is the most important decision you will ever make.