At Church
last Sunday, Pastor Glynn Thomas was preaching about Living Sacrifices
and not following the pattern of the world which is selfishness.
We need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to be true servants.....the
gifts God gives us are not to build ourselves up, but to exalt
Jesus!
It got me
thinking about a cartoon, Pastor Glynn said "If God's people
became proud....the devil isn't too far away" So I kind
of pictured the devil sitting like a lion with a knife and fork....on
the lookout for a meal!
The heart
is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can
know it? Jeremiah 17:9 KJV
Pride is
subtle, it can even look religious - one can become proud of
being humble.... or we may be proud and look down on others.
We may become proud of our achievements...or our "Denomination"
there are so many things that can ensnare us. But one thing
is for sure, God is love, and He will do all He can to keep us
from falling.
And lest
I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above
measure. 2 Corinthians 12:7 KJV
The Apostle
Pauls testimony above is that God loved Him to much to allow
his sin to go unchecked, but allowed him to be chastened, to
keep him in the right attitude.
May we all
examine ourselves regularly before God, asking him to show us
if there are wrong attitudes we need to change.
Peter
Iparana Studio
22nd September 2003