Sunday, December 28, 2008
that stumbling block
Sin Of Pride - The Sin of Sins
The sin of pride is the sin of sins. It was this sin, we're told, which transformed Lucifer, an anointed cherub of God, the very "seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,"1 into Satan, the devil, the father of lies, the one for whom Hell itself was created.2 We're warned to guard our hearts against pride lest we too "fall into the same condemnation as the devil."3 It was the sin of pride which first led Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. In Genesis we read, "Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."4 And who do you think was that serpent of old who first introduced Eve to this sin of pride? It was none other than the devil himself,5 eager to share his condemnation with others. St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) wrote, "'Pride is the commencement of all sin'6 because it was this which overthrew the devil, from whom arose the origin of sin; and afterwards, when his malice and envy pursued man, who was yet standing in his uprightness, it subverted him in the same way in which he himself fell. For the serpent, in fact, only sought for the door of pride whereby to enter when he said, 'Ye shall be as gods.'"
Sin Of Pride - Preoccupation With Self
The sin of pride is a preoccupation with self. It is thus very fitting that the middle letter in the word is "i." Pride is all about "me, myself, and I." So even as the word "pride" is centered upon an "i," the sin itself is also centered upon "I." We read of Lucifer's fall, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit."8 Satan's enmity against God began with "I". And so it is with us. If you are preoccupied with yourself, you are suffering from the sin of pride. One way to determine whether or not you are preoccupied with yourself is to evaluate your motives. Take the pursuit knowledge for example. If you study hard because that's what the Lord wants you to do and you're being obedient to Him, that's good. That's obedience to God. Or if you study hard because you want to become a teacher so that you can edify others and help them to grow, that's good too. That's love for others. But if you study hard solely to amass knowledge for yourself, just so you can say that you know more than everyone else, that's bad! Your focus is upon yourself and your own glory. That's preoccupation with self. That's pride. And if this is the case for you, not only are you already suffering from pride, you're setting yourself up to be totally consumed by it! The Apostle Paul wasn't joking when he said, "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies."9 And anyone who is ever been there will tell you, knowledge for the wrong reasons (i.e. personal glory) will lead to a proud heart and enmity against God.
Sin Of Pride - An Outline
The sin of pride is rightfully distinguished as the foremost among the seven "deadly sins," each of the seven equally as deadly, but none quite as notorious as this "sin of the devil."10 We're going to look at this sin of sins: how it manifests itself in our thoughts and lives, what are its effects and how we are to fight against it taking hold in our hearts. We'll begin by looking at two people in history that committed the sin of pride and how they're portrayed in the Bible. We'll look at how pride manifested itself in their lives and we'll make some practical observations. Then we'll look at how pride can infect our own hearts and minds, and finally, we'll discuss how to combat the sin of pride with humility. To skip right to the practical application of pride and humility, click here. We strongly recommend however that you read this short article in its entirety.
(taken from allaboutgod.com)
wc :: 12:42 PM
Thursday, December 18, 2008
CHARMED.
going bananas over charm bracelets!! i want that one!! and that one too!! and the one in the middle! it's got the verse isaiah41:10 scripted and printed on it!!!! such coolness!!!!
wc :: 12:43 AM
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
got this off max lucado's "A Love Worth Giving":
you have a ticket to heaven no thief can take,
an eternal home no divorce can break.
every sin of your life has been cast to the sea.
every mistake you've made is nailed to the tree.
you're blood-bought and heaven-made.
a child of God-forever saved.
so, be grateful, joyful-for isn't it true?
what you don't have is much less than what you do.
i have only two words to say: WHOA. AMEN!!
wc :: 12:05 AM
Monday, December 15, 2008
this blog is ressurrected!
HA! i remembered my username and password! and HA-i'm backkkkkk, bloggyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!
YEAHHH and a crazy year it's been man. really. storms followed by bigger storms, followed by some sunshine, yet followed by storms again blahblah but the sunshine doesn't really matter to me, cus in the storms, it's God i wanna see, not the dumb sun. and that's cus God calms the raging seas that threaten to swallow me whole. He keeps me safe in the palm of His hand and He says, "My child, sleep in peace. For I am your Maker, so will I be your Keeper." He stills the storm. that's why there's this song that says, "In the stillness You are there".
God's grace is what saved us and God's love is what keeps us. through the (obstacle) course of this year, God has rained me with His love, most of which go unnoticed:/ ahh sorry Daddy! and part of which i see i see with my eyes, not with my heart:/ sorrysorry Daddy!! but this only says one thing - whether or not we see it, God's love ALWAYS covers us. God can love us through people, like how He blessed me with three supremely important siblings in Christ, namely(in no order) SEOK, LYNN and TIMO:))) and these three angels really bear love's flagship as in 1 Cor 13:4-7 below:
"4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (seok! find this familiar?! hee!!) and that's what the love of God did thru them for me.
seok placed my growth above the comfort of our relationship, which actually broke down for months but thank God it's never better than now:) thank you dear, i respect and admire you for that, and everything else you've done for me, as well as how you're living your life with your eyes and heart on God and nowhere else so that i have a role model to look to. and i love you.
lynn...what can i say..she's just right by my side all the time, always praying for me, always encouraging, always offering advice, always dropping nuggets of wisdom and denying so cus she's too humble(you gotta teach me some of that man). you godly woman! stop belittling yourself!! you're WISE and HUMBLE and LOVING and these are like the top qualities!!! ohman i have no idea how to convince you so but you're really great so keep doing what you've been doing cus God must be super proud of you! thank you too, i love you.
timo(TIMBO)! hello SIS!! hahah thank God for you really. you know, watching you grow in your relationship with God and subsequently rising up to put into action all those burdens God has placed in your heart is SUPERULTRA encouraging! thank you for sharing your childlike faith - it's contagious:) and don't start denying it. as i've said to you countless times, faith is like electricity, you can't see it but you can see the light. so there. you may not see how strong your faith is but others can testify to it. you spur me on to greater growth too! yesss and thanks for being all that a "sister" is to me HAHAH. no really, thank you. i love you.
yet, of all the ways through which God expresses His undying love to us, nothing beats HEARING it from Him straight. as it has been said, one word from heaven can change our eternity. and it's just so true. testimonies shared to and from all over the world speak of how people are saved just by the simple knowledge that Jesus loves them. and to whoever's reading this now, i just wanna tell you that JESUS LOVES YOU, personally, powerfully, passionately. so SMILE:))))))
wc :: 11:48 PM
