CLOSET in Heart #8 PRIDE?
Well, my dear peeps, still working on the ole closet and it's amazing how in our hearts and in life, what we find in the very back that we didn't know was even there.........
I truly would have never thought myself a prideful person, honest. Proud of my kids, proud of my husband, you know the GOOD kinds of pride but prideful where I think of myself as all that and a bag of chips? No way..... God showed me different this AM that it is dangerous to assume you are safe from falling into a trap.
Maybe that is why Daniel prayed morning, noon, and nite....He was always available and ready to seek God and what God had to show or tell him......Something to think on.
I've been thrown a loop as I am studying to be an AACC Ministerial Christian Counselor. Now, that I know beyond all doubt God has called me to do. However, at my sink altar doing dishes, (there are altars all over your house where you can be with God if you choose such as making the bed, scrubbing tubs, etc), I watched the birds eat & I love the sparrows as they remind me "Not so much as 1 sparrow falls to the ground that the Father doesn't know. Are you not worth more than these?" And I was thinking about how it was a ministry & privilege to be part of God's plan to provide for His creation. Then I began to think about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples.....Peter of course protested Jesus doing such a job.
Why was I thinking of all this? Well, simple, some people around my area know I am going for my AACC Ministerial Christian Counselor Accreditation, so I get calls for prayer, anointing with oil & prayer (laying on of hands), to just listen/advise, etc. Well, I got one of those calls and the remark was made "I know you really help so & so and they really look up to you."
Pride didn't kick in until after I had made the visitation which was urgent, I listened, anointed with oil with laying on of hands, prayer, advising, etc. Then when I got home, I thought "WOW! That was amazing!" because the change was so noticeable. I immediately asked God to forgive me for being prideful and contacted my prayer partner to ask for help with this dilemma. I mean, I want to do God's will but I do not want pride to get in the way, so how does one deal with this?
My prayer partner was very understanding and wise. I was told, "What did God save when He saved you?" I said "My soul". Then I was asked "Where does pride come from?" I said "The flesh". I was assured that this brief "blip" was a temptation to pride, not a sin of pride and that yes, it would always be a struggle as we are to crucify our flesh daily, take up our cross and follow Jesus.
I saw a Christian minister on TV then preaching on seeking God's PRESENCE instead of God's PRESENTS (gifts of the Holy Spirit, healing, etc.) That God's desire is for us to seek HIM and all the other things will be added unto us. BOY, IT HIT HOME. All I could do was cry.
I again realized that more than anything I want to be at the feet of my Lord & Saviour, Jesus Christ. If I don't have Him in His fullness, I really have nothing at all. Anything I do have the ability or opportunity or gift to do is because HE CHOSE to use me and I am willing to be an empty vessel for Him to fill.
So, I think I'm understanding this pride thing. I don't need a title....Jesus didn't have one it was others who tried to title Him (Remember Pilate and Jesus when Jesus said "You say that I am"?) Again, back to Jesus washing feet....
That was the lowest job of a servant, equal to cleaning toilets. Yet, He did it with grace and mercy because there was a need. He then arose to go on to being Priest at the Last Supper. Major job change, eh? Yet, Christ was not ever concerned with "titles" or "positions". He filled needs as they came His way. He was only concerned with His Father's (God) opinion of Him. Jesus plainly taught that those who are first will be last and those that are last will be first. No positions or titles.....
I suppose more than anything, I need to keep ever vigilant about being before God's PRESENCE and His opinion. As long as I follow my beloved Shepherd, following closely His lead, there will be no room for Satan or wrongful pride.
That's it, my peeps. Hope you learn as much as I did......God loves me just because, I don't have to earn any of His love.
Hugs & love, my peeps
I truly would have never thought myself a prideful person, honest. Proud of my kids, proud of my husband, you know the GOOD kinds of pride but prideful where I think of myself as all that and a bag of chips? No way..... God showed me different this AM that it is dangerous to assume you are safe from falling into a trap.
Maybe that is why Daniel prayed morning, noon, and nite....He was always available and ready to seek God and what God had to show or tell him......Something to think on.
I've been thrown a loop as I am studying to be an AACC Ministerial Christian Counselor. Now, that I know beyond all doubt God has called me to do. However, at my sink altar doing dishes, (there are altars all over your house where you can be with God if you choose such as making the bed, scrubbing tubs, etc), I watched the birds eat & I love the sparrows as they remind me "Not so much as 1 sparrow falls to the ground that the Father doesn't know. Are you not worth more than these?" And I was thinking about how it was a ministry & privilege to be part of God's plan to provide for His creation. Then I began to think about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples.....Peter of course protested Jesus doing such a job.
Why was I thinking of all this? Well, simple, some people around my area know I am going for my AACC Ministerial Christian Counselor Accreditation, so I get calls for prayer, anointing with oil & prayer (laying on of hands), to just listen/advise, etc. Well, I got one of those calls and the remark was made "I know you really help so & so and they really look up to you."
Pride didn't kick in until after I had made the visitation which was urgent, I listened, anointed with oil with laying on of hands, prayer, advising, etc. Then when I got home, I thought "WOW! That was amazing!" because the change was so noticeable. I immediately asked God to forgive me for being prideful and contacted my prayer partner to ask for help with this dilemma. I mean, I want to do God's will but I do not want pride to get in the way, so how does one deal with this?
My prayer partner was very understanding and wise. I was told, "What did God save when He saved you?" I said "My soul". Then I was asked "Where does pride come from?" I said "The flesh". I was assured that this brief "blip" was a temptation to pride, not a sin of pride and that yes, it would always be a struggle as we are to crucify our flesh daily, take up our cross and follow Jesus.
I saw a Christian minister on TV then preaching on seeking God's PRESENCE instead of God's PRESENTS (gifts of the Holy Spirit, healing, etc.) That God's desire is for us to seek HIM and all the other things will be added unto us. BOY, IT HIT HOME. All I could do was cry.
I again realized that more than anything I want to be at the feet of my Lord & Saviour, Jesus Christ. If I don't have Him in His fullness, I really have nothing at all. Anything I do have the ability or opportunity or gift to do is because HE CHOSE to use me and I am willing to be an empty vessel for Him to fill.
So, I think I'm understanding this pride thing. I don't need a title....Jesus didn't have one it was others who tried to title Him (Remember Pilate and Jesus when Jesus said "You say that I am"?) Again, back to Jesus washing feet....
That was the lowest job of a servant, equal to cleaning toilets. Yet, He did it with grace and mercy because there was a need. He then arose to go on to being Priest at the Last Supper. Major job change, eh? Yet, Christ was not ever concerned with "titles" or "positions". He filled needs as they came His way. He was only concerned with His Father's (God) opinion of Him. Jesus plainly taught that those who are first will be last and those that are last will be first. No positions or titles.....
I suppose more than anything, I need to keep ever vigilant about being before God's PRESENCE and His opinion. As long as I follow my beloved Shepherd, following closely His lead, there will be no room for Satan or wrongful pride.
That's it, my peeps. Hope you learn as much as I did......God loves me just because, I don't have to earn any of His love.
Hugs & love, my peeps
Replies