Sunday, April 22, 2012

PRIDE IN OUR OWN STRENGTH


When you see that your own cupboard is bare and everything you need is in His, you will go often to Him for supplies.

What happened to Peter when he bragged of the strength of his own grace? "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I," Peter Mark 14:29. He set himself up to contest a race with the devil, and he fouled before he was even out of the gate. Christ in mercy let Satan trample Peter's own grace to show him its true nature and to dismount him from the height of his pride.
Pray that He will be as merciful to you if He sees you climbing the ladder of your own spiritual successes. Joab said to David, when he saw him growing proud of the strength of his kingdom, and wanting to take a census, "The Lord add to the number of thy people a hundred-fold, but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?" 2 Samuel 24:3. Can a groom be proud when he rides his master's horse, or a garden boast because the sun shines on it? Should we not say of every once of goodness, as the young man of his hatchet, "I am sorry, master! For it was borrowed 2 Kings 6:5.
Count on the strength of your own godly attributes, and you will grow lax in your duties for Christ. Knowing you are weak keeps you from wandering too far from Him. When you see that your own cupboard is bare and everything you need is in His, you will go often to Him for supplies. But a soul who thinks he can take care of himself will say, "I have plenty and to spare for a long time. Let the doubting soul pray; my faith is strong. Let the weak go to God for help; I can manage fine on my own." What a sad state of affairs, to suppose that we no longer need the moment-by-moment sustaining grace of God.
Not only does overestimating the strength of our own goodness make us shun God's help, but it also makes us foolhardy and venturesome. You who boast about your spirituality are likely to put yourselves in all kinds of dangerous situations, then brag that you can handle them.”
Humility is a great weapon! It removes our intentions and emotions about something so that God’s work is seen clearly as His doing! 

Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell. http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617

No comments: