Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Thursday, 4 January 2018 "Beware of Your Pride!" by Susie Shellenberger - Isaiah 5:20-30

Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Thursday, 4 January 2018 "Beware of Your Pride!" by Susie Shellenberger - Isaiah 5:20-30
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who change darkness into light
and light into darkness,
who change bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter!
21 Woe to those seeing themselves as wise,
esteeming themselves as clever.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
men whose power goes to mixing strong drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for bribes
but deny justice to the righteous!
24 Therefore, as fire licks up the stubble,
and the chaff is consumed in the flame;
so their root will rot,
and their flowers scatter like dust;
because they have rejected the Torah
of Adonai-Tzva’ot,
they have despised the word
of the Holy One of Isra’el.
25 This is why Adonai’s anger blazed up against his people,
why he stretched out his hand against them and struck them
[so hard that] the hills shook,
and corpses lay like trash in the streets.
Even after all this, his anger remains,
his upraised hand still threatens.
26 He will give a signal to faraway nations,
he will whistle for them to come
from the ends of the earth;
and here they come, so fast! —
27 none of them tired or stumbling,
none of them sleeping or drowsy,
none with a loose belt,
none with a broken sandal-strap.
28 Their arrows are sharp,
all their bows are strung,
their horses’ hoofs are like flint,
and their [chariot] wheels like a whirlwind.
29 They will roar like lions —
yes, roaring like young lions,
they growl and seize the prey
and carry it off, with no one to rescue.
30 On that day they will growl at them,
like the sea when it growls —
and when one looks toward land,
one sees darkness closing in;
the light is dissipated
in the obscuring overcast.
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What's wrong with these statements?
"I cannot believe I have my own television show!"
"I just stepped on gum. Who spits gum
“I was recognized a million times today. Even two casting directors said they were my fans.”
Celebrities often try to sound humble, but actually brag in the process. It’s exhausting and frustrating to be with someone who is prideful. Contrast that with someone who is genuine, humble, and sincerely concerned about others. It’s a world of difference, isn’t it?
We naturally want to be around people who aren’t braggarts. So why do people brag? Perhaps they’re socially inept, insecure, or simply want others to know about their success–even if they have to announce it themselves!
As much as we dislike being around people who toot their own horn, it frustrates God even more! In fact, Scripture tells us He actually hates pride. Isaiah 5:21 pronounces a woe on those who believe in their own wisdom. In other words, those who claim they can be wise without God quickly arouse His righteous anger against them.
The bottom-line: We are not as strong as we often think we are.
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Hymn for Today: "Cleanse Me" by J. Edwin Orr
1. Search me, O God, and know my heart today,
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.
2. I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;
Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.
3. Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.
4. O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival, start the work in me;
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;

For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.
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Thought for Today: For God’s “nonsense” is wiser than humanity’s “wisdom.” And God’s “weakness” is stronger than humanity’s “strength.”(1 Corinthians 1:25)
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Please pray: That many people in Jordan will come to know Yeshua as their Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
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