OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY, JANUARY 10TH 2017- PROUD?

Memorise: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 1st Peter 5:5
Read: 1st Peter 5:5-6
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Bible in one year: Matthew 20:21, Isaiah 8

1. While seeking God’s face towards a particular year’s Convention of our church, the Lord asked me to go back to the basics. It was obvious we had forgotten some things, and God wanted to remind us of them.
2. Indeed God’s ways are different from our ways; hence the need for us to always humble ourselves before Him.
3. The big things, deep secrets and outstanding thoughts we expect to get from God may not come through the avenues that we think they will follow.
4. There are certain lessons God may want to teach us and He would send us to the ants (Proverbs 6:6)! This shows that He can send you to what you think you cannot get anything from. He can teach you great lessons using a familiar terrain. He can use vessels you consider too junior in the ecclesiastical hierarchy to teach you things that will blow your mind.
5. This is why you have to remain humble and meek because God can only teach those who are meek.
6. One thing that can come between you and the divine knowledge that will transform your life is pride. 1st Peter 5:5 says God resists the proud. The word “resist” in this verse is used in the present continuous tense.
7. To “resist” is to forcefully push back against something. It implies that if you are proud, all your attempts to move closer to God shall be rebuffed by Him. This is why the proud cannot stay on the same platform with God.
8. Are you proud? Today, many people are proud of their achievements: how many members they have in their local church parish, the size of their tithe, how many churches they have planted, how many souls they have won etc. One thing such people forgets is that we can do nothing without Him. John 15:5 says: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
9. Some others boast over their wealth, or their privileged office or position, even their beauty and appearance. Some others have become distant from God because of the multiple academic qualifications they have acquired in various disciplines over the years; they forget that knowledge should set you free, and not cut you off from God.
10. Whenever what you know attracts pride into your life, the knowledge has become counter-productive, capable of pushing you into serious trouble. Examine yourself today and ask God to destroy any trace of pride in you.

If we look at queen Vashti in the book of Esther we will know that pride can bring relegation to the proud. Also Satan is a clear example of how pride destroys. Let’s take a look at the parable of Jesus Christ in Luke 18:10-14. It says” 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Let’s take note of the highlighted part of this scripture and work on being humble just like our Lord Jesus Christ as described in Philippians 2:6-8 “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Let’s remember at all time that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. May God help us to live in meekness and humility in Jesus’ name. We bless God for our Father in the Lord, Pastor E.A Adeboye for the grace to inspire and exhort us in today’s devotional yet again. ‎

Key Point
If you allow a benefit that should draw you closer to God to separate you from Him, you are on the path to doom.

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