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Staying Humble In A World of Idolized Pride

Don't be a proud pomeranian

The world makes it very easy to retain pride and to not stay humble. And one of the greatest temptations a person can face is to allow pride to fester in their lives. Pride is harmful and can destroy relationships, progress, and the people who hold onto pride. It is vital for the sake of your mental health, to let go of pride but that isn’t so easy. So, continue reading to find out what the Bible says about staying humble and how God wants us to forsake pride.

Why Pride is a Dangerous Game to Play

You must know that pride is a horrible and rigged game to play. You cannot expect to hold onto pride and success at the same time. You’ll have to drop one or the other in order to retain what’s more important to you. The reason why I talk about this topic is because its danger seems so subtle, but, it’s so damaging and destructive to one’s mental health in the long term.

Don’t hold onto something which destroys you.

Proverbs 16:18 World English Bible (WEB)
18 Pride goes before destruction,
    and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

But, what’s pride? Pride is when a person sees himself/herself as better than others and sets his/her value on his/her accomplishments. And as you see in the above verse, God warns us through His Word that pride is a prerequisite for destruction and here’s why.

Firstly, pride disables a person’s ability to heed to wise counsel. What I mean by this is that when you decide to magnify yourself, it creates in you a newfound hatred towards the advice of others.

Ask yourself this question and be honest with yourself. Do you find it easy to reject advice which you know to be true but you reject it nevertheless? For your own sake, do what is wise, listen to what wisdom says.

Proverbs 11:2 World English Bible (WEB)
2 When pride comes, then comes shame,
    but with humility comes wisdom.

Secondly, pride ruins relationships. People naturally hate to see pride in others. So, when the closest ones to you see that you don’t listen to them or that you demean others based on your status, this makes them upset.

Proverbs 29:23 World English Bible (WEB)
23 A man’s pride brings him low,
    but one of lowly spirit gains honor.

And finally, pride distracts you from keeping your eyes on Jesus. When you focus on your efforts and yourself, this defeats the mission God has called you to. Jesus said that to follow Him, you must deny yourself. You must deny your pride to follow Jesus.

Luke 9:23 World English Bible (WEB)
23 He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me

Therefore, God does not like pride, people tend to not like pride, and you should not like pride because it does nothing but harm to yourself.

Staying Humble Before God

So, what is God saying in all of this, stay humble. Staying humble may be one of the most difficult things to do but it’s an essential step in everyone’s life. Because God makes it clear that if you hold onto how good you are and how successful you have made yourself, you leave no space for Him.

When one hosts pride and gives it a room to stay in his/her heart, it takes the whole space. It is a poison to your relationship with God.

Psalm 10:4 World English Bible (WEB)
4 The wicked, in the pride of his face,
    has no room in his thoughts for God.

And God paid a very high price to establish that relationship with you by coming in the flesh as Jesus Christ and dying on your behalf so that you would not be condemned for your past sins. If you have not yet entered that relationship with God, then accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour which I talk more about in this post. So, don’t jeopardize your relationship with God by idolizing pride. Give glory to God and not yourself.

Jesus calls you to live in a loving relationship with Him!

When you make lots of money or get good grades or win a friendly competition, stay humble and give credit to God in Christ Jesus. In everything, do not puff up yourself and how you did it but give glory to Jesus as He empowers you with the grace to live your life.

1 Corinthians 10:31 World English Bible (WEB)
31 Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

The bottom line is to not stand in His way by living in pride but stand with Him as you stand with His humility.

James 4:6 World English Bible (WEB)
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Staying Humble Before Others

Furthermore, the Bible wants us to be humble even when we deal with people. Jesus demonstrated humility and stressed on the importance of staying humble. There’s a beauty to when you see someone who is humble. And I believe that humility is one of the reasons why Jesus is so beautiful in His personality.

Before Jesus went to bear the sins of mankind, He dealt with the issue of pride. He washed the feet of his disciples as if He was a servant and then He said something phenomenal!

John 13:14-17 World English Bible (WEB)
14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should also do as I have done to you. 16 Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither is one who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Jesus is our example!

Now, first get what God is not saying here. He is not commanding us to wash the feet of people, otherwise, the epistles and the letters from the apostles would have stressed on the practice of washing the feet of others. There’s no harm in washing the feet of others but the point Jesus was getting across was to be humble.

He gave us an example to be humble and He showed us that when we are humble with each other, there is a special blessing for that.

How to stay humble? It’s simple, surrender your pride to God and whenever you do something successfully, give the glory to God. When you deal with people, ask God for the grace to see them as He sees them and recognize that the same God who knitted you in the womb has knit them, too. Ask Jesus for the grace to love others and when you love others, pride will have no open door to enter your heart.

1 Peter 4:10 World English Bible (WEB)
10 As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.

Use His gift of grace to stay humble and enjoy your life with Jesus.

By Andre Wijesekera

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Refuse to Accept Anything Less Than What He Paid For

God will make all things work out for your good!

We’ve all got bad news. Sometimes, there are headlines in the news on top of each other which overwhelm us with bad news. This can cause one to feel tired and to feel like giving up. But, the Bible will always have a solution and that’s why I trust the one who wrote the Bible so much. Your life is to be full of ups and downs, sometimes, mostly downs. But, if you want to see a change in that, continue reading this post on when to refuse to accept our corrupted reality.

What is Reality?

Reality is by definition what makes sense and what is going on in the world around you. Reality has different aspects and forms. God made reality for our good. But, once Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, mankind corrupted reality. I talk more about it in this post.

Genesis 3:13 World English Bible (WEB)
13 Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

God asked Eve, “What have you done?” God became upset that mankind brought evil into this reality, thus, corrupting it forever. And ever since then, things have never been the same. It wasn’t God’s fault that all these evils came in to the world such as mental illnesses, natural disasters, diseases, heartbreak, and more.

God hates the ills that plague mankind but mankind allowed the devil to come into reality and mess it up. The devil is the one who brought sickness and death into this world.

Furthermore, what is your reality? For some, reality is what the doctor says. For others, it is a student loan they can’t pay off. And for some people, it’s both! But, I am telling you, there is a solution. The solution is to call what Jesus paid for as your reality.

Refuse to Accept Evil

God did not leave us in this situation. He came in the flesh as Jesus Christ and He died on our behalf so that our sins, our ills would be punished on Him instead of us. Jesus Christ took the hell reserved for us. He paid the price for our healing, restoration, and deliverance.

Romans 10:13 World English Bible (WEB)
13 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”Joel 2:32

But, to inherit such wonderful promises, you must first accept Jesus Christ. When you accept Him as your Lord and Saviour, He then holds the right to save you.

Now, regarding your challenges and situations, I want you to trust Jesus with them. Whatever it is, whatever reality is underlying your issues and pains, I want you to entrust Jesus with those worries, too.

1 Peter 5:7 World English Bible (WEB)
7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

You must cast the things that make you restless at night on Him. Why? Well, the Bible is simple. Because He cares for you! Even if the whole world hated you, including your family, God would love you because He’s that type of King.

People physically hurt Jesus to the point of not being physically recognizable as human. If He allowed that, there must be a reason. And the thing is that Jesus could have stopped it at any moment because He can call down angels to defend Him whenever He wants to. There’s a reason why He didn’t stop , it’s because He had to pay the price to save you and make you whole.

Isaiah 52:14 World English Bible (WEB)
14 Just as many were astonished at you—
    his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.

Refuse to Accept Reality in the Context of Faith

Reality as I said is not in the way which God first designed it. And as a believer in Jesus, there are still challenges that come our way. But, as a believer in Christ Jesus, you have to trust Him regardless of the outcome. If you believe, He will make sure that whatever bad things happens to you will only make things better.

Romans 8:28 World English Bible (WEB)
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.

A good example of the above verse is Jesus in that He died in such a horrible way, but, if He didn’t die, He couldn’t have saved us and He wouldn’t be resurrected in such a glorious way.

Another good example of Romans 8:28, is the story of Joseph. I am now assigning you some homework to take some time and slowly read the story of Joseph which is Genesis chapter 37 followed by chapters 39-44. If you read that story, you will see how his brothers betrayed Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt out of jealousy. And then, as a slave, people falsely accused him and sent him to jail.

Being sold into slavery in Ancient Egypt is horrible in itself. But being sold into slavery and then being accused of something you didn’t do on top of that is even worse! Yet, read that story and see how God used that to make him become only second in authority to the Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

Declaring the Promises Into Reality

And now, in the same way that God used Joseph’s sufferings to bring out a greater good in His life, I want you to believe God and allow Him to bring out a greater good out of your life.

You have to refuse to accept the reality of endless suffering and trust Jesus that by the price He paid, your reality will be changed for a greater good. He has healed your infirmities, He has restored your mental health, and you’ve got to declare that!

Read the promises of God and say aloud that those promises belong to you. God spoke things into being, He just didn’t think it. So, God wants you to imitate Him and speak His reality into being. Ask Him for His faith and believe what He paid for.

Proverbs 18:21 World English Bible (WEB)
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue;
    those who love it will eat its fruit.

Life is in the power of the tongue, not your thoughts. So, speak life and declare God’s promises so that you remind reality that it needs to change to what God wills.

Moreover, seek God with all your being, genuinely. When you seek Him, and you not only believe Him but you know Him, your reality is guaranteed to change! Spend time in His Word, ask Him to help you get closer to Him, and He will definitely answer. And when you’re with the King of Kings, your reality will automatically change.

Matthew 6:33 World English Bible (WEB)
33 But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

The King of Kings always wins!

Now It’s Your Turn!

1 Peter 2:24 World English Bible (WEB)
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.

Whether you’re sick from corona virus or even a mental illness like depression, say aloud, “Jesus was wounded for my healing, I am healed.”

2 Corinthians 8:9 World English Bible (WEB)
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

If you’re struggling with poverty or finances, declare aloud that, “Jesus paid the price by becoming poor so that I would become rich.”

James 1:5 World English Bible (WEB)
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

When you don’t know what to do in life or if you’re struggling academically, declare with your mouth that, “Jesus paid the price to make me wise and to know what He wants me to do in life.”

In conclusion, reality will change at some point when you hold onto the reality Jesus paid for. Just trust Him and regardless of the outcome, trust God that He will make it all work out for good so that your challenge(s) will become a testimony for His glory!

By Andre Wijesekera

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Wisdom’s Blessing on the Righteous

It is such a wonderful thing to be wise. At some point in every person’s life, life-changing decisions must be made. And it is in these moments that wisdom plays a role.

Is Wisdom Needed?

Wisdom is needed because how we act is dependant on how we think. If one lives with a foolish mindset, it will lead to that person’s eventual destruction.

Proverbs 1:7 World English Bible (WEB)
7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge;
    but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

No one wants to be foolish, so develop that desire for wisdom, to do what God wants you to do. The Bible says it is better to be wise than to be rich. That does not mean you should be poor, it just means that you should prioritize being wise.

Proverbs 3:13-14 World English Bible (WEB)
13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
    the man who gets understanding.
14 For her good profit is better than getting silver,
    and her return is better than fine gold.

King Solomon prioritized wisdom and because of that God rewarded him with riches. So, in the same way, God wants you to seek His wisdom, and then prosperity will follow you.

God’s Answer to Wisdom Sought

Now that you want wisdom, how do you actually get wisdom?

Well, it’s pretty simple. Wisdom is attainable as a privilege of being a believer in Christ Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh, and God knows EVERYTHING! There is no being to ever exist who can be smarter or wiser than God! This is why He is known as omniscient (all-knowing).

But, when you believe in Jesus, you are given the mind of Christ. It’s God’s mind in your spirit!

1 Corinthians 2:16 King James Version (KJV)
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

Remember, this is not to say you will be all-knowing, because God knows you cannot handle such wisdom, only God can handle that. But for the wisdom which you need, God will give it to you.

Jesus is generous, He gives you wisdom if you ask Him for it. If you want to know what’s the right thing to do in any situation, ask God for wisdom. If you are struggling with how to improve a certain area in your life, ask God for wisdom. Whenever you need wisdom, whether it be for school, your workplace, or anywhere else, ask God for the wisdom because He paid the price for it.

James 1:5 World English Bible (WEB)
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

The Redemption Work Behind the Wisdom

Not only does God give you wisdom when you ask Him for it, but He actually paid the price for you to have wisdom! It may be hard for you to wrap your mind around it but just look at what the Bible has to say.

Proverbs 9:4-5 World English Bible (WEB)
4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
    As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,
5 “Come, eat some of my bread,
    Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!

If you look at the entirety of the passage, you can see from the beginning of this chapter that the person of wisdom is talking. Wisdom is the one who says in verse 5 to eat the bread and drink of the wine.

Doesn’t that sound familiar to the Holy Communion. Jesus told us to eat bread which is His flesh and to drink wine which is His blood as the communion that reminds us of His sacrifice for us.

Matthew 26:26-28 World English Bible (WEB)
26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it, 28 for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.

Why does the Spirit of Wisdom tell us to take the communion? It is because in order for you to attain wisdom, you must remember what Jesus did for you on that cross. He bore your diseases, your punishments and all the consequences which you deserved because He dearly loves you.

He preferred that He suffer what you deserved instead of you, no matter the hell it would bring. This is the heart of your Heavenly Father. And when you remember that, when you take the communion, asking God for wisdom, He will definitely answer your heart’s desire.

Cost of Foolishness Paid in Full

Moreover, there are times when we get angry with ourselves for the dumbest things we’ve done. If you regret past foolish mistakes or dumb decisions that have led to heavy consequences, I’m telling you today, that Jesus even paid the price for that!

You may be shocked, maybe even offended, but it’s the truth! Just because you didn’t use God-given wisdom in the past, doesn’t mean you are defined by those mistakes.

Proverbs 19:29 World English Bible (WEB)
29 Penalties are prepared for scoffers,
    and beatings for the backs of fools.

Furthermore, the Bible says that beatings should be prepared for the backs of fools, this is the punishment for foolishness. And yet… Jesus being the very wisdom of God, chose that punishment instead.

John 19:1 World English Bible (WEB)
19 So Pilate then took Jesus, and flogged him.

Jesus was scourged for your sake. If you believe you must go through the consequences of whatever dumb choice you made, think again, because that is not the will of God. Whether you failed miserably in a school test, or made a bad investment decision, God will make it all turn out for your good because He loves you.

As I said in the previous section, not only did Jesus, the wisest being to ever exist, suffer the beating which is reserved for fools, He bled and gave His body to be broken for you! He suffered the consequences of foolishness despite being innocent and wise as ever so you could be made wise and be freed from the guilt of your past foolishness.

The Wisest Choice You Could Ever Make

Furthermore, the wisest thing you could ever do, is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. He is kind, He is loving, and when you make a commitment to Him, you will have inner peace.

The Bible does not talk about good or bad people in terms of salvation. Rather, it talks about wise and foolish people. Since you are a wise person, do the wise thing and accept Jesus as the lover of your soul. Don’t let anything hold you back from accepting Jesus. He is gentle and He eagerly wants you to enter into a relationship with Him.

1 Corinthians 1:24 World English Bible (WEB)
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;

Therefore, Jesus is the wisdom of God and He is more precious than silver or gold. So, enjoy a relationship with Him; taste and see that the Lord is good. If you lack wisdom in anything, recognize what Jesus paid for, and receive His divine wisdom!

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I am the Lord that Healeth Thee

Luke 14:1-6 World English Bible (WEB)
 When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. 2 Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him. 3 Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? 4 But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go. 5 He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” 6 They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.

So basically, this passage talks about how Jesus went to a leading pharisee’s house for dinner. And when he went there, a man with dropsy stood in front of Him. Dropsy is a disease also known also as, “Edema.” This disease causes a person’s body to swell abnormally with fluid and causes lots of discomfort.  

But, as the passage continues, Jesus healed the man with dropsy, instantly! As soon as Jesus laid hands on that man, the man’s swelled legs and arms became normal. All that excess fluid in his limbs immediately disappeared. That is the miraculous healing power of Jesus Christ.

Now, the Word of God says that Jesus went to this dinner “To eat bread.” Why was the Bible so specific? It was because the bread represents His body, and Jesus was remembering how one day, His body would be broken for our sake so that we could be healed physically, emotionally, and spiritually!

Matthew 26:26 World English Bible (WEB)
26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

Jesus chose to heal the man with dropsy out of remembrance of His sacrifice, which was already decided before the foundation of the world. That is one of the reasons why we take communion, so that we remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us and exercise our faith that Jesus Christ has paid the price for our healing!

Silencing Doubts

Now, you may think that maybe it is not God’s will to always heal, but that is a doctrine with no roots in the heart of the Heavenly Father.

The pharisees found Jesus healing people on the Sabbath day to be unlawful because God had previously said to rest on that holy day in the Old Testament. But, before healing the man, Jesus posed the question to the pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?”

Yet, no one uttered a word in response. They had asked Jesus the same question before, in Matthew 12:10, when there was a man with a withered hand. In the end, Jesus healed the man and said the very same thing which he would repeat once again after healing the man with dropsy.

He said that if a person’s ox or child fell into a well, that person would surely help the ox or child out of the well regardless of whether it was the Sabbath Day or not, and that same principle applies with God.  In other words, Jesus showed that God loves us enough to heal us, it doesn’t matter what day, what circumstance, what situation you are in, or how you feel about yourself, Jesus still wants you healed.

God Wants You Healthy

You may say, “Maybe God doesn’t want me healed because He wants to teach me a lesson or to discipline me,” but do you think God is so cruel to do that? Where in the Bible, does it show Jesus telling a sick person, “Here, take this sickness, it will make you more mature.” The answer is no where, He always moved with a heart of compassion and healed everybody who came to Him.

John 5:19 World English Bible (WEB)
19 Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise.

If you saw Jesus do it, that is the will of the Father. If Jesus healed people in the Bible without refusal, that is the will of Father God.

Matthew 14:14 World English Bible (WEB)
14 Jesus went out, and he saw a great multitude. He had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Jesus is a compassionate saviour. He wants you to be healthy. The Bible says when He saw the great multitude of people, His heart was moved with compassion and He healed anyone who was sick. There were so many people, definitely, some of them must have been morally bad people, yet Jesus still healed them. When it comes to healing, God does not look for any prerequisite.

God never breaks His promise

If you are still struggling with any health issue, do not worry, just trust in Jesus. Understand that He wants you to be healed and that when He was scourged, beaten, and wounded, He did it for you so that you could be made healthy. Do not be discouraged, but lay hands on yourself and command your body to be healed. Remember that God’s promises will always come about so you can enjoy the full salvation of God.

John 10:10 World English Bible (WEB)
10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.