In previous newsletters in this series we've discussed the point that THANKSGIVING connects us to God's GRACE. We've also discussed that the word GRACE is most often defined as God's UNMERITED FAVOR or His UNDESERVED EMPOWERMENT. We need God's GRACE to get born again (Ephesians 2:5), we need it to help us deal with the challenges and adventures of life (Hebrews 4:16) and we need it to accomplish His plans and purposes (Acts 4:33). God has made His GRACE available but each person has to RECEIVE it, we have to ACCEPT it. That's what happens when we get born again; we RECEIVE the GRACE of God through FAITH and we start trusting in Him (Ephesians 2:5). It's the same process for the other areas of life. God's part in these things is making His GRACE available which He does because of what Jesus accomplished at the Cross. It's ALWAYS available; our part is to RECEIVE it through FAITH.
It's interesting to study out the Greek word translated GRACE in the New Testament. That Greek word is CHARIS and one of the various meanings of it says that GRACE is a divine influence on the heart (mind) that produces gratitude. Gratitude is of course THANKSGIVING. So CHARIS/GRACE is a divine influence that has the ability to produce thankfulness or gratitude in our lives once we have RECEIVED THE GRACE. So, when we're walking in the GRACE that we've received, we ought to be experiencing a general "attitude of gratitude" because GRACE and THANKSGIVING are so closely connected.
Have you ever thought about the fact that there's no in-between where THANKSGIVING is concerned? Either we're grateful for what we've received or we're not grateful, either thankful or unthankful. We can't be half way thankful or in between thankful. If we're not completely thankful then the only other possible condition we can be is unthankful. It's the only other available condition. The point is that it's easy to become unthankful when our lives don't go the way we want them to. But if we understand the importance of THANKSGIVING to produce victory in our lives then we're going to do everything we can to maintain our connection to it. When we do that, when we work at it, then the RECEIVING of God's UNDESERVED GRACE becomes a continuous, ongoing reality through Faith.
Now one thing many Christians haven't quite understood yet is that NOTHING comes to human beings from God except by GRACE. The New Testament is the Covenant of Grace. God's wrath against sin was satisfied by the work of Jesus and as a result He has made His FAVOR available to anyone who'll take it up by Faith. Fortunately we don't receive what we really deserve; instead we receive what we do NOT deserve which makes it GRACE. There's no work we can do to deserve it. We can't pray and fast until God gives up and releases His FAVOR in response. We can't beg and cry until God feels sorry for us and sends His EMPOWERMENT. None of that works because if it could, we wouldn't have needed Jesus to shed His blood for us. Instead we could be taking care of our own needs simply by doing good religious works or by praying and fasting or by begging and crying. It would all be dependent upon what we do instead of what He already did.
In this context we need to overlay the principle that every GOOD thing we experience in life comes from God (James 1:17). None of those GOOD things happen by accident or by coincidence or because we do something special that pleases God; and they sure don't come from the devil. No, ALL the good things come from God and in fact, under the New Covenant God ONLY gives GOOD things. God gives good things and the devil gives bad things and there's never any crossover. So, we all want to receive good things from God because they come out of His FAVOR through Faith and they EMPOWER us to achieve victory. Here's a verse about VICTORY we need to always keep at our "fingertips" so we can quickly access it when we need it:
Did you notice the word THANKS here? Keep in mind that true THANKSGIVING can only come as a result of GRACE. The GRACE is what connects us to VICTORY; therefore, we have to be conscious of and on guard against anything that could cause us to be disconnected from His GRACE.
Pride Hinders God's Grace
And pride is one of those things. The Bible clearly says that God gives GRACE to the humble but RESISTS the PROUD (James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5) and this is in the New Testament (quoting the O/T) AFTER He had reconciled us to Himself because of what Jesus accomplished at the Cross (Romans 5:10). Even the Old Testament says that God gave GRACE to the humble (Proverbs 3:34) while He was still in wrath over the sin of mankind. So God is by nature a God of GRACE; He's a God who desires with all His heart to make available His favor and empowerment. But pridefulness is one of the main things that will cut us off from that availability. The GRACE is made available because of what Jesus did, but in our PRIDE we cut ourselves off from that availability instead of connecting to it. When we're walking in PRIDE we're unable to RECEIVE the GRACE and we wind up with a sense of having lost our EMPOWERMENT as we lose contact with the FAVOR.
So what is PRIDE? If it's something that disconnects and pulls us away from the power of God, we want to avoid it at all costs. We want to be able to spot it when it first presents itself. Our sensitivities need to be on guard against it and one of the first things we can get out of these scriptures is the conclusion that humility and pride are opposites. That's a start but now we have two words to understand.
Many scriptures show that God does indeed hate PRIDE: for example, Mark 7:22 includes pride with a bunch of other bad things that proceed out of man and DEFILE him. Pride causes dishonor and shame (Proverbs 11:2), contention and strife (Proverbs 13:10), destruction and defeat (Proverbs 16:18), and it will ruin a man's reputation (Proverbs 29:23). In modern English we use the word PRIDE to describe the sense of dignity or accomplishment we feel about our work or achievements or skills. But the Bible's use of the word is entirely different and it's very negative: PRIDE in the Bible means to have an overly high opinion of oneself especially in relationship to God. Contextually it usually signifies an unwillingness to submit to God and/or to other people. The Bible speaking about the fall of Lucifer in Isaiah 14:13-14 quotes him as saying the following:
"I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
It is often said that the fall of Lucifer was the result of his PRIDE. He desired to raise himself above the authority of God and he still does to this day in the person of Satan, the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4, James 5:19). Definitely he has an overly high opinion of himself and his PRIDE is so well developed that he's blinded from the truth. On a human level, PRIDE works the same way. When we receive the blessing of God's favor, do we take credit for it or do we thank God remembering that every good thing comes from God (James 1:17)? Do we put God and His Kingdom first in our lives (Matthew 6:33) or do we put ourselves first? Are we overly focused on ourselves and all the negative things we have to deal with in our lives or have we learned to focus on the good things that come from GRACE and ought to cause us to enter into THANKSGIVING? Do we resist the authority of the Word of God and insist on our own traditions and religious customs (Mark 7:13)? Do we worry about problems instead of casting our cares on Jesus (1 Peter 5:6-7). Are we willing to submit to other Believers (1 Peter 5:5)? Do we speak against other Believers (James 4:10-11)? Friend, PRIDE involves all these things and Father God hates it!
It's better to be HUMBLE and humility is pretty much the opposite of all the things we just went over. It's about putting God first and giving Him credit for all the good things. It's about trusting Him for every victory. It's about allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us (Romans 8:14) and teach us (John 14:26).It's about being willing to come under the hand of God until He is ready to exalt us (1 Peter 5:6). It's about being willing to draw near to the throne of grace when we need help in a time of need (Hebrews 4:16) instead of running off in the Flesh to try to make our own solution work out. It's about looking for ways to live by FAITH because we know that it pleases Him (Hebrews 11:6). And, it's about finally coming to the realization that God isn't impressed by all our good works. His GRACE is unmerited, undeserved and the humble folks are the ones who stay connected to it and receive the maximum benefit. They are well aware that they do NOT deserve anything from God or anybody else.
How to Deal With Pride
Hopefully you see today that dealing with PRIDE will go a long way toward achieving a victorious life in the Kingdom of God. We don't have enough space in this article to go into an extensive discussion on how to deal with it because it's not the main topic. But we can sure hit the highlights. The main idea is to deal with the desire of our Flesh to put itself ahead of God. The Flesh doesn't want to trust God and that's why it always sets itself against the Spirit/spirit (Galatians 5:17). The best way to deal with that is to constantly resist PRIDE so that it can't get a foothold in our lives. We can do that by finally accepting that all good things come from God, that all bad comes from Satan, that God doesn't work through a conspiracy with Satan to teach us things but relies on the Holy Spirit to do the teaching and on us to resist the devil (James 4:7). Jesus came into the world to DESTROY the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), not to set him up so God could "allow" him to torment us. Do yourself a favor and move away from this 500 year old unscriptural theology so you can feel FREE to trust God and put Him first in your life, not because you're afraid of Him but because you know He loves you and wants you to succeed.
Then, start THANKING God OUT LOUD for every single good thing you can find anywhere or think of. At first, it might be difficult because people are so used to focusing on their problems they've forgotten what the good things look like. Most of us don't even take note of the good things when they happen. By looking at what God has done instead of what the devil did or what you've done with your own poor choices, keep your eyes on God's work. By doing that you'll be training your MIND to put God first instead of you and your circumstances. Remember that THANKSGIVING will always connect you to God's GRACE and then help you RECEIVE it through FAITH.
And finally we must ALL learn to cast our anxieties on God and stop worrying about them. The objective is to stop focusing on our problems so we can put God first in our lives. We have to resist worry and in the beginning it'll take some work; but progress will come if you stick to it. Don't allow worry to just wallow around in your MIND and stagnate there. We have a responsibility to resist it. To not resist it is PRIDE because it says we're not able to trust God with our problems and have to deal with them out of our own Flesh. God wants to take your problems. Let Him have them so He can exchange them for GRACE And when you've done that give Him THANKS and praise.
Thanks for being with us today. We'll see you again in three weeks on May 7. May God bless you and your family as you offer up THANKSGIVING together.
Sinners' Prayer
If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you can do so today just by saying the following simple prayer:
Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I receive forgiveness for my sins and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
Donations
If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, how about making a SEED FAITH offering to support the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7)? PLN is a non profit gift to the Body of Christ so your financial offerings will usually be tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). Simply go to the secure Shopping Cart on the Cornerstone web site by connecting to the following link. God bless you for you love and generosity.
http://www.creditcounseling.net/shop/item.aspx?itemid=1
Prayer Requests
If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. God bless you.
http://www.creditcounseling.net/prayer-request.aspx
