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Christian Devotional – September 3, 2014
Read Esther chapter 6 VERSE: Esther 6:6–When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?” TRUTH: The king just asked a question. Haman, in his pride and arrogance, was the one who made the giant leap to assume that the king was talking about him. Do we assume that we know exactly what others are thinking? Do we assume that we know what God is thinking? This can result in huge miscalculations and embarrassment, at best. If we are going to assume something about…
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Christian Devotional – August 31, 2014
Read Esther chapter 3 VERSE: Esther 3:5–When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. TRUTH: Oh, the fury of an ego scorned. Haman had huge pride and he wanted everyone to honor him. Mordecai would only bow down to God, and that infuriated Haman. Are we so worried about what others think of us that we feel anger toward others who don’t feed our ego? We are to be point others toward God, not ourselves. RESPONSE: Father, keep my ego focused on You only. I only want to hear from You and I only want to exalt You, not myself. Keep me…
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Christian Devotional – August 23, 2014
Read 3 John VERSE: 3 John 9–I wrote to the church, but Diotrophes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. TRUTH: It’s hard to imagine a church leader like John not being welcome in the church, yet that is exactly what he writes here. Instead, a prideful and arrogant man refused to welcome him. You see, when someone loves to be first, they will turn away anyone who might threaten their number 1 position. Do we think more highly of ourselves than we should? That pride can blind us to people and circumstances around us. Do we love to be first? If so, we will always turn away…
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Christian Devotional – December 8, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 22:29–Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” TRUTH: Ok, so Balaam is traveling and his donkey moves off the path to avoid an angel intent upon killing his rider three times. Balaam gets angry and beats the donkey. Then the Lord opens the donkey’s mouth and the donkey asks why Balaam did that. Now Balaam must have been very angry because even a talking donkey didn’t shock him out of his anger. He didn’t even bother asking, “You can talk?” His anger that his pride had been wounded eclipsed…
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Christian Devotional – September 9, 2013
VERSE: James 4:10–Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. TRUTH: It sounds so backward from what we are told by the world, yet we are to humble ourselves to others and allow God to be the One who lifts us up. If we go around boasting of our abilities, then those will be the only accolades we receive and will not bring honor and glory to God. However, if we are humble and patient, God will take responsibility for lifting us up at the proper time and in the proper way so that He will receive all the honor and praise for what He has done…
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Christian Devotional – July 12, 2013
VERSE: Jeremiah 13:9–This is what the Lord says: “In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.” TRUTH: Pride goes before a fall. Elsewhere in scripture that truth is listed and God reiterates it here with an example. The people of Judah and Jerusalem have been prideful and trusted in themselves and not God. They will become useless and God will ruin their pride. What is our attitude like? Do we give praise and glory to God for what He does or do we take credit for God’s works and blessings in our life? He has the power and ability to ruin…
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Christian Devotional – May 13, 2013
VERSE: Ezekiel 29:9–Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord, “Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it.'” TRUTH: The people of Egypt had a lot of pride, but they took their pride one step further than the people of Tyre that Ezekiel spoke to in the previous chapter. The people of Egypt were taking credit for God’s handiwork. They were praising themselves instead of praising God. They were telling others that they were responsible for something that God had done. Do we take credit for God’s work in our lives? God will not share credit for what He alone has…
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Christian Devotional – May 12, 2013
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! VERSE: Ezekiel 28:9–Will you then say, “I am a god,” in the presence of those who will kill you? You will be but a mortal, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you. TRUTH: Pride is such a dangerous and deceptive thing! Ezekiel shows that the king of Tyre was so prideful that he believed he was like a god and was untouchable. Even when confronted with certain destruction, he was still indicating that he was above their plans to kill him. God reminds us that we are just people and that if we begin to deceive ourselves that we something more than that,…
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Christian Devotional – March 27, 2013
VERSE: 2 Chronicles 26:16–But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithfu to the Lord his God, and entered the temple to the Lord his God to burn incense on the altar of incense. TRUTH: Uzziah trusted God and followed Him until he became successful, then Uzziah became proud. Pride is such a dangerous thing because it clouds our minds and distorts our perception of reality. We start to think we are more important than we actually are and we start to praise ourselves instead of praising God. God will not share praise. Whether we are successful in the world’s eyes or not, all glory and…