Pour Contempt on All My Pride

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Isaac Watts

Robert Green's 48 Laws

   Robert Greene’s “48 Laws” are very repulsive to me. He is not seeking to be a good communicator through these laws but to simply play his cards right and gear the noise and environment to get his agenda across. His laws have dangerous implications because they teach how to cleverly put a facade on in one’s communication. The goal of being ethical and moral in interpersonal communication is to be real and sincere with people, to treat them as you would want to be treated. For the sake of space, I will only address two of Greene’s laws: 3 and 32.

     Law 3 says “conceal your intentions.” Greene proposes that by concealing your true intentions you can keep others constantly guessing what you are up to and thus keep them from building any good defenses against you. I disagree with this law because it is immoral and unethical to simply try to keep people beating around the bush so they cannot respond to what you are truly saying. In my life, I have struggled with one individual who was my leader because he always seemed to conceal his true intentions and not really lead the group. He was in an important position that was supposed to involve teaching and mentoring, but he did not even appear to try. He would shift directions so fast that people of all ages got frustrated. He was “the leader” but did not really have any followers because of his mysteriousness.

      Law 32 says “play to people’s fantasies.” Greene continues to explain this law as one that avoids truth because people view it as “ugly and unpleasant.” Instead, he encourages that one should cater to people’s passions and dreams to gain a large following. This one is simply evil. Deny truth to win a following! Truth is essential. Without truth, there will be no freedom, growth, or lasting results. Jesus said that He was “the way, the TRUTH, and the life” (John 14:6, KJV). In addition, Jesus taught that “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32, KJV). It may seem foolish, it may seem crazy, but Jesus Christ changes people. When a person truly comes to Him and becomes His disciple, then he will be transformed by Jesus—the Truth—and he will be truly free. Many men and women have been freed from the chains of a past filled with crime, drugs, and abuse because of Jesus Christ. It may seem foolish that people find freedom in someone that lived 2,000 years ago, but it is true. In prison rehabilitation programs, Bible-based programs continue to have the largest success rate. Why? Because there is such a thing as truth and its foundation is Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 3:10-14). Jesus did not lie to people. He taught truth and many times was even very blunt. His following was not build by manipulation, but by communicating honestly and sincerely. Any following that is built by deceptive practices is inherently evil. And just because a communicator deals honestly and sincerely with his audience does not mean that his message is true; however, it does mean that he has ethically “built” his following.

If you have to say you're something, you're not

 “If you have to say you’re something, you’re not”

--One of my Pastors

Contemplate this quote.

Machiavelli vs. God

   Machiavelli's principles to success are the exact opposite of God's:

 

 

  

Machiavelli—book: The Prince

How to gain power:

1.     Tell people what they want to hear

2.     Give only the reasons people want to hear

3.     Cut corners here and there

4.     Assume all have a vicious side & it will come out when they are given a chance

 

 

God--book: The Bible

 

 

 

he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:11-12 (KJV)

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Ephesians 4:25 (KJV)

 

thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have

Deuteronomy 25:15 (KJV)

 

 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 13:34-35 (KJV)

 

 

Who's advice will stand? God's!

 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Isaiah 40:8 (KJV)

 

 

 

Prideful Promotions

 

“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.  But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”

 Psalm 75:6-10 KJV

 

       Don’t spend your energies trying to exalt yourself. Proverbs 29:23 says, “man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit (KJV).” God’s way to honor is humility, but the World’s way to success is promote yourself, sell yourself, DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO GET FAME AND A NAME FOR YOURSELF! God’s way to honor flies right in the face of that hollow philosophy: Be humble, the Lord is the Judge; He Rules and He Reigns over all! Trust in Him, humble yourself, do your best and faithfully follow the Lord in little and in abundance and let God take care of promoting you.

 

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A Hard Lesson

A Hard Lesson

“When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.”

Proverbs 11:2 (NKJV)

 

      Have you ever gotten prideful? I would be willing to bet that you have. When I have fallen into pride, one characteristic is sure to come about. It is the disgrace, the shame of having said something I regret—I was being prideful and what I said damaged my reputation with somebody. That is where I do not want to stay, and regret my actions.

        But I have found something else as well. When I operate in humility, then comes wisdom. I’m open to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice through others, able to discern the spirits and see which is of God. But this only occurs when I’m in humility, when I’ve gotten cocky or began to be secretly puffed with pride: having self-confidence and self-exaltation, then comes my disgrace. I cannot walk in fellowship with God and my own pride. I must be humble. I must Fear God and understand my proper place—for that is where wisdom lies; not in focusing on myself, but on Him.

  Dear God, give me a humble spirit. Teach me Your ways, Your wonders, and Your majesty. And, Lord, please show me just a glimpse of how small I really am compared to Your plan. Let that revelation help me to remain in a humble state of spirit. In Jesus name, amen.

Get the Free E-book Extra Devotions Here

In our own strength

In our own strength

      In our own strength let’s face it: we really don’t do anything of value. We can earn rewards, medals, treasures, wealth, etc…, but none of those things really have any eternal value in and of themselves. O sure we are excited and filled with pride for a short while, but it doesn’t last: it is temporal.

 Life isn’t about self-confidence or believing in yourself: Life is about following Jesus! When we acknowledge that we are no more than a wretch and that without Christ we are nothing we come to a point of true humility. Pride isn’t healthy—Biblically there is no proof to take pride in yourself. Biblically, we are to acknowledge God as Master of all things; we are to work as unto Him, doing our best; and acknowledge that our works are not perfect, because we are imperfect.

It is all about Him, not us!

 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:15-18 KJV

Man views himself good compared to his surroundings

“Man views himself good compared to his surroundings” –Pastor Patrick Ringler

(2 Corinthians 10:12)

Prideful Promotions

Prideful Promotions

“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.  But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”

 Psalm 75:6-10 KJV

       Don’t spend your energies trying to exalt yourself. Proverbs 29:23 says, “man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit (KJV).” God’s way to honor is humility, but the World’s way to success is promote yourself, sell yourself, DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO GET FAME AND A NAME FOR YOURSELF! God’s way to honor flies right in the face of that hollow philosophy: Be humble, the Lord is the Judge; He Rules and He Reigns over all! Trust in Him, humble yourself, do your best and faithfully follow the Lord in little and in abundance and let God take care of promoting you.

 

A Hard Lesson

A Hard Lesson

 

“When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.”

Proverbs 11:2 (NKJV)

 

      Have you ever gotten prideful? I would be willing to bet that you have. When I have fallen into pride, one characteristic is sure to come about. It is the disgrace, the shame of having said something I regret—I was being prideful and what I said damaged my reputation with somebody. That is where I do not want to stay, and regret my actions.

        But I have found something else as well. When I operate in humility, then comes wisdom. I’m open to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice through others, able to discern the spirits and see which is of God. But this only occurs when I’m in humility, when I’ve gotten cocky or began to be secretly puffed with pride: having self-confidence and self-exaltation, then comes my disgrace. I cannot walk in fellowship with God and my own pride. I must be humble. I must Fear God and understand my proper place—for that is where wisdom lies; not in focusing on myself, but on Him.

  Dear God, give me a humble spirit. Teach me Your ways, Your wonders, and Your majesty. And, Lord, please show me just a glimpse of how small I really am compared to Your plan. Let that revelation help me to remain in a humble state of spirit. In Jesus name, amen.

 

Thought 314: Why man cannot be god from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 314

Why man cannot be god

(a ‘bash’ of humanism)

      A man cannot be God because he has a beginning, but God never did. Man cannot comprehend the concept of never having a beginning, yet it is true character trait of God. Praise The Lord for His omnipotence! God created you and He can tell your heart to stop beating right now, but He is saying that it shall continue to beat or you wouldn’t be able to read! If God says you will not be killed tomorrow by someone, then no one—not even the President of the United States or the entire world can take your life because what God says goes! This very minute it is a miracle that you are alive and that your body hasn’t contracted some disease or your brain make a horrible error! God is keeping you alive every second!! While you sleep, while you play, while you work, while you study, while you write, etc…

       . . . . man is not God.

 

Thought 306: What's your Motive? from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 306

What’s your Motive?

  What is your motive for doing most of the things that you do? Is it recognition? Achievement? A ‘good’ feeling? To ‘get’ a woman? To impress? To discover the “real” you? To discover you inner being? To see if this thing fits you? To experiment? To live for God? To quote a movie, video game, or book? To impersonate a TV star or an athlete? Etc…

  All those motives, except one are wrong.

Our motive should be Jesus Christ, His triune being: God the Father; Jesus, the Son; and The Holy Spirit, The Counselor and Spirit of Truth.

 

Thought 298: Humility from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 298

Humility

“The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.”

Psalms 25:9-15 KJV

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines Meek as: …humble, in an evangelical sense ; submissive to the divine will ; not proud, self-sufficient or refractory ; not peevish and apt to complain of divine dispensations. Christ says, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and he shall find rest for your souls.” Matt. xi

    A mentor of mine has said, “humility is the key.” In life, being humble is an important key to everything: right standing with God, proper relationships with people, and most importantly, being in the right place and season that God has for you. A few years later, the same man told me that humility and the fear of the Lord when you study them out are synomomous.

     From our text, we learn that the Lord guides the humble, instructs them, and teaches them His way. As we go on we see the characteristics of the humble: keeping the demands of covenant of the Lord; and repentance, crying out: forgive my iniquity, Lord! By the Spirit, we can also see the Lord reveal through this Scripture that the fear of the Lord and humility are synonymous because the man that fears the Lord is instructed in the way chosen for him, in the path that God has anointed him for; and that the Lord guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

     Fearing the Lord brings prosperity and inheritance, but more than all that, the Lord confides in those who fear him! He makes his covenant known to them! Like David wrote, may we cry out and proclaim, my eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare! Let’s be humble, let’s Fear the Lord!

 

Thought 290: You already look like a fool; let God kill your pride from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 290

You already look like a fool; let God kill your pride

 

  Stop letting the fear of failing or looking like a fool keep you from being blessed by obedience to the Lord. Many of us have already looked like fools before in our day to day lives. So let’s face it stepping out there and living out your Faith won’t really be ‘all that bad.’ Sure people may not believe your testimony, even Jesus experienced that. Some may persecute you or make fun of you for your seemingly stupid “‘religious ‘practices;” that happened to Jesus. But—Hey!—we are supposed to be the Light and Salt of the earth. So let’s lay down the pride of failure and foolishness and start being Fools-4-Christ!

“We are fools for Christ’s sake….” 1 Corinthians 4:10 KJV

Thought 276: How Christians Succeed from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 276

How Christians Succeed

“But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister (servant); And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28 KJV (parenthesis added)

     Christians, too often we do not go about achievement in the proper way. I remember back to my high school years where I humbly served others and achieved tremendous success. People respected me, all I did seemed to prosper; I was content, happy and joyful! The reason why all the blessings happened was not because of my effort. I was humble, diligent, and dependent upon the Lord for things to work out.

“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 14:11 KJV

       Where are you? Are you humbly serving or are you going after exalting yourself (pride)?

        Jesus said that to find your life, you must first lose it, spend it by serving others.

       Why don’t you close reading Matthew 20:1-16.

Thought 251: Pride from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 251

Pride

  Porn, selfishness, gluttony, moral infidelity, etc…are all tied to pride directly. All sin is tied in some way shape or form to pride. In the very beginning of the Bible, we find Eve partaking of the fruit because she desired to be like God and have more “wisdom.” Satan tempted Eve with the same lie he believed!—that he could be superior to God: that he could be more knowledgeable, wise, or powerful than God. Rebellion is linked to the prideful heart as is every sin. The prideful thoughts of the heart work their way out in a man’s actions and words and earn him the accurate labels of liar, adulterer, murderer, slanderer, fornicator, etc…

If you seem to be constantly battling pride. First, confess your fault to God and perhaps a spiritual friend (it is not required to confess your sin to a friend, but it greatly increases the coming of victory over it [James 5:16]). Second, purpose to remain faithful despite the temptation. Third, memorize Scripture related your specific temptation and quote it when temptation comes. Jesus used this method to send o’ll Satan packing his bags. Fourth, be alert and keep your guard up for fresh or renewed attacks of the battle and repeat the previous steps as needed. Finally, remember to listen for the Holy Spirit to share your victories humbly when appropriate for godly testimony to fellow Christians and unbelievers.

Thought 179: Walking on the Water (Matthew 14:22-36) from Ryan Marks' book series Throughts

Thought 179

Walking on the Water

(Matthew 14:22-36)

     Peter had his eyes “on the prize,” he believed! Then he looked at the circumstances, and started to sink. He was only saved because he cried out to Jesus, and Jesus took his hand and saved the sinking man of doubt. When the Lord Jesus tells us something and we have faith in it, we are like Peter and we can walk on the water in the midst of a storm. But also like Peter when you and I focus on the circumstances, not trusting the Lord we sink. Have you tried to “brave-the-waters” alone, and failed, yet Christ followed you, He was nearby, and grabbed your hand when you cried “Help, Lord!”?

 

Dear brother, how will you trample lust?

Dear sister, how will you not “give-your-heart-away”?

 

    We have to constantly CRY OUT to Jesus for help. We are human and we fail so miserably at times. There is no magical solution for faith, we simply have to believe, and if doubt is creeping up behind you like a deadly poison ivy vine, you need to cry out to Jesus, and if “WAIT” is the answer, then stand firm and use your sword (the BIBLE) until the Lord makes you victorious. We ARE more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.

Another Angle

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”  Luke 10:17-24 (NIV1984)

Don’t get prideful that you have the power to win. Instead, rejoice that you are saved and that God has had mercy on your soul.