Tag: Pride

Posted in Devotion, For Such A Time As This, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

Trust God’s Timing

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From the journal, For Such a Time As This, by Love God Greatly, p145/w5d1

Read: Esther 6:10-11 and SOAP: Proverbs 25:6-7

Don’t demand an audience with the king
    or push for a place among the great.
7 It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table
    than to be sent away in public disgrace.

Just because you’ve seen something,

Proverbs 25:6-7

Have you ever watched a contest and at the end, just as the announcer says, “the winner is…” the loser, certain that she has won, begins to step forward – only to hear some other name announced? As I read today’s portion of Esther’s story, this scenario filled my mind. I can’t help but imagine Haman, who was so certain that the King meant to honor him that he gave details of all he hoped to receive from King Xerxes, never dreaming the rewards and honor would go to his arch nemesis. I can only imagine the shock and displeasure/anger at hearing Mordecai’s name instead of his own. However, the humility and anger he must have felt having to clothe Mordecai in the royal garments worn by the king and lead him around on a horse the king had ridden – all the while shouting out a statement of the king’s wish to honor Mordecai. All of this was a far cry from the death he had planned for Mordecai and ‘his people.’

Pride goes before destruction,
    and haughtiness before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18

Today’s journal entry from the LGG journal, p 145, is a wonderful commentary and correlation between today’s portion of Esther’s story, the SOAP passage from Proverbs, and Proverbs 16:18, where we are given a warning about the dangers of pride. May it be a rich blessing and an encouragement to lay down any pride or self-seeking attitude we might be battling.

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Living Faithful in a Faithless Land, Quiet Time

The King of Heaven

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based on the LGG Study, Living Fatihful in a Faithless Land / w3d5

Scripture: The Road Map for Our Journey / Daniel 4:28-37 (37); Philippians 2:5-11

“May all your dreams come true” would not have been a phrase King Nebuchadnezzar would have wanted to hear. Scripture doesn’t make it clear whether he was living in fear of the dream coming true or had dismissed it from his mind, given nothing had happened in the twelve months since Daniel’s interpretation. So, it is very possible that the king could have forgotten or assumed he was safe. However, while he was looking over his beloved Babylon, his pride, clearly in full bloom as he proclaimed the greatness of himself and what he had built – the dream began to unfold just as Daniel had foretold.

Pride goes before destruction,
    and haughtiness before a fall.

PRoverbs 16:18

While the king was still speaking these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence by my own mighty strength and for my majestic honor?”, he lost everything – his kingdom, his place in society, and his mental faculties. As Daniel predicted, the once mighty and reversed Nebuchadnezzar now lived as a wild animal—that is, until the day he looked up toward heaven and praised and glorified God, exalting God as both greater than himself and ruler over all.

His pride brought him down, but oh, the beauty of his humility and the restoration we hear and see – which, to paraphrase the Bibleref.com commentary, was the purpose of the Lord’s judgment on his life. The judgment brought hard lessons that ultimately taught the king that the one true God is “infinitely more exalted and powerful than him or any ruler-.” His pride was wiped out, and in its place, there was “an awe of the LORD.”

Prayer of Response to the Journey

Father, I have experienced the destruction of pride in my own life – sadly, more than once. It is not an easy thing to admit, but it is a joyful thing to know Your loving discipline and the beauty and strength of Your grace-filled restoration. Without You I am weak and utterly helpless, but through You = I can do all things. To You alone belong all glory and power and honor. Your Kingdom alone will last forever! Wherever You lead me and whatever You call me to do – may I do it al to and for Your glory – Amen!

The More We know about the journey

For more insight, be sure to read today’s LGG Blog