Ezra 8:22-23 (NIV) 2 2 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.  A few points: "I was ashamed to ask". We do this. We are afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. We find ourselves needing assistance of some sort and would let someone help us, but we won't ask for help. If someone happens to stumble upon our need, we may gladly accept the assistance. But, pride prevents us from asking.  Psalm 10:4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 13:10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes befor...

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/worryfea/pride5.htm John 3:30 says "He [Jesus] must become greater; I must become less."  This quote is from John the Baptist.  I don't ever remember hearing this verse or seeing this verse anywhere, like on wall hangings, coffee mugs, book marks and the like. I'm guessing it isn't a very popular verse.  We like Bible verses that make us feel good or profess our faith.  We don't much like the ones that call us on the carpet! And this one does. We often put ourselves first, as one greater than Christ. We want the worship service to fill us, the music to lift us, our prayers to grant us whatever we want/need.  This verse gives us the equation that sums up what our purpose is.  We are to increasingly make Christ bigger in our lives and make ourselves smaller in comparison.  We are to spend more and more time, money, brain power, activity on Christ and His work. AND we are supposed to spend more and more shrinki...

Ezekiel 28:2: ..... " 'In the pride of your heart        you say, "I am a god;        I sit on the throne of a god ....." This verse was spoken by God to Ezekiel about the ruler of Tyre. When I read it this morning, I stopped at the phrase: In the pride of your heart.   What can this mean for me? Anything?  Am I hiding pride in my heart?  Do we even understand that when we carry pride in our hearts, that we are really saying we are gods?  Well, we are. Aren't we? On some level? We must reflect on whether we have pride in our hearts, especially hidden pride that causes us to believe somewhere deep down inside that we are in control, that we have power, that we know the answers, that we are gods, our own gods. That we don't need another all-powerful, all-knowing, saving God. I'm certain that there are times that I think I am in control, when I'm really not. Times when I think that I can deal with it, or h...

2 Chronicles 26:16a : But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God,... Someone once made the comment to me that he believed that all sin originates in pride. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and believe it to be very nearly true. I actually haven't thought of anything that didn't have an origin in pride if you look deep enough. For example, if you choose not to try something, you might be fearful of failure. Fear of failure is really fear of damaging your pride, isn't it?  Not taking a risk might be due to a fear of failure - which is back to pride. see link for video I've seen people on street corners, holding up worn Bibles, quoting verses from it, looking rather worn themselves. I used to think how embarrassing for them. Somehow in their spiritual journey, they have abandoned their pride for the sake of scripture, for the sake of The Word, Jesus who is the Word - See John 1 :1-2 "In t...

A few years ago I discovered something about myself; that I'd been reluctant to do certain things for fear of failure.  Upon further self-inspection, I discovered that this fear of failure was really a type of arrogance. I would not do things that might cause me to be embarrassed.  Like in high school, I didn't take some of the more difficult classes - like physics, or calculus because ....what if I didn't make an A, or if I studied a LOT but ended up with a (gasp) "C"?  I don't participate in jokes because I will be the one laughed at, (but isn't it really the joke that gets the laugh)?  So, you see, I recognized that fear of humiliation keeps me from doing some things.....and what if some of those things include something for God? To be honest, I can't think of too many things where fear has kept me from doing something that I felt like God wanted me to do.  I have worried about being the only soprano in choir on Sunday but I think I've gotten ...