God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?
There is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint: and to
them that have no might He increaseth strength."
Have you ever tried to put something into a container that was already full? What's in
that container might be worthless, and what you want to fill it with might be valuable, but
I guarantee you that you can't fill without first emptying.
We have a God whom is beyond our finite understanding. The verse above says that
"there is no searching of His understanding." The "Creator of the ends of the earth"
wants to fill us with His power and strength. But there is a problem, we are already
filled with our own power and strength...worthless and sinful. We continue day after
day too rely on our own strength and power to meet the demands of life as they are
flung at us. May I tell you that you will be a defeated Christian. It is only when we
let the "everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth" fill us with
divine power and strength, that we will be able to live a victorious Christian life.
So why, when we know what God wants us to do, do we continue on doing things in
our own way, with worldly wisdom? Pride. Pride is one of the major downfalls in the
Christians life. And, if you won't admit it...its because of pride!
Pride is saying, "My way is best, I know what I'm doing, I can do it without any help.
Do you see any mention of God is those statements? No, its all "I."
Proverbs 8:13 "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride and arrogancy,
and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate."
Proverbs 14:3a "In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride."
God calls those who have pride foolish. I don't know about you, but there is some-
thing in me that recoils at being called a fool. Yet that is exactly what I am if I
allow pride to dominate my spirit. Pride is something that the Lord hates. Why
would I willingly allow something into my life that my Savior hates?
As children of God we need to learn to turn over everything in our lives to the
Masters control. Trying to struggle along in our own power and strength is foolish
and sinful. Why would anyone want anything corrupt in their lives, when the Lord
offers to replace it with the divine?
1 John 2:16 & 17 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth
for ever."
We find in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death." The "way that seemeth right unto a man."
God's ways are not our ways. We see through earthly eyes, they do not naturally "see"
the way of God. To trust in what seemeth right to us, is to trust foolishly. Trusting
God is having faith even though we cannot see the way ahead.
The dictionary says that pride is having too high of an opinion of oneself. We find
that the Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:3, "For I say through the grace given
unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly
than he ought to think: but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to
every man the measure of faith." When we start elevating self over God we will
have a very poor testimony in this world. Our lives are to be hid in Christ Jesus,
(Colossians 3:3) only He should be visible to those around us. When pride rules,
Christ is hidden.
When we have pride in our lives, what we essentially are saying to the Lord is, "I
know better then You, I can take charge and make better decisions then You." May
I tell you from experience, that when you treat the Lord this way, He is just going to
step back and let you take over. He is never going to push His way into your life.
When you crash and make a big mess of things, He will be standing by waiting for
your repentance and invitation back into your life.
Many times when my children were small, I would tell them how to do things, only to
stand by and watch them make a complete mess of things because they choose to do
things their way. Eventually they would come crying for my help to fix the mess. This
is how our Heavenly Father is. He tells us through His Word how to do things, then
watches as we take back control and mess things up. We come crying to Him, bringing
the mess of our lives to shove back into His hands. I used to wonder why my children
had to learn things the hard way, and now I find I'm just like them when it comes to
my relationship with my Heavenly Father.
If we would only see our pride as the sin that it is, what heartbreak and confusion it
would save us from.
Romans 13:14 "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof."
Romans 7:18a "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing:"
We cannot serve God, glorify God or live for God in our flesh. Those that want to
worship God must do so in spirit and in truth. Pride can find no resting place in the
Spirit filled life of the obedient, surrendered Christian.
Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
How is your life today? Has it been emptied of self and pride so that the power and
strength of the Lord is visible to those around us? Or are we stumbling along, content
to make do with the meager strength and power we find in ourselves, being disobedient
to God and bringing shame to His precious name? Let God have control and become
a Spirit-filled Christian, bringing glory and honor to our Savior and King. "I" is not
found in "surrender!"
Philippians 1:27a "Only let your conversation (life) be as it becometh the gospel
of Christ:"
Lord Jesus, I give Thee everything;
Lord Jesus, but to Thy cross I cling.
My Savior, I humbly pray,
Receive the gifts I bring today;
Lord Jesus, my life is Thine,
My will, my talents and my time.
Lord Jesus, I need Thee more each day;
Lord Jesus, control my thoughts I pray.
My Savior, to Thee I bow,
Come melt me, mold me, use me now;
Lord Jesus, here is my heart,
O cleanse and fill its inmost part.
Lord Jesus, although my flesh is weak,
Lord Jesus, it is Thy will I seek.
My Savior, my God and King,
Accept the simple gifts I bring;
Lord Jesus, I am thine own,
Come rule as King on my hearts throne.
Frank Garlock
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