James
says it in James 4:6 and Peter says it in 1 Peter 5:5, “God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
God
makes it very clear through all of the Bible that human pride will put a person
in opposition to God and humility allows God to pour even more grace on a
person.
Why
does pride put a person in opposition to God? Pride is the root that causes us
to sin against God.
Eve’s
pride led her to disobey God and eat the fruit that God had said not to eat.
Cain’s
pride led him to kill his brother Abel.
Rehoboam’s
pride led to the nation of Israel being split into two nations.
Jonah’s
pride led him to run from God and be shallowed by a big fish.
Judas’
pride led him to betray Jesus.
Paul’s
pride led him to persecute Christians
The
religious leaders’ pride led them to crucify Jesus.
Proverbs
16:18
Pride
goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Pride
always leads to destruction because it put us in opposition to God and thus
leads to sin.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeing that pride puts us in opposition to
God and leads to destruction.
The
poster boy for pride in the Bible may be Nebuchadnezzar.
In
Daniel 3 Nebuchadnezzar builds a ninety-foot-tall statue of himself and commands
that all the people are to bow and worship the statue.
In
Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. Daniel interprets the dream. He warns
Nebuchadnezzar in verse 27 to break off his sins by practicing righteousness
and his iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed so that there could be a
lengthening of his prosperity. God had already showed Nebuchadnezzar His wisdom
in having Daniel interpret his first dream and showed His power by rescuing
Shadrach, Meshach, and Meshach from the fiery furnace without any harm done to
them.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is taking seriously the words of God meant to
warn us and move us to repentance.
Nebuchadnezzar
did not pay any attention to God’s words and actions.
In
Daniel 4:30 Nebuchadnezzar says, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built
by my mighty power as a royal residence and for glory on my majesty?”
Instead
of giving God praise for all that God had given him and done for him,
Nebuchadnezzar praises himself for the power and splendor of Babylon.
The
result was that God drove Nebuchadnezzar out to live like an animal for several
months. Pride leads us away from God because pride elevates us to be the most
important, not God.
Humility
draws us closer to God because, by humbling ourselves, it allows God to
elevates us.
1
Peter 5:6
Humble
yourself. Therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He
may exalt you.
Pride
= self-elevation which leads to us falling off the pedestal we put ourselves
on.
Humility
= God-elevation which leads to us being exalted by God’s mighty hand by which
we cannot fall.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is not exalting ourselves but humbling
ourselves and letting God exalt us.
We
live in a culture in which one of the big traits is entitlement. We talk about
our rights, what we deserve, and what we are entitled to.
Jesus,
who had every right to demands His rights, talked bout being a servant.
Mark
10:45
For
even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as
a ransom for many.
Jesus,
the eternal God of all creation who could have rightly demanded that everybody
serve Him, came to serve others and to die as the payment for every person’s
sins.
As
we are celebrating the coming of Jesus into the world, let us allow the Holy
Spirit to form in us the image of Jesus by creating humility in our words,
actions, thoughts, and desires.
When
we humble ourselves under the authority of Jesus, we will experience the joy
and peace of Christmas.
In
Humility Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls with Jesus as Lord,
Joe
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