“Arrogance, Wears Thin”

The “me first” attitude ends up in self-destruction but when we surrender to God, all of our needs will be met.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:3-5

Let me ask you a question, when was the last time you felt down”?” You just feel life is not all it should be during this time with the virus, with that discouragement that comes upon us. You might be feeling right now, those days and periods where nothing goes right. When you feel like just relinquishing or kicking your dog, ignoring your responsibilities. 

The question is which way is up when you are feeling down? Do you decide to give up? OR do you determine to get up on your own energy or do you look for a lift up from God? You see in one sense this is a crazy way to think about it. We all have what I call a hitchhiker heart, we are all in a need of a lift. You see some of us try to lift ourselves by our own bootstraps’. This might work for a time but in the end, we need something more than that We are desperate for something greater than that. When we feel a weight in our hearts, we need a lift, one that only God can give. Giving up only makes things worst. And determination on our own to get up will eventually wear thin. 

You ever watch in the Olympics those weight lifter that hoist literally hundreds and hundreds of pounds. You look at them and you can see the strain of just doing that for only a few moments. They couldn’t live their life doing that. We got some weights on our heart from doing that. You might be able to lift it seemly for a few moments but then you have to drop it. Who is strong enough to shoulder the burdens of our hearts? God is, God is. So, you might be thinking, why doesn’t he lift the weight that’s on my heart right now that’s been on my heart lately? 

Here are some simple directions from God about how he lifts the weight on our heart. How he lifts us up as his people. Now, before you think he has not done it lets look at the directions what he tells us to do in our everyday lives. First let’s look at how God lifts us out. First you ask him to lift you out then you ask him to lift you up. TO be lifted up you first have to be lifted out of some things in life. There’s something powerful about the atmosphere we all live in. It either can brings us down or lifts us up. 

The simple truth is until you begin to trust God to lift you up out of certain situations your heart will never be lifted up. You see there are certain things in this world that drag us down. In fact, before that even more honestly you must confront this Truth, “think about what about us that drags us down”?  There’s something about this world that drags us down and in us that drags us down. When I/you admit that putting that honestly in front of us I’m ready for God to lift me up. 

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures”. James 4:1-3

These verses in James are about all the things you desire a recipe for warfare a battle with god a battle within which addresses jealousy, pride, judgment, and boasting—and he warns us of the damaging effects of these poisons. Praying with no answers? Filled with selfish pride. I want what I want. When you live your life chasing things you want. the strangest things begin to happen. You begin to feel down, and you begin to fight that. If we are honest with ourselves most of our discouragement we can peep within and realize it is because of these selfish desires in our lives. He tells us that we need a humble heart and urges us to focus on responding to God by trusting him with what he’s doing in our own lives, one day at a time. 

You see if I want God to lift me up, I must admit three things about myself: 

·      I have desires that I battle within

·      Secondly, I have to admit I do not ask God

·      And when I do ask, I ask selfishly and follow my own ways

And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’”. Matthew 18:2-4 One quality of children is that they are dependent on others for their well-being. God’s children should share that quality of depending on their loving Heavenly Father for everything they need.

There is no magic formula to make us spiritual giants overnight, no mystical prayer to pray three times a day to mature us, build our faith, and make us towers of strength and confidence. There is only the Bible, the single source of power that will change our lives from the inside out. But it takes effort, diligent, everyday effort, to know the God who controls everything. If we drink deeply of His Word and let it fill our minds and hearts, the sovereignty of God will become clear to us, and we will rejoice in it because we will know intimately and trust completely the God who controls all things for His perfect purpose.

Talk to God and just admit. Prayer: I am selfish. Help me admit this, God where is my life being overwhelmed or controlled by selfish desires right now. We want something! So badly you are going to get it, by knowing how to trust you lord, and there is only one way to know God—through His Word. We need help! Help me to see it so we can set it aside and follow you instead. I ask this father in Jesus name Amen.

God Bless You and This Ministry!