Wednesday, September 10, 2008

To God Be The Glory! Epistle I "Pride and Selfishness"

Pride and selfishness are ugly characteristics! But praise God they are easily detectable... at least for those who are looking for them in their own life with the intention of eradicating them completely. My pastor (Dr. Lance Ketchum) encouraged me to share some things God is working on in my life while in jail. My faith has been tested and is more real to me than ever before. That is how we can glorify God through extreme life-circumstances- because we know it is for His glory and our good.

Pride and selfishness are evident in every Christian's life (to varying degrees), but only few ever actually realize how devastatingly wicked these sins are. Those faithful few will seek God's searching-out in every facet of their lives so their pride and selfishness will be manifested unto them. Then they can confess, repent, and forsake pride and selfishness and ask for God's help moment-by-moment to live in the Spirit-free from those sins! God has really shown me the depths of man's depravity (propensity for sin and therefore sinful acts) and how important it is to live the Christian life with all your sins (actions and attitudes contrary to God's Word) "confessed-up", and in the power of the Holy Spirit. We seldom realize how little it takes for us to be out of fellowship with God.

One little ounce of bitterness, one little teaspoon of anger, one little speck of "no one will know...", one little iota of "wow, she's/he's hot" (and then a lingered look of lustful thought). Just a little leaven leavens the whole. Then, left un-confessed, un-confronted sin festers and boils and pusses and oozes out through our choices in life and then eventually it will result in a catastrophic decision.

In the "Days of Praise" daily devotional (put out my ICR) on today's date (3-11-08) it says, "the closer one comes to the Lord, the more clearly one sees his own sinfulness... no one who is satisfied with his or her own state of holiness has yet come to know the Lord in His state of holiness!" When they are "satisfied" they mean, "any one who is not continually self-examining their life to see if there is sin in any aspect of their life". We must constantly look at our ourselves to conform to what Christ wants us to be.

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