Honest Reflections

“When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.”  Proverbs 11:2 CSB

Arrogance is synonymous with pride.  This little story I found sums it up well:

God was once approached by a scientist who said, “Listen God, we’ve decided we don’t need you anymore. These days we can clone people, transplant organs and do all sorts of things that used to be considered miraculous.”

God replied, “Don’t need me huh? How about we put your theory to the test. Why don’t we have a competition to see who can make a human being, say, a male human being.”

The scientist agrees, so God declares that they should do it like he did in the good old days when he created Adam.

“Fine” says the scientist as he bends down to scoop up a handful of dirt.”

“Whoa!” says God, shaking his head in disapproval. “Not so fast. You get your own dirt.”

Isn’t it true?  We don’t think we need God, until we do.  When life is going great, bills are paid, kids are good, spouse is happy, we don’t think we need God.  We become arrogant without even realizing it. Until something happens, then we need Him. We need His dirt to fix our mess.  And we have to ask for it. We have to humble ourselves before Him and confess, we can’t do it without Him. Living in America, the land of plenty, it can be even harder to recognize our need for Him.  But we need Him as much today as we ever did.

I’ve always said, when things are going well, that’s when it’s harder to cling to God.  We get caught up in the moment, letting it sweep us away. We can lose sight of who it was who brought us to the dance.  We wouldn’t be here if God hadn’t created us. This life we have, it’s from Him. He created us, He provides for us, He has plans for us.  We may think we’re doing it on our own, but we’re not. He’s doing it for us. God is a gentleman though, He’s happy to let us go our own way, do our own thing.  Thankfully, when we fall, He’s always there to pick us back up, brush us off and help us get going again. God isn’t selfish with His dirt, if we only ask.

Let’s ask today:

Lord, we’re sorry for our arrogance.  We’re sorry for the times we lose sight of who our true dance partner is in life, You.  Help us to remain hungry for Your word, let it keep us humble in Your sight. Let our humility bring us Your wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2 CSB).  In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

“This is what the Lord says: The wise person should not boast  in his wisdom; the strong should not boast in his strength; the wealthy should not boast in his wealth.”  Jeremiah 9:23

Have you noticed in every romantic comedy there is always the rich, annoying guy who loves to brag about all he has?  Typically he was born into money, has never worked a day in his life and is proud of it. He always tends to be shallow in his relationships, only having them with other rich and beautiful people.  Of course the girl is usually engaged to him, but then her knight in shining armor shows up on a lawn mower (referring to the 1987 classic, “Can’t Buy Me Love” with Patrick Dempsey). That is exactly what God is telling us not to do, even if we have it, we’re not to boast about it.  

We aren’t to boast about our wisdom, our strength or our wealth for one simple reason:  whatever we have, it’s all because of the Lord. None of us can do it without Him. As Job so eloquently put it, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away (Job 1:21 NIV).  When we do boast, we are being prideful. We are forgetting the source of our blessings, we’re not giving credit where credit is deserved. If we’re going to boast, this is what we need to boast about: “But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows Me, that I Am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things.  This is the Lord’s declaration” (Jeremiah 9:24 CSB).

According to these verses, this is the key to overcoming pride.  Instead of boasting in ourselves, boast in the Lord. Boast in what He has done for us.  When we are prideful we forget the Who in the how, then we’re in for a fall. As Solomon informed us in Proverbs, pride goeth before a fall (Proverbs 16:18 CSB).  As we talked about yesterday, pride is deceitful, we are easily misled by it. When we boast, we need to make sure we’re boasting about the right thing. We need to make sure we’re  boasting about God.

Let’s start with this prayer:

Lord, help us only boast in You.  We’re grateful for the wisdom You have given us, the strength You have given us, the wealth You have given us.  All that we have, all that we are is because of You. Forgive us when we forget that. Forgive us when we boast in ourselves.  Remind us that our blessings come from You. (Jeremiah 9:23 CSB). In Jesus name we pray. Amen

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” James 4:10

Pride: Inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one’s own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation in office, which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others.  That is how Webster’s Dictionary of 1828 describes pride. Meet my thorn in the side. The closer I grow to God, the more I realize how prideful I am. The more I realize how pride is a struggle we all have, the more I have come to realize, pride is at the root of a lot of our emotions and our circumstances.

In an article titled, “Seven Subtle Symptoms of Pride” by Fabienne Harford, she gives some helpful clues to identify pride in our lives.  Pride finds fault, instead of looking for God’s goodness in people, we focus on their human weaknesses. We find fault instead of good. Pride has a harsh spirit.  Harford defines it as speaking of others sins with contempt, irritation, frustration or judgement. Pride is superficial, pride gets caught up worrying about what others think of us instead of what God thinks.  Pride is defensive, we try to protect ourselves in our pride by justifying it. Pride is presumptuous before God, we forget what He has done for us, we doubt God’s power, instead we focus on ourselves.  When we are presumptuous before God, we think His grace isn’t large enough for our sin. Pride wants attention, craves attention, is desperate for it. When we do this, we’re seeking the glory that comes from men instead of God.  Lastly, pride prefers some people over others. We want to make sure we’re sitting at the right table, with the right people instead of in a corner where no one notices.

Humility is the answer.  As James says, if we humble ourselves before the Lord, He does the exalting.  He’ll lift us up higher than we ever thought we could go. But in order to humble ourselves, we have to confess our pride.  We have to acknowledge that we are prideful, then confess it to God. He’ll do the work in our hearts to rid us of pride, but it won’t be easy. Pride is hard because it’s hard to identify, it’s deceitful.  Understanding that we all struggle with it, looking for its tell tale signs, then confessing it is not easy. It takes being honest with ourselves about whatever situations we are dealing with, then identifying the pride within it.  That’s tough stuff. But thankfully we have a God who understands our prideful hearts and helps us deal with it.

Let’s start today with this prayer:

“Lord, help us humble ourselves before You.  Help us identify areas of pride in our lives and confess them to You.  If we are to be exalted, let You do the exalting, not us. Forgive us our pride Lord, help us with our humility (James 4:10 CSB).  In Jesus name we pray. Amen

“You have clothed me with strength for the battle, you subdue my adversaries beneath me.” Psalm 18: 39 CSB

We’ve spent the last few days talking about strongholds, type of strongholds, overcoming strongholds.  Tomorrow we’re going to start looking at pride and how it affects our lives. But for today, as we finish our chat about strongholds, let’s remember, we’re already dressed for the battle.  God has given us everything we need to overcome our strongholds.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he instructs them to put on the full armor of God.  It starts with the buckle of truth around our waist (Ephesians 6:14 NIV). As women, we all know the belt pulls the outfit together.  It’s no different with the Armor of God. The belt of truth is what every other piece of armor attaches too. It is the truth that will set you free from any stronghold.  It is the truth that will hold you firm in the midst of battle. Without truth, the rest is useless. The truth is found in Jesus. Jesus came to tell the truth, and to help us find it, everyone on the side of truth listens to Him (John 18:37 NIV).  Through the truth of Jesus you can put on the breastplate of righteousness to guard your heart from attack (Eph. 6:14). On your feet, we are to wear the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15 NIV). Wherever we go, we are to take peace with you us. Lead with grace in all we do.

God has given us a shield of faith to extinguish the darts the devil sends our way (Eph. 6:16  NIV). All of the lies that the world tries to make us believe can be extinguished with the shield of faith.  Belief that God does have a plan for your life, that He has a purpose for your life, that you’re valuable and needed.  When we truly begin to grasp how “fearfully and wonderfully made” we are our faith takes root and begins to flourish (Psalm 139:14 NIV).  The fiery darts of the devil become ineffective. And we top it all off with the helmet of Salvation, pair it with the sword of the Spirit (the word of God), and we are dressed for battle (Eph. 6:17 NIV).  God has already dressed us for the battle. All we need to overcome our strongholds, we already possess. And it all starts with truth.

The last thing Paul instructs us to do when putting on the Armor of God is pray.  Let’s do that now:

Lord, thank you for already clothing us for battle.  Thank you for subduing our adversaries and helping us achieve victory.  As we put on Your armor today, help us be rooted in truth. Help us carry our shields of faith strongly into battle, bringing peace where there was none.  Let us wear our armor well, in love always (Psalm 18:39, Eph. 6:14-17 NIV). In Jesus name we pray. Amen

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses” 1 Timothy 6:12 CSB

In order to overcome strongholds in our lives, a vital part of it is confession.  But in order to confess what our strongholds are, we have to identify them. That can be difficult.  Often, strongholds live in our blindspot. Blind spots are areas of lives we can’t see. Typically, those around us can see it, but we can’t.

Recently I listened to an interview with Darrin Patrick.  Darrin was at one point, the chaplain for the St. Louis Cardinals.  He lead a large, multi-site church in St. Louis. Darrin was fired three years ago for abuse of power and an emotional affair he had with another woman.  In the past three years, he has been going through a restoration process. As part of the restoration, people who had been on staff, ex-members, elders, anyone who had interacted with him at various points during his tenure as Lead Pastor were encouraged to come and have a “safe” conversation with him, meaning he had to listen to how he made them feel without responding.  Many people signed up for the opportunity, it took over 2 days for it to occur. During the first day, he listened to many people say they felt used, felt like a pawn, didn’t feel connected etc. At the end of the first day, he told his wife, “These people are so sensitive. What is wrong with them?” Then the second day started. The first person came in and said they felt used, not connected.  The next person came in saying the same thing. It was then he realized, “It’s me.” He realized, for years he had not seen the truth about himself, although a lot of people had tried to speak truth into his life. This was a pivotal moment in his life where God revealed to him a blindspot he did not know he had.

We all have them, Darrin is not alone.  Darrin is continuing the restoration process, his walk with God closer than ever as a result of seeing his blindspot.  One of the toughest prayers to pray is, “Lord, reveal my blindspots.” It is hard to take a look in the mirror and realize, the person who is causing the problem is me.  It is hard taking responsibility for our actions. It is hard admitting, “Yes, I did that.” But it is worth it. It frees us from the stronghold. It gives us new life in Jesus like we have never known before.  I loved what Darrin said towards the end of the interview. His wife and him have been married 26 years. He said their marriage and his relationship with his children is better than it ever has been. He realizes, if God hadn’t revealed his blindspot to him, it wouldn’t be.  He had lost focus of what was important, God helped him find it again.

He can do the same for us, as he reveals our blindspots.  Let’s start today:

“Lord, we want to fight the good fight for You.  We want to be all in, nothing holding us back. Help us see our blindspots so we can confess them, so we can overcome them.  So we can fight the good fight and take hold of the eternal life we were called too (1 Timothy 6:12 CSB). We can’t do it without You Lord, only with You.  In Jesus name we pray. Amen

“Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.”  Romans 12:21 CSB

Strongholds can easily be considered evil, they prevent us from living our lives to the fullest.  For instance, envy can be a stronghold. I heard a life changing message years ago from Andy Stanley that helped me identify it in my own life.  As Andy said in his message, when we use the term “must be nice”, it’s a sign of envy. For example, if you hear someone is going on a dream vacation, if the thought, “Must be nice” pops into your head, it’s a sure sign of envy.  It is hard to not be envious in this world, but we can overcome our envy with good. We can be excited that they have the opportunity to go on the trip. We can be joyful for them and overcome our envy with goodness.

It’s a struggle for sure.  When I was single and everyone else was getting married, there were a lot of “must be nice” thoughts that ran through my head.  Must be nice to be getting married. Must be nice to have someone to do life with every day. Must be nice to have two salaries instead of one.  Must be nice. If you’re battling health issues, it’s easy to be envious of those with good health. If you’re unemployed, it’s easy to be envious of those with jobs.  Envy is a stronghold we all struggle with to some extent. It’s hard to identify because it’s subtle, but if you start becoming aware of the “Must be nice” statement in your vocabulary, it will help you identify areas that it may be a stronghold for you.  It definitely helps me spot it in my own life.

There is one sure fire way to overcome envy in our lives.  It can help us break down any strongholds we are struggling with today.  It is love. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud” (13:4 NIV). Love is the first step in overcoming any kind of stronghold.  In his letter to the Galatians, Paul talks about the Fruit of the Spirit. We receive it when we place our faith in Jesus and let His Holy Spirit work in our lives.  They are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). Again, it all starts with love.  When we want to break down strongholds, these are the weapons to do it with one day at a time, starting with love.

Let’s put love first today with this prayer:

Lord, thank You for helping us understand the power of love in our lives.  Help us to apply it to the strongholds in our life. Let us not be conquered by them, but instead, let us conquer them with love (Romans 12:21 CSB).  As we move through our day today, help us apply the fruits of Your Spirit to our lives, help us start with love. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen

“He is my faithful love and my fortress; my stronghold and my deliverer.  He is my shield, and I take refuge in Him, He subdues my people under me.” Psalm 144:2 CSB

This is King David’s prayer.  God did subdue David’s people under him and give him victory over his enemies.  There is story after story of this in the Old Testament. Starting with the infamous battle with Goliath, to whom he declared these words:  “but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty,” moments before sinking a rock into his head, thus saving the day  (1 Samuel 17:45 NIV). David knew how to face adversity in life, he chose the right stronghold, he chose the Lord.

Recently, I was watching the movie “Bagger Vance”. It’s about a hometown golfer, Junuh, whose life has been put on hold because of his time spent at war.  The story shows how he finds his way back to living again in depression era 1931. It’s told from the perspective of his young caddy, Hardy. Hardy’s father has lost his business, as a result, he becomes a street sweeper to support his family.  Seeing his father sweeping the streets while walking with his friends, Hardy acts like he doesn’t know him. He’s embarrassed at what his father does for a living; he doesn’t want his friends to know.

As the friendship develops between these unlikely friends, one of my favorite scenes in the movie happens.  Junuh is preparing for his next round of golf in the locker room, Hardy by his side as he laces up his shoes.  Hardy is sharing with him how embarrassed he is because of what his father does. This doesn’t sit well with Junuh.  He promptly informs Hardy how his father is the only man in town that paid off his debts. While all of Hardy’s friends fathers filed bankruptcy, his father found a way to pay off his debts and support his family.  My all time favorite line is when Junuh parts this wisdom to his young friend.:

“Your Daddy stared adversity in the eye Hardy, and he beat it back with a broom!”

Sometimes, that is exactly how we beat adversity, with a broom.  We thank God for what we do have, we don’t focus on what we don’t have.  We pick up a broom and go to work. In David’s case, he picked up five stones, but he only needed one.  Both these men show faith in action. They trusted the Lord with their lives. They looked around at what he had provided for them to use.  Then they went to work. They stared adversity in the eye, and they beat it back with the help of God. They knew the right stronghold to choose.

Let’s do the same:

Lord, You are our faithful love and fortress.  Our stronghold and deliverer. You are our shield, our place of refuge.  Whatever adversity we are facing, whatever stronghold we’re trying to overcome, help us do it through You.  As you did with David, do with us. ( Psalm 144:2 CSB). In Jesus name we pray. Amen

“For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds.”  2 Corinthians 10: 3-4 CSB

Now we’re switching from praying Scripture about UNBELIEF to praying Scripture about STRONGHOLDS in our lives..  We all have strongholds. I truly wish that wasn’t a true statement, but it is. It’s whether or not we know it. Strongholds are deceptive. I was surprised when I looked up its definition in Webster’s Dictionary of 1828: a fastness; a fort; a fortified place; a place of security. A Stronghold is a place of security, that is why it’s deceptive, we’re secure in it.

Marriage has helped me identify strongholds in my life.  I have an entitlement issue. I was born and raised in America.  I was the only daughter of my parents, with two brothers. I was the princess of our family.  I had entitlement issues, for sure. Then I got married. I learned quickly my husband did not get the memo about how this was going to go.  Gratefully, neither had I. It happened one night when we were crawling into bed. I was in bed first, journaling. Ron crawls into bed and he “jostles” me.  Yes, the princess that I am, I actually said jostled to him. I mean, after all, couldn’t he see I was writing? He needed to be more considerate. That was my opinion.  You know what his was? He promptly informed me that this was not the Beth show. This is the Ron and Beth show. We’re doing it together. If he did everything I wanted it was the Beth show, and that show had ended.  Now, it’s the Ron and Beth show.

That folks, is how my husband informed me of my stronghold of entitlement.  I still struggle with it, I probably always will. But I am so thankful he said those words that night.  They changed my life. They helped me see things from his perspective. He helped me realize just how selfish I was being. And he did it all with such tender love, I’m grateful.  That’s what God does for us. He helps us see our blind spots. He helps us identify our strongholds. He does it all with such tender love, all you can do is thank Him.

Let’s start there today. Let’s trust Him, that whatever strongholds He reveals to you, He’ll do it with such tender love, you’ll be thankful.  Let’s pray:

Lord, we do live in the flesh, and the flesh is a tough battle.  It’s hard not to wage war in the flesh, it’s hard when loved ones say things to us we don’t want to hear and not react.  It’s hard Lord. Helps us not battle in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Help us use our prayers to break down strongholds in our lives.  Help us use our prayers to fight our battles Lord. Lord demolish our strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

“Immediately the father of the boy cried out, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief.” Mark 9:24 CSB

The particular story behind this verse is about a father whose son is possessed by a demon.  He brings him to Jesus to be healed. Here is Jesus initial response:

“You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you?  Bring him to me.” (Mark 9:19 CSB).

The father is immediately humbled, yet he still says to Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help” (Mark 9:22).  Jesus wasn’t too happy with his response, He immediately replies, “‘If you can?’ Everything is possible for the one who believes” (Mark 9:23).

That is how Jesus responds to unbelief.  It irritates Him. From Jesus perspective, what all does He have to do to make people believe? How many miracles does he perform, how many demons does he have to deal with, how many people does He have to feed for people to finally believe in Him?  He had done countless wonders by this time and people were still struggling with unbelief. Just like we are today. No matter how much Jesus has done for us, no matter how much He has carried us through, we still don’t have full belief in Him. We don’t believe He can handle the crisis in our family, we don’t believe He can heal our marriages.  We don’t believe He can help us love that person we work with who drives us crazy. We don’t think He can heal the sick, feed the hungry or bring peace into a world of turmoil. We don’t believe because we’ve already forgotten what He has already done for us.

But we can do what this father did, we can pray and ask Jesus to help us with our unbelief.  We can admit we’re struggling, that we’re finding it hard to believe. EVEN if we remember all He has done for us, it can still seem the problems we face today are insurmountable.  But they’re not. There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV). The longer I live, the more I learn this truth.

Let’s pray together today for God to help us with our unbelief:

Lord, we’re sorry for the times we don’t believe.  Help us always to remember this story of the father and son.  Help us to remember all Jesus has already done for us. Help us remember, whatever we’re dealing with today, He’s got it too.  Help us with our unbelief. (Mark 9:24 CSB). In Jesus name we pray. Amen

“Yet because I tell the truth you do not believe me.” John 8:45 CSB

When it comes to truth or grace, I tend to fall on the truth side of things.  It’s always easier telling the truth than a lie. You don’t have to worry about it, you don’t have to remember it.  The facts are always the facts. But the truth is, people don’t like truth. Because they don’t like truth, they don’t like Jesus.  The human mind fascinates me how easily it can be deceived. It happens to all of us. I have been persecuted more for telling the truth than anything else in my life.  It always amazes me how people react when confronted with the truth. It’s not at all what one would think. But Jesus knows, Jesus knows exactly how people react to truth, by not believing.

It’s easier to not believe than it is to accept the truth.

It’s easier to not believe all sin is equal, than it is to believe that it is.  It’s easier to point fingers at someone else’s sin than our own. But if you aren’t honest with yourself, you can’t be honest with others.  If you can’t be honest with others, you’re not telling the truth. You’re being deceived. Any story of overcoming adversity typically starts with a line something like this: “I took a good, hard look at my life and realized something needed to change.”  That’s being honest with yourself. That’s saying, what I have been doing so far hasn’t worked, it’s time to do something different.

That’s what I did when I was in my late 20’s, in a dead-end relationship, dead-end job, dead-end life.  I took a good hard look at my life and determined this wasn’t working. I had tried things my way and it wasn’t successful.  I needed a change. That change was Jesus. I decided to start believing the truth Jesus was trying to tell me. I decided to start applying it to my life.  I dug into His word and started applying it to my life. I started to believe. I always knew the truth, I just didn’t believe the truth.

Here’s the beauty of Jesus.  He doesn’t expect you to do it all at once, accept His truth.  He just wants you to start with one truth, Him. Start by accepting the truth that you need Jesus in your life. Once you do, He’ll start unraveling the layers of unbelief we have.  I heard our hearts once compared to an onion. Each layer is a different wall we have built up to protect it. Once we start to accept the truth of Jesus, He begins to peel back those layers, one at a time, revealing the truth.  Some layers can hurt more than others to have the light shed on them. Others may be easier to accept. But all of it requires belief that Jesus can and will do it. He came to give us truth, to set us free with the truth (John 8:32 CSB).  It won’t happen if we don’t believe.

Let’s start today with this prayer:

Lord, we are so grateful for your truth.  Forgive us for the times we haven’t believed it.  Help us overcome our unbelief. Help us accept and believe in Your truth.  Reveal the layers of deception that we’re believing, bring light into the darkness.  Open our eyes to the truth of You, help us to believe it (John 8:45 CSB). In Jesus name I pray.  Amen