Enjoying the Journey
Posts Tagged ‘pride’
Preachers Can Have Rebel Hearts Too
Long before I was a preacher I was a sinner. We would like to think that this changes over time, but I am still a sinner! One of God’s great preachers said it best: “O wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24). For sure, we should be sinning less but we are not sinless. Only Christ is that. Sometimes in the busyness of ministry, surrounded by so much religious context, we are prone to forget how wicked our hearts truly are. The flesh never gets better. It cannot be trusted. Deep within the most holy man is the unholy current of sin. There is in ALL of us a rebel heart. Sometimes it even comes out clothed in “preacher talk”…
Read MoreA Self-Made Man?
Society is full of people who speak as though they made themselves what they are. Churches are too. It is so easy to think that it was our own effort or ability that brought us to where we are. It was not. Any good thing in our lives is because of God’s goodness to us. He alone is the Source and He uses many channels. The only thing I can make is a mess! Every blot on my life was made by me. Every beauty in my life was made by Him who does all things well. The hymn writer said it beautifully: Naught have I gotten, but what I’ve received. Grace hath bestowed it, since I have believed. Boasting excluded;…
Read MoreWhat to Do with Your Emotions
Emotions are a gift from God. They are also marred with the sin nature of Adam. When they are under God’s reign they feel as He feels, but when they are “out of control” they are both deceptive and destructive. The longer I work with people, the more I come to see my own depraved heart, I am convinced that emotions are the devils playground. For some reason – perhaps because he knows how susceptible we are to suggestion – much spiritual warfare takes place at the soul level. In our emotions. Think of it. Depression. Anxiety. Fear. Anger. Guilt. Envy. Jealousy. Pride. Hatred. Despair. All emotions. Many times those who are most careful to avoid sins of the flesh…
Read MoreSarcasm is Not a Spiritual Gift!
The wisest man who ever lived wrote, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). Death is mentioned first because it is what naturally comes out. Only the grace of God can enable us to speak life. Those of us that basically talk for a living are always in danger. I was recently reminded of yet another of Solomon’s proverbs, “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin” (Proverbs 10:19). The more we speak, the more apt we are to say something that is hurtful to God, to others, and to ourselves. Perhaps one of the most cutting types of language is the use of sarcasm. Some of us have perfected it and assumed that…
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