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June 19, 2006 Psalms 40:4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Pride was the devil’s downfall (Is 14:14). Pride leads to worldliness, vanity, avarice, hatred, jealousy, covetousness, selfishness, idolatry, and the like sins which are all lies. The proud cannot trust the LORD because His ways are too humbling, too quiet. To “make the LORD his trust” may injure his popularity as he chooses to live a wholesome life without the frills of the world. The LORD may require him to share his wealth, however large or meager, with another at his own injury. Could you imagine also the proud having to forget the hatred of an injustice he received? The proud are usually jealous; they think that they deserve every blessing, so they selfishly covet, which is a form of idolatry. Such a person is far from God’s blessings. So today, take stock of your heart. Do pride and its children have a place in it? Here is the cure. Do you remember Naaman the Syrian leper? His pride led him to anger against Elishah the prophet of God. Elishah had no regard for the proud Naaman, and such as turn aside to lies. He would not even personally meet such an idolatrous worldly and compromised man (2 Kings 5:11) who also despise the simple means of his cure--why should he dip in the dirty Jordan River when Syria, his own country, had some of the most beautiful pools? Do you desire deliverance from pride? Dip in the pools of God’s will; obey the things the LORD asks you to do, however small or humbling they may be. Do you share His words of comfort with someone, even though they may find you ‘corny’? Do you impart the word of witness, of prophecy or of teaching, even though you may injure your relationship with those who may qualify you as ‘preachy’? Can you take the brunt of a difficult situation with a neighbor or with a partner, bite the bitter end of the stick, and preserve the friendship at your own cost? Can you put the injured rights, demands, requests, ‘minimum requirements’ of your married relationship, in the able hands of the LORD and trust Him with them while you go about humbling yourself in the dirty Jordan River of His will? Oh, my friends; behold this dirty Jordan River, therein is your healing, therein is your blessing! 1Jo 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. Patrick Lumbroso For past issues of the daily devotion go to my blog at: http://hearthstoneministries.blogspot.com/
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