You are invited to stop hiding behind pride and instead invite God to search your heart for anything that needs healing. When you humble yourself and surrender those areas to Him, He promises to lift you up and grant you victory over the struggles holding you back. Take this moment to lay down your defenses and let His grace transform your life today.
Let's go to James-4:6 and 7. Is that on the screens? I want you guys to read it with me. God resists the proud. Read it with me.
Here. Ready? 1, 2, 3. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, some resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Let's do it 1 more time. Ready? **God resists the proud** but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Amen.
This message, I know, remain standing. This message is gonna be for you. Okay? It's not for your neighbor. It's not for your mother.
It's not I wish Jody was here to hear this 1. It's for you. Alright? So imagine if you came here today and you put earbuds in the whole day. That would be silly.
Right? But there's something about *pride*. We think pride is a certain thing, but there's other ways that pride shows up in our lives. And if we just write off this thing, well, you know, I don't deal with that. That's good for so and so or they need it.
It's like you're gonna be listening to message with earbuds in the whole time. So we're gonna pray right now. Lord Jesus, and if you agree with what I just said, pray I just I challenge you, put your hands out in a sign of of you're agreeing with me in this prayer. God, open my ears today to hear from you. Open our ears today that you we we, present ourselves before you.
We allow you to search us, Jesus. And if you have something that you want to point on me and touch on me and say, look, this this is an area of your life that needs repentance. I give it to you right now, Lord. I'm naked before you, Jesus. We as a congregation are and we pray God that you would penetrate the the hearts and minds of every person within the sound of my voice.
In Jesus' name, amen. Alright. You guys can be seated. So resist the devil and he will flee from you. Okay?
So we're talking about the devil. *1 Peter-5:8*, let's go there. And guys, just so you know, a lot of Bible today. A lot of Bible. So if you, it's we're gonna be jumping around a lot.
Pray for pray for Adam because he's running the slides. His his little finger is gonna be on fire. *1 Peter-5:8* says this, be sober, be vigilant, vigilant, sorry, because your adversary, the devil, walks around like a "roaring lion" seeking whom he may devour. So **resist the devil** and he will flee from you. There is an actual lion that's after you.
Okay? And he works in cunning and and, deceptive ways and we're gonna get into that. But we're talking about resisting the devil and when you talk about that, we're talking about resisting sin. Remember Jesus said, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil 1. So the evil 1 is, presents himself with temptation, sin, and our verse today, *God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, shows us that it's through humility* that we're gonna submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee.
*Humility* is gonna be the way that we get in the door to to prevent the devil and prevent the sin from getting to us. Let's read let's read *1 John-3:7* through 10. Just to just to kind of like clarify on what sin is. It says, dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. Okay.
Right there, let's think about that for a second. Do not let anyone lead you astray. Meaning, whatever's about to come in this verse, some people will say, it's not like that. But I'm telling you, it is like that and those people will lead you astray. So pay attention.
The 1 who does what is right is righteous, just as he, to referring to Jesus, is righteous. The 1 who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No 1 who is born of God will continue to *sin* because God's seed remains in them. They cannot go on sinning because they have been born of God.
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. Amen. Let's go to 1 John-2:3 through 6. It says this, we know that we have come to to know him if we keep his commands.
Whoever says, I know him. I know Jesus. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I know Jesus.
I'm a Christian. Yeah. I'm a Christian. I'm good. But does not do what he commands is a liar.
Don't be led astray. But if anyone obeys his word, the love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him. Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. So the bar is really high.
Right? He set the bar extremely high. Jesus said, be therefore perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. How many of you heard this? Well, we're all sinners.
We're all sinners. I mean, I yeah. We're all sinners. We're gonna struggle with sin. What do you say you don't struggle with sin?
Well, I don't know, but the bar is pretty darn high, isn't it? I'm gonna tell you this. Humility is the key to victory over the devil in every area of your life. Humility is the key to victory over the flesh in every area of your life, and humility is the key to to victory over sin in every area of your life. Humility I'm about to show you how God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble is like the only verse you need for this year.
If you aren't having victory in any area, it's because there's pride there. And God will resist you until you humble yourself. But let's go to the definitions. Okay. So like we're wanna dive let's dive in a little bit deeper here.
Alright. And this is the interesting part. When I was looking up these definitions in the in this message, I found 2 distinctly different definitions. I went to Google just to look at what is the English definition of humble and what's the English definition of pride. And so the world's definitions are like this, humble is having a modest or low estimate of one's own importance.
And I thought, that's weird, a little odd to me. Like you think you're lower than you are, kind of. Okay. And then pride, according to the world, is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements. Achievements.
And I thought, also weird because that sounds good. Sounds like a good thing. Let's look at what the bible says. In order to look at what the bible says, what you do is you look at the actual word that said that that is the definition of the word that God used when he's when he said, God resists the proud. God resists the hyper final is the word.
Okay? Hyper being what? Like beyond or super beyond. Right? Like hyperactive.
If a kid's hyperactive, he's beyond normal activity. Right? So, final is the key here. It means to shine forth, to show forth, to shine forth, to be seen. And pride is hyper to be seen.
Being seen and and so to clear it up, trying to be more than what God directs. So God has directed you into something and trying to be more than that is pride. Okay. And the bible's definition of humble, properly low, figuratively, inner loneliness or sorry, loneliness describing the person who depends on the Lord rather than than on self. The the definitions are like literally the opposite.
They're so different. *Isaiah-5:20* through 21 says, woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness. So *humble and pride* are comparative words. Right? Like, you can't be humble in a vacuum.
*Humble* is like big. Right? You're comparing it to something else. If my shoe is big, it's big in relation to other shoes or maybe what's normal for a man or something like that. If you're humble, you're humble in comparison to another object, right, or to another being.
So notice in the world's if you'd pop back to the world's definition, notice one's own. Right? So who are you comparing yourself to? Having a modest or low estimate of one's own importance. And pride is a deep feeling of pleasure satisfaction from one's own achievements.
But in the bible's definitions, it's trying to be more than what God directs and the person who depends on the Lord rather than on self. So, the world took God out of the definitions of pride, replaced it with themselves and what happened? Good became evil and evil became good. Isn't that wild? They're actually opposites.
Let's go to 2 Corinthians-10:12. It says, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. See, this is some this is a reason why a lot of times we don't think we're proud because we compare ourselves with our neighbor or with our friend. I'm doing pretty good. You know?
Yeah. The Joneses over there. They might need help. Verse 17 and 18 in 2 Corinthians-10 says this, but let the 1 who boasts boast in the *Lord* For it is not the 1 who commends himself who is approved, amen, but the 1 who the Lord commends. So this is a big deal.
A big, big deal. So what we're gonna do is compare the devil and Jesus. See if we find any similarities or differences. So let's go to Isaiah-14:12 through 14. Because when I when I heard that definition of pride, this is the verse I thought of.
This is this is Isaiah in Isaiah and it's a description of what happened to Lucifer who be who is the devil. Right? So it says this, how you have fallen from heaven, "morning star". That was that was the name of Lucifer. "Son of the dawn", star dawn, right, shining, bright and shining.
You have been cast down to the earth. You who once laid low the nations. You said in your heart, I will ascend to the heavens. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly in the utmost heights of Mount Zephaniah, and I will ascend above the tops of the clouds.
I will make myself like the most high. Well, that's pretty easy to see. That's pride, man. That's some serious pride. He said, I will ascend.
I'm gonna go beyond what God has made me to be. He called me this, but I'm gonna go up here. Okay? And the devil, let me tell you, is a "1 trick pony". Every sin that anyone deals with and and and is struggling with, it it starts with the sin of pride.
That's all there is. If he can get you into pride, then he'll get you to fall in whatever variety of flavor of sin that you you're you you tend to deal with. It starts with pride. Okay? If you look at Adam and Eve, what did he say to Eve?
He said, eat this and you will become like God. Right? It's like he just wanted to recreate himself there. And and in conversing with the devil, here here she says, oh, okay. That sounds pretty good.
She eats it and and and you know the rest. What did he do when he came to Jesus? He said, if you are the son of God, do this. Right? Jesus wasn't it wasn't time to reveal himself and and and and the devil said to Jesus, if you're the son of God, go up and jump off this cliff or whatever and the angels will catch you.
You can make a big scene and show everyone that you're God. It's like do something outside of what God has told you to do. That's pride. Right? He's doing the same thing to us today.
This is how he tempts us. So the devil is the father of lies. Okay? So John-8:44 says this. This is Jesus talking about he's talking to the Pharisees.
He says this, you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father, you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Get this now. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it. So what happens is pride and and lie and lying are just like interlinked.
There's no there's no unlinking those. Pride and lying. See, like, to say, I will ascend, when you start to step outside of what God has said, you're already in lies. You're already speaking the "language of lies". Okay?
Satan speaks the language of lies. And when we converse with Satan, we're we're we're already in lying. Okay? So, what do I mean by converse with Satan? Like, when when we are tempted and we use our logic to kind of like say, well, yeah, but no, but we're already we have to speak the language of lies in order to engage with Satan.
It's like he's saying, and and you you have to say, Right? Like, you have to speak his language even just to converse with him. And that's how we enter into pride. We'll go deeper into this, but let's look at James-4:13 through 16. I'm gonna give you kind of an example.
I thought of this. Okay. This is this this is James saying, come now, you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "if the Lord wills", we shall live and do this or that. But now, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Isn't that wild?
Like, just to sit here and be like, here's the vision for the next year for the business. We're gonna go to here and we're gonna ramp up our ad spend and we're gonna do this and we're gonna do that and we're gonna see sales. Here's our sales projections. You've already entered into pride is what James is saying. It's like, you don't know when your next breath is coming.
Like, take a lot for granted. It's God that gives you your next breath, right? It's by his very gift that you're here in this room today. And so we gotta be careful when we start stepping outside of, of of the humility of who we are into, an assumption of of of what we're gonna go and do. I actually think that this is the the thing about Job.
And I'm just gonna say this just as an aside, I could probably do a whole go into a whole message on this. But if you've read the book of Job, Job struggled because he he so he he was wiped out. All of all of his family was wiped out. He you know, and and God allowed Satan to do that. Right?
And the whole book of Job is like like 30 chapters is him conversing with his friends and his friends conversing with him. And the friends and the and the wife are saying, just curse God and die. Just just give it up. He hates you, obviously. And he's saying, no, no, no.
*God* is good. God is good. And but it's like it goes on for like 30 chapters. Right? And then God shows up and and and I and then you read the book of Job and you're like, I don't see where where Job went wrong because it's like, he, you know, he he was good beforehand and even throughout this whole thing, he doesn't curse God.
So where did he go wrong? But then, shows up and says, okay, Job, let me ask you this. Where were you when I created the heavens and the earth? Where were you? Tell tell me this, Job.
How does the eagle feed her baby? And he goes on this like it's 1 of my favorites. He goes on this like 6 chapter just just tear down, you know, just clobbering Job, like and Job is like, I opened my mouth but I will I will once, but I will not do it again. And it's kind of like, what happened there? Job engaged long enough in this discussion about God and God maybe God this and how common.
No. I'm not gonna say he's bad. That's pride. It's pride. He's entering into pride just in the discussion.
See, when you speak the language of the devil, when you're kinda going back and forth, you're already in an atmosphere of pride. Are you starting to see what I'm saying? You're already in an atmosphere of pride and you can't really get out of it and you won't do it with your mind. 100. It's like speaking about God as if he's not in the room.
He's here. You know? Can I get an amen? Sorry. I'm getting some water here.
Kids and everybody's getting over some cold. So *humility* is like this. This is what I think we can say about humility and pride. Okay? Humility is like a it's like this circle.
You're right, Mark. I should've got the whiteboard because I can't do it without a bike. Alright. *Humility* humility is like this circle. Okay?
And you are are inside of the circle. And what what's everything that's inside of the circle? It's what God has said about you. It's who you are. It's who he's made you to be.
And anytime you step outside of that circle, you enter into pride. Okay? Now, what we typically think of pride is ascending, like ascending. I will ascend like the devil. So imagine, like, let's say that, someone tried to take over the church.
Right? Like, pastor David's out. I'm gonna try to take over the church. I I I you know, I've been doing so good around here, and I should and you guys should follow me instead. That's pretty clear and obvious that that's pride.
Right? It's like, well, this is very clear and obvious situation here. But what about what about down here underneath underneath the *humility* circle? What about if pastor David approaches you and says, hey, *God* God told me that I think it's time for you to lead a bible study. You've been growing and I can see God working in you and you're ready.
You need to lead a bible study. You say and you know God is saying it and you go, oh, no. No. No. I couldn't do that.
I can't do that. *Pride*. Believe it or not, that's pride. What do we call that? False humility.
Oh, I could never. Oh, I could never do that. I I can't. I I, you know, I I can't speak. I can't stand up and get up here and get up in front of people.
I can't do that. What are you saying? Are you relying on yourself? You ought to be relying on God. And with God, what does it say?
All things are possible. Right? So when you rely on God, you get you when you are properly in your mind already relying on God, you go, I've never done it, but let's do it. God will do it. God will do it through me.
But when you rely on yourself, you're you're revealing, you're showing your cards and saying, I'm already relying on myself and by myself, I can't do it. Remember Moses? Remember the story of Moses? God comes to Moses and says, hey, I want you to free, the my people in Egypt. And he's and he's like, no, Lord.
I can't do it. I can't speak. I'm a stutterer. He says, God says, I will be your voice inside your mouth. Moses is like, no, no, I can't do it.
I I I get somebody else, please. He said, fine, I'm gonna give you Aaron and then you're gonna talk to me and Aaron will speak to the people. He says, can you get somebody else? And it says, God is like, this is the Gabe translation, he got furious. He got mad at that.
And it's like, there is nothing that makes God mad but pride. Pride is what just ticks him off. And it's like when we when we step outside of what he said about us, it's pride. And that's what happened with Moses. **false pride**.
This is interesting. So that's false humility. I'm gonna get into something a little different now. I call this false pride. When you when you actually come to start to understand who you are in Jesus and you really get the view, you're gonna start getting some w's under your belt.
I'll just put it that way. Like, when when you see that Jesus has empowered you, you start you start to see sin fall off. You start to see you're doing something, that you never could have done before. Jesus calls you into something you obey. You start to get some boldness and confidence because you're like, dude, God is in me.
I can do anything. And the I can do all things through Christ starts to take on a new meaning because you're like, I can. Remember when David, King David, came to his brothers, his his father sent him with food to and Goliath. It's a David and Goliath story. And all of Israel is standing up, and they're all scared of Goliath.
And when David gets there, he finds out what's going on, and he says this, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he could defy the armies of the living God? And what do you if you remember what his brother says, his brother says, hey, I know the pride that's in your heart. Why who'd you leave those few sheep with? I call that false pride, which is actually humility. Psalm 32 4.
This is David writing. My soul will make its boast in the Lord. The humble will hear it and rejoice. Okay? So David was humble.
Somebody called him proud, but he was actually humble. Psalm 27. This is David writing this. Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we boast in the Lord. Amen?
So what happens is you actually get so much confidence. You go, a giant? What's a giant? The I got Lord is with me. Are you kidding me?
Like, what's a giant? What's anxiety? You know? What's what's what's this bankruptcy? The *Lord* is with me.
Come on. Like, has anybody got faith in the room? Like like, you gotta start you gotta start stirring it up, but how you do it is through humility. Knowing that God is your strength, provides you with your chest out, provides you with you can take on anything. Jesus let's look at Jesus the humble.
*Lord Jesus the humble. Philippians-2*, what is it? 5 it's like 5 through 11. Says this, you must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. That though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges, he took the humble position of a slave, and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he "humbled himself" in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on the cross. Let's look at it just for a second just from that. Okay. What does it mean that he thought, though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
Okay. So Jesus was God. Right? But why would he have to cling to it? Oh, I know.
Because God sent him from here all the way down here. Right? So Jesus is up in glory. He is God. But when g when God said, Jesus, you're gonna be the 1 to go and and be the sacrifice for their sins, He did not hold on to that position in glory.
He didn't think of it as something that needed to be held on to, but he but what does it say? He humbled himself in obedience to God. See, this is showing all the more. When God tells you something, wherever he's taking you, you gotta stay in that circle. It's what God has spoken about you.
It's what he said about you. Your your feelings might not join in. Your logic might not make it make sense. But don't step into pride. Say, yes, Jesus.
Say, yes, dada, like Isaiah. Yes, dada. Follow after him. So Jesus leaves from way up here and comes way down here. The devil, pride says, I will ascend.
Right? And Jesus says, I'm a get low. I get low. He humbled himself in obedience. The the the rest of the verse is this, therefore, it's probably like Philippians, like, 10 or so.
Therefore, *God* elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names. That the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Wow. And every tongue declares that Jesus Christ is Lord and the glory of to the glory of God the Father. So this is this is a always, always recurring theme.
Anytime that someone humbles themself, "God lifts them up". God lifts them up. That's the fur that's the first verse we read. Let me just let me let me scroll back up and read it. The very first verse we read about Father's Day, but he says, therefore, yourselves under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time.
*God always meets the humble*. Right? Who gets grace? The humble. What is grace?
*Grace* is the ability to do something that you could have never done. Right? It's like getting something that you never could have earned. It's something extra added to you. To "walk in grace".
We're saved by grace. Right? Through faith. So it's by faith we're by by grace we're saved through faith. So when we believe on God, grace empowers us.
Who gets grace? The humble. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. I hope that I hope this is making sense. So God always elevates.
*God* always elevates you. See, in in the book of Ephesians, it says, now now now we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Right? We are seated with Christ in heavenly places. So Jesus did it all as we know.
He he died and rose again. And when we come to know Christ, we die and we are, lifted up. Romans-6:6 through 7 says this is a little out of order, Adam. Says, knowing this that our old man was *crucified* with him that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed of sin.
I mean, we probably quote that verse every single Sunday. Right? But it's so important because what happens is we come to Jesus and we believe, yes, Jesus, you saved me. And and and I can't do it and you confess it. But then Jesus said, in as often as you do this, do the do it in remembrance of me.
Right? So he's telling you, every time you're taking communion, what are you doing? You're remembering that it's by Jesus that you can do all things. So when you see areas of your life that aren't aren't, like, blessed or or being or being promoted or having the hand of God on them, there's probably a good chance there's pride there. And when you take communion, you remind yourself in that area that Jesus has paid it all.
You cease working. See, when we're dead to sin, *God* raises us up. We died once. Why is it talking in the past tense? We died.
When you come to Jesus, you died. That's why we do baptism. Right? Because in baptism, what we're doing is a prophetic display of what's taken place in our lives. That we died and why do we come right back up?
Because God raised us from the dead. God raised Jesus from the dead and Ephesians says, now we are seated in heavenly places. So the name above all names, the name that every every knee must bow to, we're seated right next to him. What does that mean? What does that mean to be seated?
You guys are all seated. I'm standing up. So my legs are are are doing work right now. Right? They're requiring to hold me up.
All of the weight of me is held up by my legs as I stand and walk. You guys are resting. All of your weight is put onto something else, and it's holding your weight. And that's our position in Christ. In every area of our lives, we are to rest in him first.
After that, from a place of rest, he will call us into doing good works. But when we try to do them ourselves, it's pride and we and we and we get worn out. We just get worn out because God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. I'm gonna take you to like 1 of my all time favorite verses, and you'll never guess what it is. So don't don't even try.
*2 Thessalonians-2:8*. Okay. We're talking about we're talking about the he is talking about the lawless 1. Okay? So the 1 of lawlessness is the antichrist.
You might as well just call him the devil. Okay? But it's the antichrist and the antichrist spirit that's in the last days. So let's just read it. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, But the Lord Jesus will slay him with what?
The **breath of his mouth** and destroy him by what? The splendor of his coming. Is that the most lovely verse of the Bible? Jesus see, we a lot of times think it's this battle like this. Like, we think it's this boxing match, good versus evil, yin yang, you know, It's like back and forth, boxing with the devil, like like trying to get trying trying to get ahead, just trying to win.
Dude, when when when you humble yourself and are seated in Christ, you slay the devil with the splendor of Christ amongst yourself. You just slay you like, it's so it's such an easy victory. And I'm talking about sin that has you entangled for years, maybe decades. You could never get out. You tried everything you could ever do.
May like, and I think that person those people are still in this room today. Allow allow God to start penetrating your heart and pointing things out, things that he's ready for you to humble yourself and repent and give back to him. But I'm telling you, he lifts you up. The second you let go of the work of of fighting and striving, he'll pick you right back up. Oh, so good.
There's people that just that that struggle with intrusive thoughts. A lot of Christians just struggle with a sin. Just 1 last thing they just see that that just keeps bothering them, you know? Like and and and they think that they gotta pray, God help me. God help me.
*God* help me do better in this area. What they need is just "stop trying". If you just give it up and say, Lord, I can't do it. It's yours. I'm done.
I'm done trying. That's where you humble yourself. Right? When you try not to sin, what you're what you're already saying, you're stepping outside of the humility circle because because the atmosphere of what it is that you're saying, you don't realize you're doing this logically, but you step out of that circle and you say, I I I I can be better. I can do better than this.
And the answer is no, you can't. And you never could. And that's why that's why Jesus came. He came while you were a sinner. Right?
So when you so you don't wanna step outside. It happens so naturally. It's so natural for us. You know, I had a a bout of, like, these intrusive thoughts not too long ago and it was just like just something stupid that I was like, why do these thoughts keep coming up? And when I you know, and and so I prayed about it and God, you know, help me with this in the name of Jesus, and I'll cast out every spirit and demon from top to bottom and this and that, and I'm working hard and trying everything I can.
And it got worse. It, like, got worse, like noticeably worse, I'm going, dude, what is happening here? This is crazy. And then, *God* brought that to me about sit, walk, stand that you need to rest. You're not resting in Christ in this 1 area, this 1 little area that you that you're struggling with.
And when I got it, oh my God. I have a tactic for you because this is the tactic that I used. And and and what I want this tactic, this is a very short and simple tactic that reorients you back into humility. If you if you were getting outside of humility into pride, sometimes it's so confusing. This reorients you right back into humility.
It unveils the voice of the devil for what it is. You stand it stands on the word of God and it's simple and it's childlike. Are you ready? Do you want it? Alright.
I'm excited because I love it. So, you know how like when you're a kid, if somebody's like, hey, you're fat. You said, no, I'm not. You're fat. That's the tactic.
Yeah. I know you are, but what am I? So so so when when when you have anxiety come and hit you, here's what you do. I'm not anxious, you're anxious. *Devil*, I'm not anxious, you're anxious.
Dude, I did that the other day and when I when I said it, the joy of the Lord just hit me and I started cracking up laughing. And I just saw it like like the bully, you know, everybody kind of gets in and like, you're the bully. And then everybody's laughing at it. It was like the movie, you know? Like like, I I I'm not an impostor, you're an impostor.
I'm not anxious, you're anxious. I I don't have lust, you have lust. I'm not an adulterer, you're an adulterer. Why why does that work? Because when you say I'm not, what you're saying is, I'm seated with Christ.
I don't rely on what you say my past is because my past is dead. I've been raised with Christ. Right? So it's like, that's not me. That's you.
And it is. It's the devil. So a lot of times the devil will come in in like, just in thoughts and you'll think it's your own mind. It's thoughts. It's you're you're you're battling in the mind.
Right? The Corinthians says, take every thought captive and pun it and bring it to the obedience of Christ. So what does that mean to bring the thought to the obedience of Christ? It's exactly this. I'm anxious, you're anxious.
So so this is boasting in God. That's what this is. Boasting in God. See, I think I think I think a lot of times we we I I kinda already said this but we get it in like 90% of our life and then there's just like this 1 area that we're not like really getting it in. We just struggle with.
We just kind of like keep trying and keep working hard at. And I would say this, like it's time to start like letting God, like like asking God is this this is there anything in my life that reflects this? I would say that any area of your life that isn't abundantly blessed, there's probably pride there. I'll give you an example. When I was single, I had this epiphany.
I was like, every single area of my life is blessed. I'm like, I go to work and I'm like, you know, getting raises and getting promotions and I and I get into school and I'm and I'm just excelling in school and and, I've got lots of friends and every area of my life is blessed except 1 area, my dating life. It was like a it was like a dumpster fire. It was bad. It was like like it was like very clearly and easy clear and easy to see like, this 1 area is not blessed by God.
Like, I know what the hand of God's blessing looks like on my life, and I got it in all these areas but this 1 area. And had I known that I was actually stepping out in pride in that area saying, I will find a wife. I will ascend. I will find what what I what it is that I need. And I was and I was praying, oh, God, I trust you.
I trust you. And then another girl would walk in. And I'll be like, this is her. Right, God? And it was just like just horrible.
It's failure after failure. God is so good. He did bring me my wife. And I got the 1 that he brought me. But I, struggled a lot and I didn't have to.
And what else could I have been doing instead of crying alone in my in my in my room, you know? What else could I what else could I have been doing instead of feeling all lonely and depressed and sad? I could have been doing something else in the Lord, right? So there's areas of your life that are called to accelerate that God wants to bless but he's actually resisting you in those areas because you don't even realize that you're displaying pride in those areas. Let's bring, somebody up on worship.
We had the guitar up. If you're if if if you're still in here, Emma. We're kinda coming to a close here. So Psalm 1 39 23 through 24 says this, search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there'd be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way ever everlasting.
Isn't that interesting? You don't judge yourself. Right? He who he who condemns or, just like justifies himself, it's not wise. What did David say?
David, the humble 1. He said, know my thoughts and see if there's any wicked way in me. You present yourself to God and say, God, I'm I'm open before you. Is there any area in my life that needs touching that I've held onto myself and haven't given you? Because he wants he wants to change that, you know.
He will resist you in a particular area until it's until you humble yourself. And it's as quick as this. Like, it's that quick. Humble yourself and he will lift you up. Go ahead and just start playing.
So, let yourself become convicted. Right? Like, you need to let yourself, be touched by God in this area. Let your laughter be turned to mourning. It says that Jesus said, blessed are those who mourn because they will be comforted.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. When you remember that, man, it's not by it's not by anything that I've done, God. It's all you. I give it all to you and I release and let go. 1 of the reasons why I I brought up communion.
1 of the reasons why communion is so important is because, you know, it it to to examine yourself and don't take the don't don't take communion unworthily. That's exactly what we're doing. What we're doing is we're examining ourselves and we're letting God examine us so that when something is pointed out, we take communion to remind ourself, is Jesus. It's Jesus. It's by him that I am lifted up in this area.
I let go. I let go in this area. Right? Blessed are the poor in spirit. And what what will happen is you'll become false pride.
You'll become humble, but you'll be but you'll walk on water, and you'll and you'll have your chest out, and you'll be like, there is nothing impossible for God, you know? And that's why I like a lot of times people get so bound and sad and depressed and they and they they feel like there's no hope. And like when you let go in an area, all the hope in the world comes. It's like, it just lifts you up. You're like, everything is possible.
You can do anything. Like, you see everything differently. Like, the sky's brighter. It's just like, oh, it's great. So last scripture here.
*2 Chronicles-7:14*. Amen, Doug. If my people who are called by my name, this is God talking, will **humble themselves** and pray and "seek my face" and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven and I'll forgive their sin and will heal their land. Is God if God is holding you down in an area, maybe you thought it was the devil and you thought it was this and that and you're just frustrated and didn't know why.
If you'll humble yourself, give it to God and let go of it, he will lift you up and heal that area of your life. And you'll see the abundant blessing in that area. How about everybody stand? We're gonna just I'm gonna invite the prayer people to come up and I'm gonna give you an opportunity to humble yourself, which is to ask for prayer because that's that's a that's a pretty, "humble move". You know?
*Pride* will tempt you to say, oh, yeah. I figured, oh, I see. I see. Maybe I could work on this area. But humility will say, I want I want prayer in this area.
And God will meet you there. So, I'm gonna *pray* and then Heidi, actually, you need to come up because you're gonna dismiss. And then the altar is open to receive prayer. Okay? And come up and get prayer.
But let let me just pray right now for us. Father, I thank you God for your word. I thank you that you did it all, Lord. And God, I pray that you would just convict people right now. Point out things in this room in people's hearts.
Things things that you that that they've been holding on to, that they've been grasping on to. They got 90% of it, but this 1 thing you're trying to do a work in their life and they keep resisting. God, I pray you'd point it out to them right now, Convict the people in this room. See, this is the this is healthy. This is really, really healthy.
This is how you become healed is that you you allow the Lord to look at you. You stop holding. Adam and Eve, when they sinned, they went back and they covered themselves and they hid from God. That's our nature's tendency. But but God came and find that found them and that's what he's doing this morning in this room.
He's coming and knocking and pointing out things that need healing. Things that that need a touch from him. Lay down your pride and and expose yourself to God and say, yeah, God, I've been hiding this thing. I've been hiding this thing, but I'm gonna let you touch it. I'm gonna let you take it.
I'm gonna give it give it up and give it to you. Search me, oh God. And if there's any wickedness in me, God, highlight it to me. Bring it up to my mind. And let me repent of it today.
I'll be free of it today. You'll be free of it today.