Recognizing Our Source

February 11

Recognizing Our Source
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman

But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth. - Deuteronomy 8:18.

Pride is the greatest temptation to a successful minister, whether in the pulpit or among his peers. When we begin accumulating accolades for our efforts, influencing people, and becoming known for our success in witnessing the truth of Christ, we are most susceptible to falling to the most devious sin in God's eyes -- pride.

The Bible tells us that God is the reason we are able to be successful in any endeavor. It is not of our own doing. As soon as we move into the place where we begin to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, God says he will take action.

You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this success for me."....If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 8:17,19-20).

These are strong words from God. They demonstrate His utter impatience for any people who think that what they have accomplished has anything to do with their own power. It is God who gives us the skill, the mind, the resources, the energy, the drive, and the opportunities in life to accomplish anything. When we become prideful in heart, He will begin a process of reproof in our life as an individual. He will also cast down a nation that has become lofty in its conceit of who it is and the power it wields.

Today is a good day to examine whether we have fallen prey to pride. Are you sharing what God has entrusted to you with God's people, or the needy? Are you being the instrument of blessing that God desires for His people to be? What areas of pride have crept into your life? Ask the Lord to show you this today. And avoid being put on the shelf.

Must we not make every effort to align ourselves, our will, our words, our actions, our desires with the will, the words, the actions, the desires of the Holy One? Only Jesus can transform us from men who seek our own glory to men who yearn to see His name extolled on every tongue.

Indeed, one day, “Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” Romans 14:11. Should we not allow today to be that day for us? If we do, we shall be able to be used of Him to glorify Himself—in our own hearts and in the hearts of others. Nothing could be worse than failing in that endeavor because of our own pride.