God……

You give to us the way to walk and in some places where we are trapped you provide the way of our escape.  You give to us your grace to walk through walls.  You are able to show us to our safety, from the power of man, sin and Satan.  Though you do not take us from the world, you bring us to walk on your own roads.  On these roads we are able to endure what man may inflict upon us so your name would be glorified.  Where we are able and ready to lay down our lives.  This is the power you give us, power in pain, not power from pain.  You harden our flesh skin as we give it up to you, refusing to let it dictate to us.  You grant to us the divine and we clothe ourselves in this costly cloak and we walk in our freedom, though man puts his chains upon us.  Though they impart the torture of evil upon our bodies, we are free and live in your joy, and this is our strength.

Thinking out loud:

This is what is called the overcoming life.  We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony.  The Blood and the Word Rev 11:12.  It is not about our – lives, our ‘examples,’ our anything, for it is never about us.  We often seek to find what ‘our purpose’ is and so many questioning there even making into a religion…your destiny…..your work…..God’s favor on YOU…..finding His purposes specifically for YOU.  The dangers of this is we become ME focused in light of God.  Where in contrast, the more we seek to let loose the flesh the freer we become to walk on water with Jesus, for we will not have the weight of our flesh that will always threaten us and cause us to sink.  We should stay away from any form of self-pleasing, man pleasing instead to strive to become solely God pleasing. For then we are able to walk on the high hills that God will take us, because we are able to hear Him giving us His direction.  We will not listen to all the reasons logically and practically why we SHOULD NOT do what we KNOW God wants us to do.  We will not consult man in our affairs, but God.

Pride is the root we must lay our axe to.  It is one where we must be like diligent farmers who scour their field continually for the roots and weeds of pride and quickly rid them of our field.  This will require us to come before God with a humble heart that desires to see our pride.  Pride is extremely self-deceptive – for anyone who walks in this, will not ever call themselves prideful – as a sin.  They will rather call it self-confidence, self-assertive, self-esteem and even loving. It is a root that has many legs to it that wrap and twist around things so it has a firm grip to remain healthy and strong. So pride is usually intimately connected to others such as arrogance, fear shame or rejection.  Pride looks for a stage to perform for it always looks for attention.  It wants to be the object of people’s thoughts, concern and/or esteem.  Pride can even look humble!  ‘poor me, I am so sick and needy!’  it will cry, and when it is given the answer to the problem, it will not take it – because it does not want the answer, it only wants the attention it is getting in the commotion it causes as it cries out.  God hates pride because it pride hates God.  We cannot live lives in pride and at the same time expect the blessing of God.  Pride is our enemy and wants to destroy us.

But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. Prov 4:18

May we be a people who walks continually onward and upward to that Perfect Day!  Amen!