DAILY BIBLE VERSES AND PRAYER THOUGHTS MONDAY - VERSES: Psalm 10:2-7 PRAYER THOUGHT: God, Help me to seek after you for the answers I need and help me to realize I don't have the answers myself. TUESDAY - VERSES: Psalm 12:1-4 PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, help me to never to boast of my own power, and help me to be one of the godly so that they won't disappear. WEDNESDAY - VERSES: Psalm 119:17-21 PRAYER THOUGHT: Father, thank You for your word that guides me. Help me to accept correction when I am wrong, and rebuke me if I wander from your word. THURSDAY - VERSES: Psalm 131:1-3; Romans 12:3 PRAYER THOUGHT: Master, help me to know where I belong and not to think more highly of myself than I should. FRIDAY - VERSES: Isaiah 13:9-11 PRAYER THOUGHT: Help me to avoid the punishment and destruction that you are sending upon the wicked by keeping a humble spirit. SATURDAY - VERSES: Jeremiah 13:15-18 PRAYER THOUGHT: Be with me, Lord God Almighty, and help me to show concern for and warn others about the problems that come from pride and arrogance. e e e e e e e e e e e e e IT'S ______ ALL YOU INTRODUCTION - PROVERBS 16:18 LEAD STATEMENT - ARROGANCE LEADS TO . . . I. PROBLEMS FOR _________ - 1 TIMOTHY 6:1-5 II. PROBLEMS FOR _________ ________ - 1 SAMUEL 25:1-39 III. PROBLEMS WITH _________ - PSALM 40:4; PROV. 13:10 IV. ______________ FROM GOD - JAMES 4:6; MALACHI 4:1 CONCLUSION e e e e e e e e e e e e e ASSIGNMENTS 1. Once a day read over this material and read or sing the song. 2. Keep the scripture where you will see it often each day. 3. Think of areas of your life where you have been arrogant. 4. Write down ways you can be confident and sure without becoming arrogant. SPIRITUAL HEALTH REGIMEN - WEEK 50 ARROGANCE - 7-7-13 to 7-13-13 SCRIPTURE - Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. COMMENT – God doesn't want us living in doubt of our salvation, He doesn't want us to coast along, and He definitely doesn't want us to take the credit for what He has done. He has given us confidence, but He also warns us not to be arrogant. SONG - NONE OF SELF AND ALL OF THEE 1. O, the bitter pain and sorrow That a time could ever be, When I proudly said to Jesus "All of self and none of Thee," All of self, and none of Thee, All of self, and none of Thee, When I proudly said to Jesus "All of self and none of Thee." 2. Yet He found me; I beheld Him Bleeding on th' accursed tree, And my wistful heart said faintly, "Some of self, and some of Thee," Some of self, and some of Thee, Some of self, and some of Thee, And my wistful heart said faintly, "Some of self, and some of Thee." 3. Day by day His tender mercy Healing, helping, full and free, Bro't me lower while I whispered "Less of self, and more of Thee," Less of self, and more of Thee, Less of self, and more of Thee, Bro't me lower while I whispered "Less of self, and more of Thee," 4. Higher than the highest heavens, Deeper than the deepest sea, Lord, thy love at last has conquered "None of self, and all of Thee," None of self, and all of Thee, None of self, and all of Thee, Lord, thy love at last has conquered "None of self, and all of Thee," THOUGHTS A young man who was also an avid golfer found himself with a few hours to spare one afternoon. He figured if he hurried and played very fast, he could get in 9 holes before he had to head home. Just as he was about to tee off an old gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could accompany the young man as he was golfing alone. Not being able to say no, he allowed the old gent to join him. To his surprise the old man played fairly quickly. He didn't hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn't waste much time. Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and the young man found himself with a tough shot. There was a large pine tree right in front of his ball, directly between the ball and the green. After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot the old man finally said, "You know, when I was your age I'd hit the ball right over that tree." With that challenge placed before him, the youngster swung hard, hit the ball up, right smack into the top of the tree trunk and it thudded back on the ground not a foot from where it had originally lay. The old man offered one more comment, "Of course, when I was your age that pine tree was only 3 feet tall." e e e e e e e e e e e e e I received a little printed form the other day with a rather intriguing title: How to Be Perfectly Miserable. And it goes on to list a few things you can do that will not only make you perfectly miserable but also keep you that way. 1. Think about yourself. 2. Talk about yourself. 3. Use the personal pronoun "I" as often as possible in conversation. 4. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. 5. Listen greedily to what people say about you. 6. Insist on consideration and respect. 7. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. 8. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them. 9. Never forget a service you may have rendered. 10. Expect to be appreciated. 11. Be suspicious. 12. Be sensitive to slights. 13. Be jealous and envious. 14. Never forget a criticism. 15. Trust nobody but yourself. e e e e e e e e e e e e e Pride is one of the most destructive personality traits that we can have. Confidence based on knowledge is not the same. We can see both of these attitudes in the following story. This is a radio conversation between a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland. Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees the South to avoid a collision. Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees the North to avoid a collision. Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision. Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course. Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course. Americans: This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States' Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north, I say again, that's one five degrees north, or counter-measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship. Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call. e e e e e e e e e e e e e It's my pride that makes me independent of God. It's appealing to feel I am the master of my fate; I run my own life, I call my own shots; I go it alone. But that feeling is my basic dishonesty. I can't go it alone. I have to get help from other people, and I can't ultimately rely on myself. I am dependent on God for my very next breath. It is dishonest of me to pretend that I am anything but a man, small, weak and limited. So, living independent of God is self- delusion. It's not just a matter of pride being an unfortunate little trait and humility being an attractive little virtue, it's my inner psychological integrity that's at stake. When I am conceited, I am lying to myself about what I am. I am pretending to be God, and not man. My pride is the idolatrous worship of myself, and that is the national religion of hell. e e e e e e e e e e e e e You've probably heard of the humility award winner who lost his medal because he wore it. e e e e e e e e e e e e e Always try to be modest and be proud of it! e e e e e e e e e e e e e The truest characters of ignorance are vanity and pride and arrogance. - Samuel Butler IT'S NOT ALL YOU INTRODUCTION: A. WOODPECKER ILLUSTRATION - Corrie Ten Boom used to tell the story about a proud woodpecker who was tapping away at a dead tree when the sky unexpectedly turned black and the thunder began to roll. Undaunted, he went right on working. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the old tree, splintering it into hundreds of pieces. Startled but unhurt, the haughty bird flew off, screeching to his feathered friends, "Hey, everyone, look what I did! Look what I did!" This old woodpecker reminds me of people who think more highly of themselves than they should. Usually they are so busy bragging about their achievements and their greatness that they fail to recognize God as the source of all their abilities. They are suffering from spiritual delusions of grandeur. Without the Lord no one amounts to anything, and in our own strength we cannot please Him. B. PROVERBS 16:18 LEAD STATEMENT - ARROGANCE LEADS TO . . . I. PROBLEMS FOR SELF - 1 TIMOTHY 6:1-5 "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. {2} And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. {3} If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; {4} He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, {5} Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." II. PROBLEMS FOR LOVED ONES - 1 SAMUEL 25:3 "Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb." 1 SAMUEL 25:10-12 "And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. {11} Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? {12} So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings." 1 SAMUEL 25:20-22 "And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. {21} Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. {22} So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall." 1 SAMUEL 25:32-34 "And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: {33} And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. {34} For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall." III. PROBLEMS WITH OTHERS - PSALM 40:4 "Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." PROVERBS 13:10 "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom." IV. PUNISHMENT FROM GOD - MALACHI 4:1 "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." JAMES 4:4-10 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. {5} Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? {6} But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. {7} Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. {8} Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. {9} Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. {10} Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." CONCLUSION: A. YUGO VS. ROLLS ROYCE A guy driving a Yugo pulls up at a stoplight next to a Rolls-Royce. The driver of the Yugo rolls down his window and shouts to the driver of the Rolls, "Hey, buddy, that's a nice car. You got a phone in your Rolls? I've got one in my Yugo!" The driver of Rolls looks over and says simply, "Yes I have a phone." The driver of the Yugo says, "Cool! Hey, you got a fridge in there too? I've got a fridge in the back seat of my Yugo!" The driver of the Rolls, looking annoyed, says, "Yes, I have a refrigerator." The driver of the Yugo says, "That's great, man! Hey, you got a TV in there, too? You know, I got a TV in the back seat of my Yugo!" The driver of the Rolls, looking very annoyed by now, says, "Of course I have a television. A Rolls-Royce is the finest luxury car in the world!" The driver of the Yugo says, "Very cool car! Hey, you got a bed in there, too? I got a bed in the back of my Yugo!" Upset that he did not have a bed, the driver of the Rolls-Royce sped away, and went straight to the dealer, where he promptly ordered that a bed be installed in the back of the Rolls. The next morning, the driver of the Rolls picked up the car. The bed looked superb, complete with silk sheets and brass trim. It was clearly a bed fit for a Rolls Royce. So the driver of the Rolls begins searching for the Yugo, and he drove all day. Finally, late at night, he finds the Yugo parked, with all the windows fogged up from the inside. The driver of the Rolls got out and knocked on the Yugo. When there wasn't any answer, he knocked and knocked, and eventually the owner stuck his head out, soaking wet. "I now have a bed in the back of my Rolls-Royce," the driver of the Rolls stated arrogantly. The driver of the Yugo looked at him and said, "You got me out of the shower for that?!" B. APPEAL (Lev 26:19 KJV) "And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:" (2 Sam 22:28 KJV) "And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down." (Job 40:11-12 KJV) "Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. {12} Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place." (Psa 10:2 KJV) "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined." (Psa 10:4 KJV) "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts." (Psa 12:3 KJV) "The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:" (Psa 40:4 KJV) "Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." (Psa 59:12 KJV) "For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak." (Psa 86:14 KJV) "O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them." (Psa 101:5 KJV) "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer." (Psa 119:21 KJV) "Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments." (Psa 123:4 KJV) "Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud." (Psa 131:1 KJV) "A Song of degrees of David. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me." (Prov 6:17 KJV) "A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood," (Prov 8:13 KJV) "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." (Prov 11:2 KJV) "When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom." (Prov 13:10 KJV) "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom." (Prov 15:25 KJV) "The LORD will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow." (Prov 16:5 KJV) "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished." (Prov 16:18-19 KJV) "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. {19} Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." (Prov 18:12 KJV) "Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility." (Prov 21:4 KJV) "An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin." Prov 28:25 KJV) "He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat." (Prov 29:23 KJV) "A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit." (Isa 2:12 KJV) "For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:" (Isa 3:16 KJV) "Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:" (Isa 9:9 KJV) "And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart," (Isa 10:33 KJV) "Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled." (Isa 13:11 KJV) "And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." (Isa 16:6 KJV) "We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so." (Isa 25:11 KJV) "And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands." (Jer 13:15 KJV) "Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken." (Jer 13:17 KJV) "But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive." (Jer 48:29 KJV) "We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart." (Jer 50:29 KJV) "Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel." (Jer 50:31-32 KJV) "Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. {32} And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him." (Ezek 16:49-50 KJV) "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. {50} And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good." (Dan 4:37 KJV) "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." (Dan 5:20 KJV) "But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:" (Oba 1:3 KJV) "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?" (Hab 2:5 KJV) "Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:" (Zep 2:10 KJV) "This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts." (Zep 3:11 KJV) "In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain." (Mal 4:1 KJV) "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." (Luke 1:51 KJV) "He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts." (1 Tim 3:6 KJV) "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." (1 Tim 6:4 KJV) "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings," (James 4:6 KJV) "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (1 Pet 5:5 KJV) "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." NOW THAT'S EFFICIENT AUTHOR: UNKNOWN The efficiency expert concluded his lecture with a note of caution. "You don't want to try these techniques at home." "Why not?" asked someone from the back of the audience. "I watched my wife's routine at breakfast for years," the expert explained. "She made lots of trips to the refrigerator, stove, table and cabinets, often carrying just a single item at a time. 'Hon,' I suggested, 'Why don't you try carrying several things at once?'" The voice from the back asked, "Did it save time?" The expert replied, "Actually, yes. It used to take her 20 minutes to get breakfast ready. Now _I_ do it in seven." %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ When the space shuttle Challenger lifted into the sky and blew up seventy-three seconds into its flight, the world was shocked. Most of us have seen the videotape of that terrible moment many times. And we can recreate the picture in our minds of a deep blue sky marked with twisted trails of smoke and large chunks of metal plummeting toward the ocean. And we know, as we recall the grim specter of the explosion, that among the falling pieces were the bodies of some of America's finest men and women. Most of us also know that the investigations into the cause of the tragedy pointed out some serious shortfalls in human judgment and materials management. The New York Times put it frankly: the ultimate cause of the space shuttle disaster was pride. A group of top managers failed to listen carefully to the warnings of those down the line who were concerned about the operational reliability of certain parts of the booster rocket under conditions of abnormal stress. The people in charge were confident that they knew best and that they should not change the launch schedules. They were wrong. -- Gordon MacDonald, Rebuilding Your Broken World ******************* A Rabbi and a New England minister were getting to know one another. Proudly, the minister exclaimed, "One of my ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence." "I understand your pride," responded the rabbi. "One of my ancestors signed the Ten Commandments." Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.