Hello, and
welcome to Heart Lift.
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I'm Jill Morikone,
and I'm so glad that you
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have joined us today.
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We're in the middle of a journey
toward hope, toward healing,
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toward the transformation that
the Lord Jesus Christ wants to
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work in your life and in mine,
as women, as daughters of God.
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If you're just
joining us for the first time,
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we began our journey
looking at forgiveness,
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the forgiveness God
wants to clothe us with,
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the forgiveness He wants to pour
into our hearts so that we can
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reach out and extend
that to someone else.
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We moved into fear, and those
bands that hold us tightly,
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and how Jesus
came to set us free.
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Next we discussed sadness,
and how God wants to turn
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our sorrow into joy.
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And we just finished
our section on purity;
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on the purity that Jesus
can cleanse us, can forgive us,
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and can help us extend
to our brothers in Christ.
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Our topic today is
the subject of pride.
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Our Scripture is
Romans 12:3, Romans 12:3.
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If you have your Bible, I invite
you to open up and follow along.
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If not, you can get
out a paper and a pen,
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and jot the reference down.
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The Bible says, For I say,
through the grace given to me,
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to everyone who is among you,
not to think of himself more
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highly than he ought to
think; but to think soberly,
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as God has dealt to
each one a measure of faith.
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Let's pray. Father, we come
before You in the name of Jesus.
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Thank You that you see ourself.
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You see each one of us,
and You say, I love you.
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You are My daughter.
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Thank You that You
want to work in our hearts
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and remove anything
that's displeasing to You.
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Right now we open up our hearts
and ask that You could teach
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us from Your Word.
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And we thank You in
the precious and the holy
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name of Jesus, Amen.
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It had been a difficult week.
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Not difficult in the
sense of bank overdrafts,
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or a car breaking
down, or anything like that.
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It was a
difficult state of the mind.
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It was one of those weeks where
I would pray in the morning,
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and I felt like my prayers
hit the ceiling, bounced back,
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and they just
tumbled all around me.
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I felt like when I
opened the Word of God,
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normally I feel like the Word
of God excites me, and makes me
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want to follow Jesus even more.
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But this particular
week, when I opened up my Bible
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I would read, and
you know what happened?
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I got nothing. I got nothing.
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It felt like it
was dry; it was dead.
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And I know there's not
an issue with the Bible.
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The Bible is not dry,
neither is the Bible dead,
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because it is the words
of God, so I know the fault
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is not with the Bible.
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It was an issue with me.
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It was a state in my mind, and I
didn't know what was causing it.
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I knew Psalm 66:18.
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David the Psalmist says, If
I regard iniquity in my heart,
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the Lord will not hear me.
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And I knew what that
Psalm said, so I went to God,
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and I prayed Psalm
139:23, 24 over my life.
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I pray this one
often, several times a week.
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It says, Search me, O
God, and know my heart:
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try me, and know my
thoughts: And see if there's any
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wickedness in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting.
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And I prayed that.
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And I'm being honest with
you, nothing came to mind.
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I couldn't think of
anything between me and Jesus.
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So I continued that day, and it
just seemed sluggish and tiring.
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Once you have tasted what
communion with God is like,
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once you have tasted
fellowship with Jesus,
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when you don't have
that life is horrible.
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It's miserable.
And that's how I was.
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First day passed, second
day passed, third day passed.
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This was becoming tough.
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I shared my struggle with
my husband, Greg, and I said,
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I don't know what's wrong.
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I just have a disconnect
in my walk with Jesus.
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There's a disconnect in
my relationship with Him.
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What is causing this?
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And he said, I have
no idea, but God knows.
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So we knelt down by
our couch and we prayed,
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and we asked God to show us.
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Is there sin? If so, what is it?
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Please reveal to us what
is causing this disconnect.
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I know sometimes God wants
to trust us with His silence,
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and I know that, and I thought,
Is this His silent time?
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or what's going on?
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Friday passed, same.
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Sabbath morning I had my
study of the Word of God,
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I had my prayer time,
and it was the same thing.
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The Word didn't refresh
me, and I felt like my prayers
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hit the ceiling, and
bounced back down again.
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Sabbath night I was
sitting quietly on the couch,
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and all of a sudden
Jesus spoke to my heart.
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Not audible words, but
He impressed on my heart,
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and He says, Jill,
there is pride in your life.
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Pride is separating you from Me.
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There was pride in my heart.
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Today we're not going
to do a self evaluation.
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I know each one of our
other programs we like to start
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whatever topic we're discussing
with a self evaluation.
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Because I think
that's important to discover
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where are we right now.
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Where do we want to
be, and to honestly say,
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Where am I right now?
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But this particular
program we're not having one,
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because I believe
it's difficult to evaluate
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if you have pride in your life.
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If you're like me, probably
you can see it in somebody else.
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It's obvious when
it's in somebody else.
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But when it's ourself,
it's pretty hard to see.
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Maybe we might appear
prideful on the outside,
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but inside
we're actually humble.
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You know? Maybe it's
just an exterior thing.
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Maybe we appear humble,
and very self deprecating,
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and we just appear humble,
and we kind of put ourselves
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down, but inside
what if we're proudful?
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What if we're prideful?
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So we're not
doing a self evaluation.
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Jeremiah 17:3, the prophet says,
The heart is deceitful above all
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things, and desperately
wicked. Who can know it?
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The words, desperately
wicked, in the Hebrew
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literally mean incurable.
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God's saying, The pride in
your heart, Jill, you can't fix.
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You can't try harder.
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You can't attempt to be humble.
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It takes divine surgery.
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It takes the Lord Jesus to
remove that from our lives.
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With this program we're
beginning several programs
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dealing with pride, and we're
dealing with different aspects.
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This program we'll
discuss the boastful heart.
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I'm sure you've
met people like that.
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That would be the
little kid who loudly says,
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I can run the fastest.
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I am the fastest runner.
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It might be the man who's always
talking about the brand new
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Mercedes he just got.
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It might be the woman who
says, My child is the smartest.
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My child is the best behaved.
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My child is the most
beautiful in the room.
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You know that irritating, kind
of in your face type of pride.
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We're looking at that this
program: the boastful pride.
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Upcoming programs we'll
discuss the jealous pride;
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wishing for
someone else's position,
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someone else's looks,
someone else's husband,
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someone else's money, or
even, in Christian circles,
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we wish for
someone else's ministry.
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There's the critical pride, you
know, the comparing ourselves
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to one another,
and always judging;
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looking at, and
judging other people.
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There's the fearful pride;
afraid when I live my life,
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afraid of what
other people think of me,
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what other people are
going to say about people,
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what other
people are going to do.
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You know, what's amazing to
me is that when I look at these
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prides, I see
myself in all of them.
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And I know the Lord Jesus
says, I want to break you free.
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I want to break you
free, Jill, from this pride.
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The last two prides
we're going to look at will be
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the offended pride.
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The spirit of offense
is the spirit of pride.
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We'll take a look at that.
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Finally, the pride of false
humility, or pretending to be
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humble while in
reality being proudful inside.
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But today is the boastful pride.
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I'll call him John.
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I met him several years ago.
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As he extended his hand to
me he said, My name is John.
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And I said, It's
nice to meet you, John.
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And he said, I'm a pianist.
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I'm a professional pianist.
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My ability to
play is extraordinary.
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And as he proceeded to
regale me with how wonderfully
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he played the piano, I thought
about all the truly gifted
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pianists that I know.
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Men and women of extraordinary
talent who can make the piano
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laugh, and cry, and sing.
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People's fingers who fly over
the keys, yet they never once
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talked about their ability.
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They never once tried to
convince me that they were
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an
extraordinarily gifted pianist.
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They always sought
to lift up other people.
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They always
sought to lift up Jesus.
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We've probably met people,
you've probably met people,
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like that gifted
pianist, Brother John.
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And, by the way, I never heard
him play, so I can't say if
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his assessment
was accurate or not.
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It reminds me of a verse in 2
Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 10.
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We're going to take a look at
verse 18, 2 Corinthians 10:18.
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For not he who
commends himself is approved,
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but whom the Lord commends.
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He was a young man,
apparently successful in battle.
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In fact he was
extremely successful in battle.
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He succeeded in extending
the reach of the empire
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of his father's kingdom
while he was very young,
00:11:28.92\00:11:32.15
probably a late teenager.
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His father died
leaving the throne to him.
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He was a fair ruler.
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He was fairly just for those
times, and he was a wise ruler.
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He beautified his capitol city.
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He had the most important; he
had men in his court who loved
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and honored the God of
heaven, and it gave him a chance
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to learn not his heathen god's
and idol's that he normally
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worshipped, but it gave
him a chance to learn about
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the true God, Jehovah.
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The king I'm
referring to is Nebuchadnezzar.
00:12:12.43\00:12:15.96
We find his story
in the book of Daniel.
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Daniel, the whole book, really
talks about Nebuchadnezzar.
00:12:20.14\00:12:24.24
And in Daniel 3 we have
the three Hebrews thrown
00:12:24.27\00:12:30.01
into the fiery furnace.
00:12:30.05\00:12:31.51
Now we're in Daniel 4.
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Nebuchadnezzar
had a second dream.
00:12:34.32\00:12:36.85
Remember back in Daniel 2,
Nebuchadnezzar had that dream
00:12:36.89\00:12:40.42
about the image, the
image with the head of gold,
00:12:40.46\00:12:43.16
and it had the silver,
and the bronze, and the iron,
00:12:43.19\00:12:46.29
and then the feet
were of iron and of clay?
00:12:46.33\00:12:49.93
Remember he wanted to kill all
the wise men of Babylon because
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they could not tell
the source of his dream?
00:12:54.97\00:12:57.51
But God, in a dream, revealed
the dream and its interpretation
00:12:57.54\00:13:03.58
to the prophet
Daniel, and he told that dream
00:13:03.61\00:13:07.52
to king Nebuchadnezzar.
00:13:07.55\00:13:08.88
After some time
pride began to build up in
00:13:08.92\00:13:13.42
Nebuchadnezzar's heart.
00:13:13.46\00:13:14.79
We see that in Daniel 3
when he built the golden image.
00:13:14.82\00:13:18.99
The whole thing was
gold, not just the head.
00:13:19.03\00:13:21.90
Nebuchadnezzar said, I
don't just want to be the head,
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and then after me
another kingdom arise.
00:13:25.87\00:13:28.94
I want it all to be about me.
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And so he had that image built.
00:13:32.41\00:13:35.61
And Daniel 4, we're just one
chapter later, God in His love,
00:13:35.64\00:13:40.72
in His mercy, He gave
king Nebuchadnezzar a dream.
00:13:40.75\00:13:45.79
It was a dream about a
tree that was high, and lofty,
00:13:45.82\00:13:49.79
and beautiful, but yet it was
cut down, and the stump remained
00:13:49.82\00:13:55.43
with a band around
it for seven times.
00:13:55.46\00:13:59.43
And then it was restored.
00:13:59.47\00:14:01.57
The king was distressed.
00:14:01.60\00:14:02.94
What did this dream mean?
00:14:02.97\00:14:04.44
And Daniel the prophet,
again came to the king and said,
00:14:04.47\00:14:09.21
This is what it means.
00:14:09.24\00:14:10.58
Your pride is
really lifting you up.
00:14:10.61\00:14:14.58
Your pride is lifting you up.
00:14:14.62\00:14:17.02
And he said, Oh king, please
listen to my advice, please.
00:14:17.05\00:14:23.53
Verse 27, Daniel 4.
00:14:23.56\00:14:26.26
Break off your sins, please.
00:14:26.29\00:14:29.73
Well, maybe for a
little while Nebuchadnezzar
00:14:29.76\00:14:32.77
headed that advice.
00:14:32.80\00:14:34.40
Verse 29 it says, At the end
of twelve months he was walking
00:14:34.44\00:14:39.34
about the royal
palace of Babylon.
00:14:39.37\00:14:41.51
And Daniel 4:30, The king
spoke, saying, Is not this great
00:14:41.54\00:14:47.02
Babylon, that I have built for
a royal dwelling by my mighty
00:14:47.05\00:14:51.65
power, and for the
honor of my majesty?
00:14:51.69\00:14:54.69
And the Bible says, While
the word was still in the king's
00:14:54.72\00:14:57.86
mouth,... That means
he was still speaking.
00:14:57.89\00:15:00.70
I created this empire.
00:15:00.73\00:15:02.46
It's all about me!
00:15:02.50\00:15:04.33
I'm the one who did it.
00:15:04.37\00:15:05.93
While he said that, immediately
the prophecy was fulfilled,
00:15:05.97\00:15:10.97
and he went insane.
00:15:11.01\00:15:13.51
He was driven from
living with people.
00:15:13.54\00:15:16.91
He went out in the grass.
00:15:16.95\00:15:18.28
He had to eat grass.
00:15:18.31\00:15:21.08
He had to be like an oxen,
or any other beast of the field.
00:15:21.12\00:15:25.69
For seven years this happened.
00:15:25.72\00:15:29.02
But God is merciful.
00:15:29.06\00:15:31.39
He brought Nebuchadnezzar
full circle back again.
00:15:31.43\00:15:36.53
We see the redemption.
00:15:36.56\00:15:38.27
We saw the judgment,
but we see the redemption
00:15:38.30\00:15:41.34
of our Father in heaven.
00:15:41.37\00:15:43.04
After he lived for seven years
like an ox, then he acknowledged
00:15:43.07\00:15:48.84
that God is ruler of all.
00:15:48.88\00:15:51.35
That He alone can give,
and He alone can take away,
00:15:51.38\00:15:55.85
and all glory, all
honor belongs to Him alone.
00:15:55.88\00:16:01.02
We see the praise that
Nebuchadnezzar offered to God.
00:16:01.06\00:16:04.63
This is in Daniel 4:37.
00:16:04.66\00:16:07.30
He said, Now I Nebuchadnezzar
praise and extol and honor
00:16:07.33\00:16:11.73
the king of heaven, all
of whose works are truth,
00:16:11.77\00:16:15.40
and His ways justice:
and those who walk in pride
00:16:15.44\00:16:20.01
He's able to humble,
or He is able to put down.
00:16:20.04\00:16:25.85
I don't know how you
feel in your own life today.
00:16:25.88\00:16:29.95
You might be saying, I
know there's pride in my life,
00:16:29.98\00:16:32.82
because I think everything I've
achieved in my work, in my home,
00:16:32.85\00:16:37.86
in my ministry, with my church,
my status; I did it myself.
00:16:37.89\00:16:45.03
If you're in that
condition, don't lose heart,
00:16:45.07\00:16:48.70
don't be discouraged.
00:16:48.74\00:16:50.84
God never shows us the junk
in our heart to discourage us,
00:16:50.87\00:16:54.78
or to bring condemnation.
00:16:54.81\00:16:56.41
He always shows us our hearts
so that we can turn to Him,
00:16:56.44\00:17:01.15
so that He can restore us,
redeem us, and create in us
00:17:01.18\00:17:08.09
a meek and humble spirit.
00:17:08.12\00:17:09.99
So what is God's
solution for the boastful heart?
00:17:10.03\00:17:11.36
What is God's solution?
00:17:13.66\00:17:15.36
I think it's twofold.
00:17:15.40\00:17:17.23
1. Behold Jesus. I
think the boastful heart never
00:17:17.27\00:17:22.60
really sees Jesus.
00:17:22.64\00:17:24.07
We're so busy looking at
ourselves, looking inward at
00:17:24.11\00:17:27.51
ourselves, and our own
accomplishments, that we never
00:17:27.54\00:17:30.38
look heavenward at
the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:17:30.41\00:17:33.82
When God says to behold
Me, it's a constant beholding.
00:17:33.85\00:17:38.35
It's not a quick in the
morning, Okay, I read one verse.
00:17:38.39\00:17:42.22
I'm good, God.
I'm done, I'm done.
00:17:42.26\00:17:44.46
I'm going to go about
my day and what I'm doing.
00:17:44.49\00:17:47.63
No, when we behold Jesus,
it's a beholding in the morning.
00:17:47.66\00:17:52.63
Time with Jesus. It's
a beholding throughout
00:17:52.67\00:17:57.74
the day as you drive in
the car, as you go to work,
00:17:57.77\00:18:01.41
as you converse
with other people.
00:18:01.44\00:18:03.55
It's bringing
thoughts of Jesus back into
00:18:03.58\00:18:07.25
my heart, and into my mind.
00:18:07.28\00:18:08.88
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, But
we all, with open face beholding
00:18:08.92\00:18:15.22
as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same
00:18:15.26\00:18:19.89
image from glory to glory.
00:18:19.93\00:18:22.76
How does God change
us? by beholding Jesus.
00:18:22.80\00:18:27.70
My husband Greg, he's
told this story, so I'm not
00:18:27.74\00:18:30.61
telling a story on him.
00:18:30.64\00:18:31.97
He's okay with me sharing it.
00:18:32.01\00:18:33.48
He is, in my opinion, this may
be a little prideful on my part,
00:18:33.51\00:18:37.71
but I think he's one of
the best drivers that I know.
00:18:37.75\00:18:40.92
He drives very defensively.
00:18:40.95\00:18:43.18
He doesn't throw you all around
the car, as some people do.
00:18:43.22\00:18:49.12
You know you screech to a
stop, and you go again quickly,
00:18:49.16\00:18:52.26
and you're thrown around.
00:18:52.29\00:18:53.63
He's very smooth when he drives.
00:18:53.66\00:18:56.03
He's constantly
checking his surroundings,
00:18:56.06\00:18:59.53
checking the rear view mirror,
looking ahead, looking around.
00:18:59.57\00:19:02.80
He's just a good driver, and
I feel very safe when he drives.
00:19:02.84\00:19:07.04
Well, this particular time he
was driving on the Interstate.
00:19:07.08\00:19:10.41
Here in Southern Illinois
we have fairly flat terrain.
00:19:10.45\00:19:15.98
Now with that flat terrain comes
a certain sameness to the road.
00:19:16.02\00:19:21.46
There's a sameness to that
white dotted line zipping past.
00:19:21.49\00:19:25.29
There's a sameness
to the fields of corn,
00:19:25.33\00:19:28.76
or the fields of soybeans.
00:19:28.80\00:19:31.17
Open prairie land,
and it's beautiful.
00:19:31.20\00:19:34.64
I love it. But there's
a certain sameness to it.
00:19:34.67\00:19:37.87
So this one day he
said he was driving,
00:19:37.91\00:19:41.58
and there's the monotony of
the road after hours in the car.
00:19:41.61\00:19:45.98
And all of a sudden he
said, up ahead he saw a pothole.
00:19:46.01\00:19:49.85
And he said
expertly he turned the wheel,
00:19:49.88\00:19:53.09
and he avoided the pothole.
00:19:53.12\00:19:54.66
That's something
he's very good at.
00:19:54.69\00:19:56.32
And when I drive I
usually hit the pothole.
00:19:56.36\00:19:59.96
I'm just not real good at that.
00:20:00.00\00:20:01.76
But he sees it and
he goes right around it.
00:20:01.80\00:20:04.17
Well, he said after he avoided
the pothole, he looked in the
00:20:04.20\00:20:07.87
rearview mirror to
check and see how the car
00:20:07.90\00:20:11.54
behind him was faring.
00:20:11.57\00:20:13.44
Did they avoid the
pothole as well as he did?
00:20:13.48\00:20:18.01
He said, Just when he
looked in the rearview mirror,
00:20:18.05\00:20:21.65
you guessed what happened.
00:20:21.68\00:20:23.12
He hit the an
even bigger pothole!
00:20:23.15\00:20:27.56
You see there
were two in the road.
00:20:27.59\00:20:28.96
They were just a
little distance apart.
00:20:28.99\00:20:30.56
But it was timed perfectly
that when he looked behind,
00:20:30.59\00:20:33.29
that's when he
hit the next pothole.
00:20:33.33\00:20:36.77
And I think when we behold
Jesus we don't look behind us.
00:20:36.80\00:20:40.44
We don't say, I wonder
how Sally, and Jimmy, and Joe
00:20:40.47\00:20:44.04
are doing back here.
00:20:44.07\00:20:45.41
I wonder if they're progressing
in their Christian life
00:20:45.44\00:20:48.61
as well as I'm progressing.
00:20:48.64\00:20:50.71
I wonder? I wonder how
they're doing next to me?
00:20:50.75\00:20:54.88
Am I keeping pace with
them in the Christian walk?
00:20:54.92\00:20:58.09
No, we don't look at people
to say, They're doing worse,
00:20:58.12\00:21:02.39
or they're doing the
same. We look to Jesus.
00:21:02.42\00:21:06.49
When we look to
Jesus, He wants to change us.
00:21:06.53\00:21:10.20
That verse in 2 Corinthians
3, As we behold, He changes us
00:21:10.23\00:21:16.50
into His image. I love that.
00:21:16.54\00:21:20.34
Remember the Biblical principle
we shared a few programs ago
00:21:20.38\00:21:24.55
Galatians 6:6,
7? What does it say?
00:21:24.58\00:21:28.55
It says,... Let's
jump over there real quick.
00:21:28.58\00:21:30.69
It's the law of
sowing and reaping.
00:21:30.72\00:21:33.66
The law of sowing and reaping.
00:21:33.69\00:21:36.86
It's a great verse,
and it talks about...
00:21:36.89\00:21:42.40
One more page; I got it.
00:21:42.43\00:21:44.50
Here we go. Do not be
deceived; God is not mocked:
00:21:44.53\00:21:51.07
for whatever man sows,
that will he also reap.
00:21:51.11\00:21:54.68
He who sows to the flesh will
of the flesh reap corruption;
00:21:54.71\00:21:59.81
but he who sows to the
Spirit will of the Spirit
00:21:59.85\00:22:03.52
reap everlasting life.
00:22:03.55\00:22:06.02
It's a Biblical
principle that what we sow,
00:22:06.05\00:22:10.73
we're going to reap.
00:22:10.76\00:22:12.09
It's also a Biblical principle
that what we feed grows,
00:22:12.13\00:22:17.13
and what we starve dies.
00:22:17.17\00:22:20.17
So instead of me
trying to become humble,
00:22:20.20\00:22:23.61
trying to not look at myself...
00:22:23.64\00:22:25.87
In that I become all
absorbed about myself.
00:22:25.91\00:22:29.24
Instead of that look to Jesus.
00:22:29.28\00:22:32.21
See Him in His purity.
00:22:32.25\00:22:34.25
See Him in His holiness.
00:22:34.28\00:22:36.22
See Him in His love.
00:22:36.25\00:22:38.52
And as we do that, we
will be changed into His image.
00:22:38.55\00:22:44.76
I told you there are two
solutions to the boastful heart.
00:22:44.79\00:22:48.10
1. Is to behold Jesus.
00:22:48.13\00:22:50.27
And I think that's key.
00:22:50.30\00:22:51.87
2. Is to give
thanks. Give thanks.
00:22:51.90\00:22:57.84
This comes from a book
written by Andrew Murray.
00:22:57.87\00:23:00.48
I like his writing.
00:23:00.54\00:23:01.88
The book is called,
Humility and Absolute Surrender.
00:23:01.91\00:23:04.81
It says: Accept with gratitude
everything that God allows
00:23:04.85\00:23:11.69
from within or
without, from friend or enemy,
00:23:11.72\00:23:13.92
in nature or in grace, to remind
you of your need of humbling,
00:23:16.42\00:23:23.40
and to help you to it.
00:23:23.43\00:23:25.83
What's he saying? Be thankful.
00:23:25.87\00:23:29.34
Be thankful for whatever
comes from a friend of yours,
00:23:29.37\00:23:33.51
or from an enemy of yours,
whatever comes from nature,
00:23:33.54\00:23:37.35
or in grace, whatever
comes from inside you,
00:23:37.38\00:23:40.05
or whatever comes from
outside of you, whatever trial,
00:23:40.08\00:23:44.09
whatever circumstance you are
in that shows you your pride,
00:23:44.12\00:23:49.02
your need of humbling,
accept that with gratitude.
00:23:49.06\00:23:54.10
Don't fight it.
Don't run from it.
00:23:54.13\00:23:57.40
Don't say, I
don't like the junk,
00:23:57.43\00:23:59.60
so I'm going to turn my back.
00:23:59.63\00:24:01.10
Open your heart to it.
00:24:01.14\00:24:03.61
Say, Thank You, Jesus,
for showing me my heart.
00:24:03.67\00:24:07.61
Thank You for showing me
the junk that's still inside.
00:24:07.64\00:24:13.08
Have that spirit of gratitude,
and then behold Jesus.
00:24:13.11\00:24:18.52
We're going to
take a short break here.
00:24:18.55\00:24:20.96
When we come back we want to
do our practical application.
00:24:20.99\00:24:25.09
Something that you can do this
week; something that you can
00:24:25.16\00:24:28.96
take with you this week that
will be, hopefully, a help and
00:24:29.00\00:24:32.80
encouragement to you
in your walk with Jesus.
00:24:32.83\00:24:36.20