Thoughts for Life: Pride (How to deal with It)

James H. Cagle shares these

thoughts with us on pride:

Oh, how loving and kind the Spirit;

How compassionate as well the hand,

That points out the wicked sin of pride

That resides in the heart of ev’ry man.

Waves of sorrow crush our arrogance;

As the Spirit of God smites our soul,

Leaving our heart bent ‘neath its burden,

Overcome by guilt in our sinful role.

Oh, the horror when the truth we see;

How ugly the soul is with shame,

When we see that what we've done

Has brought reproach to the Savior’s name.

How the demons scream in laughter;

How proud and sinister Satan’s grin,

When the Christian grows haughty and proud

And he and the flesh then claim a win.

Pride-the awful original sin

That sought to usurp a Thrice-Holy God.

And when pride dethrones God in our heart,

It receives the Devil’s approving nod.

To be reminded once more of the truth

That we desperately need God’s grace;

That we must stay humble and rely on

God’s power to run a good race.

Seeing how God doth strongly resist us

For the pride which we know He hates;

We must humbly plead for His mercy,

For this blessing our soul must wait.

Oh, to lift the head once more to Heaven;

And have the heart refilled and renewed,

When our offence God has forgiven

And our Savior’s face comes back in view.

Pride by James H. Cagle

If I Had Wings

If I had the wings of a dove;

The wherewithal to take my flight,
I’d leave behind all burdensome care;
The cold dark night for the golden sunlight.

I would flee each painful situation,

I’d fly away when the enemy opposed.

I would never experience a trial by fire

As out of each struggle on wings I arose.

If I had wings to spread like the morning

I would fly above the menacing clouds.

With wings gilded in golden light

I’d escape from the threatening shroud.

With wings I’d flee life’s unpleasantness,

Those opportunities to experience God’s grace

By which He’d sustain me in the trial He sent

To cause me to seek His loving embrace.

If I had the wings of a holy cherubim

I would mount up high on ethereal winds,

I’d fly with angels on pathways to heaven,

Sail far and wide on celestial winds.

If I had the wings of a glorious seraphim,

I would never have the character of Christ.

For I’d run from things sent to mold me,

Into the likeness of my Sin-sacrifice.

Could I with great wings fly away;

To escape the darkness they unfold,

I would never know how rich I could be,

From the treasures the dark valley holds.

Character is far more important

Than jeweled wings, glistening bright.

And learning to walk with God by faith

Is far better than escaping the night.

As the wings of a bird are clipped,

So would God some how take my flight,

And force me to weather the storms of life

By which He reveals His beauty, and might.

Psalms 55:6-8 by James H. Cagle

(Used by permission
Google images added)

Let’s pray:

Father, "With wings I’d flee life’s

unpleasantness," may often be our

desire, too.

But may we realize that Your grace

is sufficient in our every circumstance,

and every need.

So remind us to look to You instead.
Help me remember that my character
is important to You. You desire to reveal
Your beauty and might in and through me in my circumstances,
as Your child.
As I rely completely on the grace available to me through
Your Son, Jesus, I ask for Your help. Amen

Today’s Bible verse: Prov. 31:30 "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman (or man) that feareth the LORD, she (he) shall be praised."

Today’s quote: Gwen Smith – “The benefits of allowing the love of God to trump the anger in your heart are tremendous, but the application can be very challenging. We can’t overcome our natural, sinful tendencies to react, and overreact, in anger alone. We need God’s help. His strength will meet us at our weakness when we call on Him. The Holy Spirit helps us to respond in God’s strength instead of our own.”

Some thoughts today: Do you have a hunger for something
Real? Check out my writer friend, Hope Flinchbaugh's blog
post: http://liftjesuscross.com/2014/06/15/proclaim-a-

solemn-assembly/ and click on the link to the message.
You will be blessed and encouraged, for sure.

29th- Sunday evening’s post: God's Under the Bed
GodVine

July 1st- Tuesday's post: #97 The Rewards
C. Peter Wagner

3rd- Thursday's post: #98 How to Pray for Pastors
C. Peter Wagner

5th- Saturday's post: Regaining the Right Perspective
Penny Hunt

A popular post: #56 Spiritual Arrogance C. Peter Wagner
gives us #4 reason why intercession is an underutilized
source of spiritual power in our churches today. He goes on
to tells us, "I wish spiritual arrogance were a minor issue,
but I am afraid it is not."

Look for beauties
such as these!

http://christianpoetsandwriters.blogspot.com/

I invite you to check out the above link, to see the many interesting topics of Christian Poets and Writers.

Granny's Guide to Marriage in Verse