Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / May 24 - Pride, Power, and Purpose

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May 24 - Pride, Power, and Purpose · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today.
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  May 24th Pride, Power and purpose Let's be honest, pride
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  is sneaky. It doesn't always show up as
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  loud arrogance or showing off. Sometimes it looks like needing
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  to be right in an argument. Sometimes it looks like
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  dismissing someone else's idea before you've really heard it.
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  Sometimes it looks like that quiet resentment when someone
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  else gets the recognition you wanted.
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  Pride has a way of disguising itself, and that makes it one of
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  the most dangerous things to let take root in your heart.
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  Proverbs chapter 16, verse 18 doesn't leave any room for
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  ambiguity. Pride goes before destruction
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  and a haughty spirit before a fall.
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  That's not a threat. It's a warning rooted in the
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  reality of how life actually works.
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  When pride is driving your decisions, you stop listening
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  well, you stop seeing your own blind spots.
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  You start making choices based on ego rather than wisdom, and
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  eventually that catches up with you.
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  The higher the pride, the harder the fall.
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  We've all seen it in others. And if we're honest in
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  ourselves, Psalm 58 verse 6 is a raw, unfiltered prayer.
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  The kind where someone is genuinely disturbed by injustice
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  and brings that anger straight to God.
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  And there's something important in that.
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  When you're provoked, when someone wrongs you, when anger
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  flares up, what do you do with it?
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  The psalmist takes it to God. He doesn't bottle it up and let
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  it curdle into bitterness. He doesn't explode outward and
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  damage relationships. He pours it out to God, who is
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  the only one truly capable of handling justice rightly.
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  That's a model worth following. You can be honest with God about
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  your anger. You don't have to pretend it
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  isn't there, but give it to him before it gives you over to
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  something destructive. And then Galatians chapter 5
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  verse 13 reframes what freedom actually looks like.
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  For you were called to freedom, brothers only Do not use your
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  freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love
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  serve one another. Here's the thing about freedom.
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  It can be used two ways. You can use it to do whatever
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  you want whenever you want for yourself, or you can use it to
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  lift other people. And the counterintuitive truth
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  of the gospel is that the second option is actually the more
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  powerful and fulfilling. 1 Using your freedom to serve doesn't
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  diminish you, it enlarges you. It builds something in your
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  character that no amount of self gratification ever could.
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  Think about what this looks like in your daily life.
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  Pride says I need to win this. Humility says I need to
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  understand this. Pride says my comfort first.
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  Love says, what does this person need right now?
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  It's not weakness to choose the second option.
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  In fact, Proverbs chapter 16 verse 32, which you'll encounter
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  more this week, says that the person who rules their own
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  spirit is mightier than someone who conquers a city.
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  Self mastery, choosing humility over ego is one of the most
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  powerful things a person can do. You have something to offer the
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  people around you, your words, your attention, your
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  encouragement, your willingness to show up.
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  But pride shrinks all of that. It turns your energy inward and
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  leaves others without what they need from you.
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  Humility, on the other hand, frees you to be genuinely
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  useful, to make a real difference, to reflect the
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  character of Jesus, who, with all power and authority, chose
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  to serve. That's the kind of power worth
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  having. Let's pray.
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  Heavenly Father, thank you for the freedom I have in Christ and
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  for the reminder that true freedom is lived outward, not
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  inward. Help me to recognize pride when
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  it shows up in my heart, even in its subtle forms.
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  Teach me to handle anger by bringing it to You, not letting
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  it drive me into something I'll regret.
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  And help me to use the freedom you've given me to serve the
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  people around me with kindness, patience, and genuine love.
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  Make me humble. God in Jesus name, Amen.
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  What if the battles hitting your family are not random and your
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  home can become a place where darkness loses every right to
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  stay? The Secured Home is a powerful
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  six book prayer series for believers who want to guard
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  their households with biblical authority, peace, and confidence
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  in Jesus Christ. Book 1, Guarded Thresholds,
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  fortifies every doorway, room, and entry point with prayerful
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  protection. Book 2, Cleansed Rooms, helps
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  reclaim spaces marked by fear, unrest, and spiritual
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  defilement. Book 3, Closed Breaches, exposes
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  hidden access points and severs every agreement with darkness.
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  Book 4, Broken Assignments, confronts oppression, torment,
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  and attacks against your family. Book 5, Consecrated Walls,
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  dedicates every space and rhythm of the home to God.
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  Book 6, Abiding Peace, shows how to maintain spiritual order,
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  rest, and holy presence every day.
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  Order now on Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org.
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  Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
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  Bible reading plan. Proverbs chapter 16 Verse 18
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  World English Bible Pride goes before destruction and an
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  arrogant spirit before a fall. Psalm Chapter 58 World English
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  Bible Do you indeed speak righteousness?
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  Silent ones, do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
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  No. In your heart you plot
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  injustice. You measure out the violence of
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  your hands in the earth. The wicked go astray from the
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  womb. They are wayward as soon as they
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  are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison
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  of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, which
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  doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful
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  the charmer may be. Break their teeth, God in their
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  mouth, Break out the great teeth of the Young Lions, Yahweh.
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  Let them vanish like water that flows away when they draw the
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  bow. Let their arrows be made blunt.
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  Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away.
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  Like the stillborn child who has not seen the sun before.
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  Your pots can feel the heat of the thorns.
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  He will sweep away the green and the burning alike.
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  The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.
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  He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men
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  shall say, Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous.
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  Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.
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  Galatians, chapter 5. World English Bible Stand firm,
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  therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,
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  and don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
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  Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision,
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  Christ will profit you nothing. Yes, I testify again to every
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  man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the
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  whole law. You are alienated from Christ,
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  you who desire to be justified by the law, you have fallen away
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  from grace. For we through the Spirit, by
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  faith, wait for the hope of righteousness.
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  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything
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  nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
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  You are running well. Who interfered with you that you
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  should not obey the truth? This persuasion is not from him
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  who calls you. A little yeast grows through the
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  whole lump. I have confidence toward you in
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  the Lord, that you will think no other way, but he who troubles
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  you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.
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  But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I
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  still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the
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  cross has been removed. I wish that those who disturb
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  you would cut themselves off for you Brothers were called for
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  freedom. Only don't use your freedom for
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  gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another,
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  for the whole law is fulfilled in one word.
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  In this you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
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  But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you
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  don't consume one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit,
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  and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh, for the flesh
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  lusts against the Spirit and the spirit against the flesh.
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  And these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the
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  things that you desire, but if you are led by the Spirit, you
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  are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are
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  obvious, which are adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness,
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  lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies,
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  outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy,
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  murders, drunkenness, orgies and things like these of which I
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  forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who
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  practice such things will not inherit God's Kingdom.
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  But the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, patience,
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  kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control.
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  Against such things there is no law.
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  Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its
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  passions and lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let's
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  also walk by the Spirit. Let's not become conceited,
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  provoking one another and envying one another.
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  Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
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  everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
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  you, share it with a friend and be sure to follow the podcast so
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  you won't miss the next conversation.
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  Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope and
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  walking. Daily with Jesus.