July 14, 2013 … The Minefield of Pride

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 195

Passage of the Day #1: Deuteronomy 8: 17 [In the context of verses 15-18] [NLT] …
 15 Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! 16 He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. 17 He did it so you would never think that it was your own strength and energy that made you wealthy. 18 Always remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you power to become rich, and he does it to fulfill the covenant he made with your ancestors.

  Contextual Study involving today’s passage found in Deuteronomy, Chapter 8 … Go to this link …
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Reference Passage of the Day #1: Proverbs 16: 18 [How easy is it to walk into the minefield of pride?] …   
18 Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.

Reference Passage of the Day #1: Luke 9: 23 [How many times does He need to say it to us for us to realize that following Him is all we need to do to avoid the mine fields of life?] …  
23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me….”

Devotional Song: Go to this link   … Today, please take the time to hear the group, Hillsong, singing, “Jesus, You’re All I Need” helping us to realize that following Him is all we need in our walk through this life.

My Journal for Today: Oh, fellow disciples of Christ, … if you’re reading here what I humbly submit God’s Spirit has given me this morning, please, … please, … PLEASE take the time to use the link I’ve provided to hear the You Tube segment of the Christian group, Hillsong, singing a song which you may, as I have this day, want to hear over and over again. The message of Jesus, You’re All I Need is so poignantly and powerfully pertinent in the lives of all followers of Jesus! When you’ve heard the song (oh, please do!), it’s really what Jesus said to thousands of His disciples on that hill near Capernaum, which you can read above – and as I so often quote – from Luke 9: 23, which I hope you have memorized by now.

 Oh, dear fellow Christian, it is so easy in life to get side-tracked into what I’ve taught here many times; and that is the MINEFIELD OF PRIDE. If you have followed my blogging for any length of time, you would likely have read me repetitively sharing the word picture my discipler and mentor gave me many years ago. And it was signaled by the question, ”If you knew you were going to have to walk through a minefield, would you want to do it on your own; or would your rather follow someone who knows where all the mines are?”

“Duh!!!” ...  The answer is a no-brainer, isn’t it? But then, why, why, WHY do so many disciples of Christ … so often … fall (as Prov. 16: 18 tries to warn us to avoid) by walking intentionally and headlong into the luring minefield of pride? And can I sense some of you – if not all – saying, “Been there, done that, and have that T-shirt several times over?!”

Perhaps it is because of the truth of Jeremiah 17: 9 (which I also hope you have memorized and internalize). Well, likely so; but it most certainly in our nature to want to do life on our own, which so often leads us and lures us into that minefield of selfishness and prideful decisions. So, I return to the message of my devotional song today, listening to it again; and I take in the truth which I need to ALWAYS remember and activate in my life … that Jesus is truly all I need.

My Prayer for Today … Oh, my Lord, Jesus, … You are ALWAYS, … everyday … and in every way … all I need! … Amen