Pride Hinders the Grace of God - By Dr. Larry Ollison Jesus Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. He redeemed us and made us righteous. From that point on we grow in grace. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began (2 Tim. 1:8-9). We need to not be ashamed of our testimony. We need to not be ashamed of who we are. I am convinced that most of the time, if people see us stand up for Jesus, theyll be excited. People are looking, just like God is looking, for one person who will stand up in faith and say, Yes, Im a Christian. Yes, I believe in God. The Spirit of Grace, the Holy Spirit, is able and willing to empower us with boldness if we will step forward in faith.This acquired boldness is part of growing in grace. When we go before the throne of grace, we cannot go in a prideful, stiff-necked way. Why? Because God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:5-6). God resists the person who knows God has a way He wants things done, but they refuse Gods way and prefer their own way of doing things, and then ask God to bless it. Have you ever done that? You get a plan all worked out that you believe will meet your need. Then you go before the Father and ask Him, in the name of Jesus, to bless your plan. Its prideful when we come before God in this way. In essence we are saying we dont trust Him to give us a plan, so we help Him out by presenting our plan. Do you know what that is? T.L. Osborne calls it the errand boy philosophy. The errand boy philosophy is thinking we can order God around in the name of Jesus, expecting Him to be our errand boy. Its telling God, Okay, go over there and do that in the name of Jesus. Do it now. Thats seriously disrespectful; but thats exactly what a lot of Christians try to do. Some people confuse the teaching of faith with the errand boy philosophy. These people say that faith teachers preach a name it and claim it gospel and this is ordering God around in Jesus name. Nothing could be further from the truth. Naming Gods Word and naming Gods plan and claiming it for our own life is what God wants us to do. God stands willing and able to move on His own Word, by grace, when the Christian stands on it. The error comes in when a person names and claims their own fleshly desires and asks God to move on their desires in the name of Jesus. There is a big difference. Expecting God to move on our own desires just because we use the name of Jesus is wrong thinking and false doctrine. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (1 Pet. 5:5-6). Pride hinders the grace of God. Humility welcomes His grace.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:26:52 +0000
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