TRICKS OF THE DEVIL I – Friday August 11th
2017
Memorise: Pride goeth before
destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be
like the most High.
14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of
the pit.
14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and
consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did
shake kingdoms;
Bible in one year: 2nd Kings 7-8,
Ezekiel 23:1-21, Hymn: Sing hymn 7
MESSAGE:
A
trick is a cunning act or scheme intended to deceive or outwit a person. One of
the greatest tricks by which the devil deceives men today is to cause their
hearts to be lifted up in pride. Through pride, the hearts of mankind have
rebelled against the knowledge and authority of God. Pride comes with
arrogance, pomp, presumption, conceit, self-satisfaction, boasting,
high-mindedness and haughtiness. It is especially dangerous because of its
silence and the stealth by which it operates. When pride is well seated in the
heart and has taken full charge of a person, it becomes extremely difficult to
pin down. However, we thank God because the light of God’s word is bright
enough to expose it in all its forms. To understand pride, we need to consider
the first entity in whom pride was found: Satan. Isaiah 14:13-14 reveals the
thoughts of his heart that made God depose him from his exalted position in
Heaven:
“For thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
A
careful consideration of the above scripture shows that pride is basically a
sin that has its roots in the attitude the heart. Hence, Proverbs 21:4 speaks of “a
haughty look” and “a proud heart” as sin. Open Heavens 11 August 2017: Friday
daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye- Tricks of the devil I. The
first thing to watch out for in a man or woman with pride in their heart is the
emphasis on their person in their speech. The speech of such people is normally
laden with the personal pronoun ‘I’. In a single short statement, Satan made
reference to himself five times: “I will ascend, I will exalt my throne, I will
sit, I will ascend above, and I will be like the most High.” Secondly, the
proud displays an unwarranted attitude of confidence and inordinate ambition,
such as displayed by Satan. He was not satisfied with where God placed him, and
he actually wanted to supplant God Himself. He was so confident of himself that
he thought he could ascend into Heaven and exercise dominion over all the
angels of God, all by himself.
However,
pride cannot remain internalised and hidden. It often finds expressions:
through speech (such as boasting), through looks and through behaviour, such as
acts of impatience and contemptible treatment of others. The Bible highlights
the inevitable downfall of a proud person, and we should learn from what
happened to Satan (Proverbs 16:18, Ezekiel 28:16-19). The proud
will not escape God’s terrible judgement; therefore, be warned!
Prayer Point
Father, please expose every
hidden tendency of pride and related attitudes in my life and completely
destroy them, in Jesus’ Name.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide
was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Church in the world and
also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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