Topic: The False Armor Of Pride
Text: James 4:5-7
Key verse: But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Every Christian is a soldier because we have an enemy who has declared war against us. We are not called to fight for our victory but rather to fight from a place of victory. Prayer is effective in warfare but you must be armed to win. Yesterday we considered two items in the armor of the believer as described in Ephesians 6:14-17. Today, l want to unpack for you the invisible weapon in our key verse, something invisible but so powerful that your success in this warfare completely depends on it.
But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.To understand it let\’s review Ephesians 6:10-13 in the Good News Translation. Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power.
In this warfare, you are no match for the enemy if you fight alone! I do not mean to exalt Lucifer but l desire to give you a heads up! If he could deceive one-third of the angels in heaven, you better believe me when l tell you to play according to the book, the Bible.
Your strength for this battle, all of it comes from your union with God. God is the source of your strength, not your knowledge of scriptures, your fasting, or your aggressive disposition. You have to “build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power.” God’s power is mighty, and it is available to be unleashed on your behalf if you know how to harness it. Put on all the armor that God gives you so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil’s evil tricks . The devil comes to you, not with weapons but TRICKS Did you see that? So God equips you to stand up against those tricks by the armor he gives you.! For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.
In this battle, our adversaries are not human beings!!!! Your reasoning, wisdom, knowledge cannot take you far, the dimension of this warfare is spiritual! So put on God\’s armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy\’s attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.
How do you put on God\’s armor, and not yours? The first thing to do is to remove your armor, the armor of Pride! God is willing to graciously give you his armor but he will turn around and oppose you if you carry on with your armor “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Pride manifests in a believer in so many ways, it influences the way you analyze information. Pride puts you on the throne in your heart while God is an onlooker. If you must have God’s mighty power and armor at work on your behalf, you must strip yourself of your pride. The evidence of a soldier without pride is humility, that is the invisible cloak you are allowed to wear and the armor will sit well on your body. David came up against Goliath wearing the cloak of humility, Abigail came against David and his armed men wearing that cloak and she got the victory without striking any blow.
Ask the Lord to show you were pride lives in your heart, expose it, renounce it, ask for forgiveness for the time you have relied on it to fight the battle in your marriage, ministry, or other relationships.When you give no foothold to the enemy by harboring the enemy within, you make yourself Lord over him already, because he will not see you anymore but will see Jesus. Humility makes Jesus big both inside you and outside.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3:12 Humility is a dress you put on; just as Pride is a dress you wear. He should not be a new disciple who would be vulnerable to living in the clouds of conceit and fall into pride, making him easy prey for Satan. 1 Timothy 3:6 A believer who accommodates Pride becomes an easy prey to Satan, if we must win this battle against the Devil, we must be dressed right, and give no room to failure and self-inflicted wounds.
Prepare for victory in the days ahead in all the areas you have struggled, take back territory you gave to the devil because of fear and weariness. The victory is yours already, the battle was fought by Jesus long ago and he declared “it is finished”! Your Victory over setbacks, delays, frustration, barrenness ( physical and spiritual), failure, etc is secured already. Get ready to enforce it. God will fight for you and not against you when pride has no place in your life.
Blessings
Roses&Thorns