“Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth” (Psalm 25:12-13 NKJV)).
Pray To Become Rich In God’s Way
Dear God please give me grace to pursue riches that come from you!
Let my efforts be effective towards righteousness.
Do not let me envy the wicked people, or follow their footsteps.
Let my efforts glorify your name in this life to receive abiding success and also qualify for your eternal blessings in heaven.
Humility is an excellent virtue that God’s children must possess.
Jehovah requires all his children to live humbly and uprightly before him at all times.
A good child of God would not seek an excuse to entertain pride.
Christians should learn from King Uzziah in the bible who practiced both sides of the coin and reaped the consequences.
Uzziah lived in humility at the beginning of his tenure but switched to entertain pride at the end.
Explore the Life of King Uzziah from 2 Chronicles 26
King Uzziah succeeded many wayward kings in the land of Judah.
His predecessors disobeyed God but he chose to act differently.
King Uzziah satisfied God.
Against the common practices of his time, Uzziah prioritizes serving God and ruled his people with Godly fear.
God compensated King Uzziah for his faithfulness by helping him to become prosperous.
Uzziah was more famous than his neighboring kings.
Other kings looked up to his success.
The Coin Flip of King Uzziah – Pride Took Over His Humility
It is unfortunate that King Uzziah who started well with God did not end well.
Uzziah allowed fame and success to blindfold him and sinned against his God.
The king let down his guard of righteousness; he allowed pride to set in, and was derailed!
The end game wasn’t palatable for King Uzziah. His exploits ended terribly!
The scripture reported,
“When he (Uzziah) was strong his heart was lifted up, to hisdestruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense” (2 Chronicles 26:16).
Despite all warnings that King Uzziah received to repent from his sins, he persisted to pursue God’s forbidden task.
He crossed his boundary to usurp the position of God’s priests – Which was beyond his customary roles.
Uzziah’s action upset God as the bible reported,
“Then Uzziah became furious; and he hada censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.
And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he wasleprous; so they thrust him out of that place.
Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him. King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death.
He dwelt in an isolated house because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord.
Then Jotham his son wasover the king’s house, judging the people of the land” (2 Chronicles 26:19-21).
A believer must have a servant-heart always!
Learn Some Important Lessons on Humility
Christians are required to fear God, and serve him with humility.
We must understand that our acquired success comes from the Lord.
No matter the amount of success we might have achieved, we must not forget our little beginning.
Believers must remember how God has helped us in the past.
Jehovah provided for our needs when we lack.
He performed miracles to turn our impossibilities to possibilities!
Not A Christian-By-Chance, But A Christian-By-Grace
Christians must remember how God adopted us to become his children.
We were once staunch sinners, and have no hope of eternity, yet God forgave our sins and saved us through the grace of his Son Jesus Christ.
No Christian should take his salvation grace for granted.
It is the most precious gift of all times.
Christians are saved by grace as the bible stated,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Bible also stated,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV).
It is important to emphasize that God will bless people that are consistently loyal to him, and live in humility.
No Christian is allowed to live in pride.
A good Christian must always say:“I am what I am by the grace of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)
Everyone (including Christians) is prone to the temptation of pride.
Children of God must take extra caution not to fall into the pitfall.
Every child of God must cautiously make efforts not to fall for Satan’s trick of self-pride!
No doubt that Satan – the enemy of righteousness – would first attempt pride as an attack tool to make a successful Christian stumble into sin.
The enemy would tempt a Christian to be self-focus and/or be self-gratifying without the consciousness of glorifying God. (A practice considered detestable to God).
Instead of anyone becoming obsessive about his (or her) achievement, he should make efforts to divert due glory to God.
It is un-disputable fact to state that no one can successfully make anything happen without the help of God.
“…A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27 KJV)
Christians to learn from Apostle Paul (in the bible); with the use of his personal experience, he analyzed how Satan can manipulate anyone into pride – through his personal achievements.
Paul stated,
“…And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
Summary Lesson on Humility vs Pride
God created humanity to depend on him. He wants us to look up to him for our needed help.
God does not want us to be self-gratifying or be self-sufficient.
Satan will attempt to make anyone be obsessed with his achievements without the consciousness of glorifying God.
God wants us to gratify our success to him – Even if our personal efforts are involved.
To Be Reminded Of Christians’ Need To Take Caution
The flesh wants self-gratification. We must not allow it.
Satan wants us to choose the pathway of pride to trip and fall. We must not allow him.
God dislikes any gratification that voids the praise of his name. We must give God his due honor.
Christians must yield to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and refuse to satisfy the desires of self.
Don’t get confused about Pride
It is important to note there is nothing bad in taking pride in achievement if due honor is given to God.
Pride of achievement is only considered erratic when a person pretends he has earned his success without God’s help.
Never Forget!
God wants to take pride out of us to bless us more.
God wants to demonstrate to everyone around that he is the brain behind our success.
Humility is the key. Jesus Christ washed the feet of his disciples to demonstrate humility, and he challenged them to do likewise. Jesus Christ said,
“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:13-15 NIV).
We should not only faithfully serve God, but we should also provide for the needs of other people. Christians should help their fellow believers and seek for their welfare.
It is important that God’s saints work in unity, and they should understand that “whatever happens to one believer has happened to all believers!”
In other words, no Christian should be obsessed with his or her position (or personal integrity) and consider others to be inferiors.
While we cannot all be leaders, we are all called to serve one another – and we must do so with all humility and sincerity. Every Christian must honor the true symbol of Christianity – which is love!
Prayer to serve with Humility
Dear Jesus Christ, I receive your grace by faith to love other people genuinely.
I want to make positive contributions to other people’s lives.
Please help me to achieve this!
Empower me to support my fellow Christians whatever I can offer within my capacity.
Let me have a genuine interest in the success of others, and let me contribute my quotas of positive efforts into their lives.
Please, help me to represent you well here on earth so that you can be pleased and bless me.
Please let your love dwell richly in my heart from now on and always.
Demetrius who made materials for shrines of goddess Diana at Ephesus insinuated uproar against God’s evangelists; the Ephesians supported Demetrius to defend their idols.
They chanted songs of praise to their idol goddess Diana in protest or fight against God’s evangelists and their gospel message.
The scripture reported,
“When they found out that he (Alexander – one of the evangelist) was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:34).
Lesson on Services to a Real God
How amazing is it to realize that human beings can go to any length to defend their religions? People fight and kill others in the name of religion.
Meanwhile, common sense tells us that we do not need to fight for any deity.
A deity should be strong enough to defend himself or itself. Whether god of Iron, Wood, Water, Buddha, Hindi, Islam, Sikh, or Christianity. Let any god who feels that he is strong enough defend himself.
As for Christians, we believe that the living God of heaven is the real God. Our mission is not to force other people to believe our religion.
Our mission is to say the truth and preach the gospel to the world. We are to make people aware of the salvation offer that God gives through his Son Jesus Christ.
The rest of the job is left for God to complete. God will convince people and save their souls by his mercy and grace.
Prayer on God Authenticity
I believe that the living God who lives in heaven and reigns in the affairs of men is the real God.
I also believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I understand that my faith in Jesus Christ will rescue me from the wrath of God that is coming upon the earth.
I strongly believe that there is no other God except the living God and no one can get to the presence of God without first believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This is my declaration, and this is my testimony. Amen.
“When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. 
Believers in Jesus Christ are required to be humble and serve other people.
Dear Jesus Christ, I receive your grace by faith to love other people genuinely.
How amazing is it to realize that human beings can go to any length to defend their religions? People fight and kill others in the name of religion.
As for Christians, we believe that the living God of heaven is the real God. Our mission is not to force other people to believe our religion.
I believe that the living God who lives in heaven and reigns in the affairs of men is the real God.
