Beware Of Pride

[DanielNegreanu 141]

Beware Of PridePROVERBS 16:18 NIV18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before afall.Pride is deadly. But instead of warning us the world encouragespride in every way.What is pride?Pride is faith in yourself, instead of faith in God.The root of pride is selfishness: putting yourself first.Thinking you are the most important. Thinking you know themost. Thinking you deserve better than someone else.Pride will cause you to go your own way instead of God's way.Pride makes you think you do not need God's advice or help.Pride is the root of all sin. It causes you to turn away fromGod instead of turning to Him. All disobedience has pride asits root. All rebellion has pride behind it. All mistreatmentof other people is caused by pride: putting yourself and yourfeelings above the other person and their feelings.The world system promotes people who are proud, and often givesthem great riches. Jesus said pride is evil and defiles aperson. (Mark 7:21-23)While the world may promote the proud for a short time, theirfame and success will not last.JAMES 4:6 NKJ6 . . . "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."Pride is the most serious, and the most subtle, sin. It oftengoes unrecognized.Beware!SAY THIS: Lord, help me to beware of pride.

[Golden 2]

Beware Of PridePROVERBS 16:18 NIV18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before afall.Pride is deadly. But instead of warning us the world encouragespride in every way.What is pride?Pride is faith in yourself, instead of faith in God.The root of pride is selfishness: putting yourself first.Thinking you are the most important. Thinking you know themost. Thinking you deserve better than someone else.Pride will cause you to go your own way instead of God's way.Pride makes you think you do not need God's advice or help.Pride is the root of all sin. It causes you to turn away fromGod instead of turning to Him. All disobedience has pride asits root. All rebellion has pride behind it. All mistreatmentof other people is caused by pride: putting yourself and yourfeelings above the other person and their feelings.The world system promotes people who are proud, and often givesthem great riches. Jesus said pride is evil and defiles aperson. (Mark 7:21-23)While the world may promote the proud for a short time, theirfame and success will not last.JAMES 4:6 NKJ6 . . . "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."Pride is the most serious, and the most subtle, sin. It oftengoes unrecognized.Beware!SAY THIS: Lord, help me to beware of pride.

But Daniel, are you not proud of what you have acheived in your chosen profession?I do recognize the inherent danger of too much pride, but I still look at the base definition of pride as:A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect.

[DanielNegreanu 141]

But Daniel, are you not proud of what you have acheived in your chosen profession?I do recognize the inherent danger of too much pride, but I still look at the base definition of pride as:A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect.

Actually, I don't think that was the point of it really. The idea that you are proud of what YOU did, rather than realizing that YOU didn'thave much to do with it. YOU couldn't have done it without God making it all happen. It warns you to not look at yourself and think, "Dude, I am so awesome!"

[keith crime 8]

YOU couldn't have done it without God making it all happen.So why did god make you player of the year and not someone else?

[Kilroy 0]

James is a great book, it speaks about pride and makes the message well known that boasting and pride is evil (James 4:16)To much pride is a bad thing, but remember that in Genesis, every time God made something in chapter one, he reckognized that it is good. That is not a terrible thing, but as was said, when it comes to putting faith in yourself, thats when it becomes a sin, remember that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights" (James 1:17) and to give credit where credit is due.

[DanielNegreanu 141]

YOU couldn't have done it without God making it all happen.So why did god make you player of the year and not someone else?

Well, for one, I have no idea why God made that happen. If I did, well I'd be God! Secondly, God has a purpose for all of us. Why did Carlos Mortensen win the WSOP in 2001 and not me? I have no idea, but God has a reason for all things.

[crowTrobot 2]

I have no idea, but God has a reason for all things.

our decision making process is a product of our environment, so there is no place for free will if god is directing "all things". even if i were a christian i would think god would have to let a lot of things happen randomly, or free will would disappear.

[herokid7 0]

our decision making process is a product of our environment, so there is no place for free will if god is directing "all things". even if i were a christian i would think god would have to let a lot of things happen randomly, or free will would disapper.

That's where the question of fate vs. destiny comes in. Is everything we do, the decisions we make, the hard times face, are they all set in stone or do we do things to make them happen. I, personally, do not think it's either. God does not "make" things happen in our lives eventhough He could. But, He does know exactly what going to happen because He knows what decisions we will make even before we make them, just because He knows us all so well.

[crowTrobot 2]

That's where the question of fate vs. destiny comes in. Is everything we do, the decisions we make, the hard times face, are they all set in stone or do we do things to make them happen. I, personally, do not think it's either. God does not "make" things happen in our lives eventhough He could. But, He does know exactly what going to happen because He knows what decisions we will make even before we make them, just because He knows us all so well.

you're getting into some deep philosophical doodoo if you try to mix predeterminism (even if only god knows it) with free will.

[herokid7 0]

you're getting into some deep philosophical doodoo if you try to mix predeterminism (even if only god knows it) with free will.

Yeah, it's really something that our human minds can't wrap our heads around. I'm not saying I got it right by any stretch of the means. Just what I think.

[DanielNegreanu 141]

our decision making process is a product of our environment, so there is no place for free will if god is directing "all things". even if i were a christian i would think god would have to let a lot of things happen randomly, or free will would disappear.

You still make the decisions. Only, God already knows what you are going to decide to do...

[Mattnxtc 0]

our decision making process is a product of our environment, so there is no place for free will if god is directing "all things". even if i were a christian i would think god would have to let a lot of things happen randomly, or free will would disappear.

this is a common misconception that people have when tryin to discuss free will. The say that if theres God there isnt free will and so on. Lets look at it more closely. Free will is the right to do what you will...Its common sense. So do we have it? Of course we do. Now is God all knowing? Yes He is. So the common theory is that if he knows everything that is going to happen then we really dont have free will. Do you see though where this is wrong. Just b/c God knows something is goign to happen that doesnt mean that He is making it happen but merely knows. Thats why we have sin on the earth. God knows we will sin, He even knows when and how, but he allows it...why? b/c the only way we will learn is by doing it. As I said in another post, The only way we can truly love God is if we come to Him on our own free will

[Steve D 0]

... if life was a circle, the pridefull person is in the dead center with God and others on the outside of the circle. Although that pridefull person may be a good person and unselfish,,,, they are usually self centered versus being "God centered"... Pride is the roadblack that prevents many from receiving the Holy Spirit of God as they feel they need no help.The indivdual that realizes ALL that he has is by the Grace of God , places God in the center of this circle and he circles on the outside. This individual places the needs of others as a priority in his/her life. And realises they are just merely a player in life and not in control of life. This person allows the Holy Spirit to do His work and getting closer to God and understanding God's WIll in his/her lifeSpiritual Progress and not "perfection" is what is sought.Steve D

[brvheart 1,752]

I love this devotional thing, DN... keep it up.

[crowTrobot 2]

this is a common misconception that people have when tryin to discuss free will. The say that if theres God there isnt free will and so on. Lets look at it more closely. Free will is the right to do what you will...Its common sense. So do we have it? Of course we do.Now is God all knowing? Yes He is. So the common theory is that if he knows everything that is going to happen then we really dont have free will. Do you see though where this is wrong. Just b/c God knows something is goign to happen that doesnt mean that He is making it happen but merely knows. Thats why we have sin on the earth. God knows we will sin, He even knows when and how, but he allows it...why? b/c the only way we will learn is by doing it. As I said in another post, The only way we can truly love God is if we come to Him on our own free will

if our exact future CAN (by anyone or anything) be known it IS predetermined and we do not have free will to change it (whether god does or not). even if we feel like we do, the feeling would be necessarily illusionary. that is pretty straight forward logic shared by almost all philosophical approaches to the subject.there is a lot of talk about predeterminism in the bible anyway, which is just another in a long line of logical contradictions within it.sorry for discussing this in this thread - doing so because of DN's comments on the subject.

[brvheart 1,752]

You guys should really respect Daniel and start a new thread to give you an 'out' for your mindless ramblings and arguing.I suggest that with each new devotional that you want to rip apart, just start a thread called "Daniel's new devotional is crap.. and here's why..."That way we can actually enjoy reading this and not have to skip by every crow and matt argument.

[crowTrobot 2]

You still make the decisions. Only, God already knows what you are going to decide to do...

that's a logical contradiction. if the future is predetermined there is no free will - our decisions are already determined when we get to them. this is where quantum mechanics is kind of fun since it does allow free will - but even in principal, even by GOD, the likelyhood of outcomes of all future events can only be known by percentages (otherwise quantum mechanics is invalid - and it is the most accurately proved theory in the history of science).if god exists and we have free will he can only know percentages of future outcomes. god is playing +/-EV for your soul.

You guys should really respect Daniel and start a new thread to give you an 'out' for your mindless ramblings and arguing.

i'm just responding to DN. yes this should have its own thread, but if you think this stuff is mindless i feel sorry for your IQ.i'll start one and get on out of here

[Mattnxtc 0]

if our exact future CAN (by anyone or anything) be known it IS predetermined and we do not have free will to change it (whether god does or not). even if we feel like we do, the feeling would be necessarily illusionary. that is pretty straight forward logic shared by almost all philosophical approaches to the subject.there is a lot of talk about predeterminism in the bible anyway, which is just another in a long line of logical contradictions within it.sorry for discussing this in this thread - doing so because of DN's comments on the subject.

again not correct. free will specifically means we have the ability to choose what we do. God knows what we are going to do but He did not cause it to occur. He only watches it. God knows the future but that does not mean He in anyway dictated what would occur. Why does it matter if He knows? Your the one making hte choices that gets you to that future. He just knew it would happen

[crowTrobot 2]

again not correct. free will specifically means we have the ability to choose what we do. God knows what we are going to do but He did not cause it to occur. He only watches it. God knows the future but that does not mean He in anyway dictated what would occur. Why does it matter if He knows? Your the one making hte choices that gets you to that future. He just knew it would happen

post in new thread please and i'll respond (if you care).

[fuzznucket 0]

You still make the decisions. Only, God already knows what you are going to decide to do...

Rigged.

[bigcoled 1]

It seems this topic has moved into a discussion on the existance of fate for some people. They way I view fate is that the human reaction is very predictable, and very natural. I believe our enviornment tempers us to decide either with or against the grain or sociological "norm". Many decisions in our life are very binary(referenceing binary code), what i mean is that our decisions can be broken down into simple yes, no questions, and our answers to those questions are swayed by our present enviornment mixed with our past conditioning. Therefore would predicting someone's future or "fate" be all that impressive if it is broken down to a science? If the course of your life is placed infront of you in the form of millions, billions or trillions of yes, no (1,0) questions would you really be all that impressed? As poker players you see people read someone's hand blind all the time based on various factors which are considered. So wouldn't predicting the course or fate of someone's life be the job of a glorified card player? If you think in the context of life as being dealt a hand of poker, you would spend your life attempting to decieve your opponent, which in itself is predictable, right, so then you play your hand straightforward, but depending on your opponent is that too predictable...and this is the cycle many of us find ourselves in, trying to defeat fate...trying to create some sort of excitement, some sort of unpredicatable path or ending to our life... Like the job of a writer or producer, when in actuality all your writing is the same story that's been told a millions times with the same meaning, whether is be a story of a football team, a marching band, cheerleaders, baseball players, of a volleyball team... So no matter what we do, no matter how much we occupy our time trying to deceive fate, in actuality we are only living the same lives, and fullfilling the same stories of the people that have came before us, only with a few different twists? In that light, isn't life so simple? Doesn't life seem so tasteless? We live, we attempt to make things interesting (friends, love, family, hobbies) and we die. And now we understand why people can't deal with the fact that our lives are predictable...because it's depressing....

[Josh Woolsey 0]

You still make the decisions. Only, God already knows what you are going to decide to do...

Hmmm, but using this logic doesn't that assume that god is dooming some of us to hell the second we are born daniel. I"m very interested in your stance on that.

[brvheart 1,752]

Hmmm, but using this logic doesn't that assume that god is dooming some of us to hell the second we are born daniel. I"m very interested in your stance on that.

I would like to point you to the thread that crow started "Free Will vs An All Knowing God".BTW, Daniel answers your question in the what you quoted. God isn't dooming anyone. He just already knows that they are going to chose to not follow him.

[keith crime 8]

if he already knows what's the point

[brvheart 1,752]

if he already knows what's the point

can't..... get......suckered....... in... I want to answer, so I'll just answer you in the thread that Crow set up, so we can keep these devotional threads debate free like Daniel requested.