The other day, in the middle of a somewhat heated debate via email, I realized another aspect where my pride hiders my ability to follow Christ and for that matter to be a good friend. I was so tied up in the idea of being right and clever that I refused to even consider the points my friend was making. I even continued to argue points that I didn’t really believe just to be right; it was a pure pride issue. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until I stopped to think after I had sent my latest email.
I had to send a follow up apologizing to my friend and then took some serious time to not only contemplate his points but to consider where this type of action could take me. I took some time today to examine what the Bible says about the proud and it isn’t a very pretty picture.
The LORD detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
Prov 16:5
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor.
Prov 18:12
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,
him will I put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,
him will I not endure.
Psalm 101:5
Not only is God against my pride but it prevents me from getting closer to him. How many times have I sinned and refused to approach him in the very hour of need. But how do you fix something like this? Only God can change the heart of a man. I just wish he would work faster.
One thing that stood out to me some time ago in reading Genesis regarding the tradition of building an altar at a place where God speaks to you, much like Jacob did at Bethel. It seems to me that almost every time God did something signifigant in the life of our forefathers they built an altar as a marker in their lives. This blog has become my series of altars, when God speaks to me I make note of it here and I can come back to it to remind myself of what God has spoken to me. Whether you do it on a blog, or in a journal, I believe everyone should keep track of those things God speaks to you.
There are so many lessons from the book of Genesis and the one I have learned is you should NOT to business with family. Jacob goes to family to find a wife and the trickster becomes the tricked. He worked his butt off for seven years to marry Rachel only to wake up in the morning to Leah, the ugly one. He marries Rachel the same week but is committed to working another seven years.
Genesis 34 is one of my favorite stories the entire Bible. I used to use it all the time to show young men that there are interesting stories in the Bible. They slaughter the entire tribe of the man who raped their sister, which I can fully understand. Although Jacob condemns their actions immediately as well as on his death bed. The tribe of Levi becomes the priesthood of all Israel.
The story of Joseph shows us a great deal about a God who deals with dreams. The scripture makes it clear that God even gave Pharaoh the dream that Joseph interpreted, which would mean that God is even giving dreams to unbelievers. Some time ago I began to keep track of my dreams, everyone that I could remember. I am sure that not every one of them has significance but I believe at least one was God speaking to me and I want to always want to be able to look and see if God was using a dream to speak to me.
• A lot of people are irritated by Bluetooth headsets and how crazy they have made life but as someone who talks to himself on a regular basis, I am glad they make me look less crazy.
• Can we please decide on a secure password standard so I can have one that works on all of the websites I use? Some have to have 8 characters, some have to have 6 some have to have a special character (the ones above the numbers on the keyboard) and some don’t allow them. I have to keep track of my passwords on a sheet of paper, now that is security.
• At my work we have two soda fountains, one Coke and one Pepsi. I got a coke cup and got Barq’s but it was running out of syrup so I was going to get something else, I didn’t want to dirty another cup but I didn’t like any of the Coke products. So there I was with Pepsi in a coke cup. Why to these little things bother me?
• How have I never noticed that Rachel and Leah prostitute Jacob before? “
In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. Gen 30:14-18
• Reading is really like running, if you get out of shape it is really hard to get back into it. Or perhaps I just haven’t found a book I can sink my teeth into.
There are so many things to think about in this section of the Bible, that I hesitate to write about anyone of them for fear of doing a disservice to the remaining items.
This section of Bible includes a story often referenced when discussing the tithe, the story of Abraham and Melchizedek. I have already written my thoughts on this elsewhere so if you are interested feel free to read them. Read the rest of this entry