Hold My Beer - Our Pride & The Humility of Our Savior
In Mark 9:14-29, the creator of heaven and earth, who had cast Satan from heaven to earth, happened to walk up upon a crowd that gathered around a pitiful scene. A boy was convulsing terribly on the ground, and no one could help him.
Some of His disciples had been trying and could not drive a demon out of the young boy. For Jesus to cast that demon out was very similar to someone today who was proficient at something saying to someone who was not, “Here, hold my beer, I got this.”
But Jesus would never have said anything at all like that. He was humility personified, never proud or arrogant. So, He calmly and quietly cast the demon out, never to enter the boy again.
Get To Know Jesus
I want you to know MY Jesus. He is with us today. I mean that.
And He is not some figment of my imagination wearing flowing robes, swinging a brass ball of burning incense, chanting in words I do not understand.
He’s right here with me dressed very much like you are, ready, willing, and able to step between ANY, any temptation, confusion, conflict, or sin that I might be confronted with and DEAL with it.
We don’t get this. We have a hard time wrapping our heads around what I just said.
Yes, the Lord God Almighty has made a way to deal with life today in whatever way it may come against us. His name is Jesus, and He is very much real and alive, and most of us don’t know how to connect with Him.
So, we continue trying in our own strength, or some of us quit trying, and Satan (yep, the same guy in the first paragraph that had to leave heaven) continues to steal, kill and destroy us, and our relationships with those we once wanted to love.
Learn more in The Difference of a Christ-Centered Relationship
My Jesus is turning water into wine at the wedding banquet. He’s on the beach cooking fish over a wood fire and calling us to come and have some.
Read the Book. HE LOVES ME–and I love Him. And He wants you TODAY.
Jesus Wants Us
He wants you to be with Him in heaven for eternity, and He wants you to be living your life today “in” Him.
You go to Raleigh “in” the car. If you walked from Longview, it would be 90 miles.
That’s a long walk when there’s an easier way.
Likewise, do today ‘In” Christ. You have tried to do “today” all your life without Him. How’s that working for you?
Now, do today with/in Him. It’s all written in the Bible; there is a plan for life that works, and the world we live in tells you, “no, no, no, don’t do it that way.” Again, how is that working out for YOU?
Satan was cast out of heaven, and he came to earth. He has been running the show here ever since.
The Bible tells us that Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy. The apostle Paul urged the church at Corinth not to be ignorant of Satan’s schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11) because when we are aware of the Enemy’s tactics, we will be better equipped to stand against his devices.
He uses sin to infect your life and make it a living hell when you are fooled to an extreme point. Just normal being fooled, and you fight with your spouse over differences that God created in the first place. Satan is that good.
Yes, God designed you and your wife differently, and you fight about it because you want your spouse to do it your way–you make up your own rules.
Well, God has a set of rules too, and life becomes much different when we follow them. There is peace, love, joy, understanding, etc. You realize your spouse is not your enemy. Your spouse is who God provided in your life to come alongside you and fight your real enemy, Satan.
Our Pride
Pride is like the root of the tree. Pride is the source from which every other sin grows. Pride always lurks beneath the surface.
You can cut a tree down, but if you don’t deal with the root, it will keep growing and bearing fruit. We can chop away at all the sin in our life (greed, envy, vengeance, gluttony, sloth, lust, deceit, fear) … but if we don’t sever the root, we’ll keep bearing evil fruit.
C.S. Lewis says, “As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on a thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”
Dealing with Pride & Sin
Jesus can deal with sin. We can not.
Sometimes we don’t even know it’s a sin. We just know we are not very happy, and the other person “does not understand” or “just can not get it.”
You may be saying, “I must have married the wrong one.” Chances are you did not.
But if you haven’t figured out Jesus by now, no matter who you are married to, they will become “the wrong one.” Satan is out to kill, steal, and destroy. That’s what he’s all about. And he wants you next.
Spiritual warfare is real. Many don’t want to hear about or acknowledge that Satan really exists. A lifetime on earth is incredibly short compared to eternity (i.e., forever). Yet eternity will be a reality for each of us. How we live our life today will make an eternal difference, especially for those around you that are watching.
What example are we setting? Is your life encouragement to them to know Christ?