Page 15 - Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2011

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Let us begin to examine the first Beatitude of the godly
call to be “poor in spirit” by making a comparison of
definition to its worldly counterpart, “proud in spirit.”

POOR IN SPIRIT: PROUD IN SPIRIT:

“A NEEDY, DEPENDENT, “A SELF-SUFFICIENT, SELF RELIANT,
SUBSERVIENT, ATTITUDE” INDEPENDENT, ATTITUDE” Webster

Webster

THE In the world, if you need something
done, look for people who are

WORD “self-sufficient, self-reliant and
independent..”

However, the Word reveals

God is looking for people who are

“needy, dependent,

and subservient” to

something higher

than themselves.

“I CAN DO ALL THINGS Why? “TRUST ME,
THROUGH CHRIST I KNOW IT ALL,
Because of the danger of pride. AND I CAN DO IT ALL!”
WHO STRENGTHENS ME” Phil. 4:13

Both of the above philosophies can produce successful people. However, one will be humble about it
while the other one is quite proud, taking full credit for his own achievements. Pride is the original sin
introduced by Lucifer:

“YOU WERE THE SEAL OF PERFECTION, FULL OF WISDOM AND PERFECT IN BEAUTY…
YOUR HEART WAS LIFTED UP (“PROUD”) BECAUSE OF YOUR BEAUTY; YOU CORRUPTED YOUR
WISDOM FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SPLENDOR…THEREFORE I BROUGHT FIRE FROM YOUR MIDST;

IT DEVOURED YOU…YOU HAVE BECOME A HORROR…” Ezk. 28:12-19 excerpts

The moral to this story is that the archangel Lucifer, a beautiful created being, fell from the high and
exalted position of being at God’s right hand in authority, to becoming a horror and the arch-enemy of
God. What was his downfall? It was that he became “proud in spirit.” As a result, the whole world over
which he has spread his influence also bears the same mark of being “proud in spirit.” The antidote to
this ruinous, poisonous sin of being “proud in spirit” is to rather choose to be “poor in spirit.”

Christian, do not think you can go down this same pathway of being “proud in spirit” and end up with
different results. There is a principle of warning that comes into play when God’s people embrace the
worldly temptation to be “proud in spirit”:

“GOD RESISTS THE PROUD,
BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

Jas. 4:6

Read the context in which this warning from God appears. It is not a warning written to unbelievers, but
to Christians who choose to be “friends with the world” (Jas. 4:4). This kind of world-loving believer
“makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas. 4:4). It is a serious enough matter when Satan resists the
believer, but it becomes an impossible situation if God becomes the source of that resistance!