Be Humble or Be Humbled.

Scripture:

Luke 10:17-20 (KJV)
17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Inspiration:
God created us in His image and so it makes sense that we have semblances of His likeness in us. He also encoded a certain  uniqueness within our DNA and within our souls and so we all have an intentional calling on and purpose for our lives. We have gifts, talents, and positions that were designed specifically for us. Upon realizing how amazing we are in God, we must be wary not to get tripped up by pride regarding natural and spiritual gifts and talents. If we are not humble, we run the risk of being humbled.

One of God's chief angels became overly impressed with the gifts and talents that God gave him and started to feel himself. Lucifer started to believe the hype. He started to believe that the gifts, talents and good looks gifted to him were because of his own accord. Blinded by focusing on the gift as opposed to the Giver, this braggadocious angel told God that he would become above God. Big mistake.

The Lord humbled this prideful angel, banishing him from heaven, casting him down to hell and Lucifer became Satan (Isaiah 14:12-15). God, our Creator, has given us all the ability to create and unfortunately, Satan was irresponsible with this gift and he created pride. God subsequently hates pride just like He hates idolatry. Placing gifts, talents, people, stuff, or yourself above God is not pleasing to Him. Since we love Him, we want to please Him, right?

TASK OF THE DAY 6:
Today's task is to choose to be humble or risk being humbled. You're talented, gifted, and intelligent. God made you so we know this much. Rebuke pride today by recognizing and combating hints of its presence in your life. Use this How to Spot Pride Guide to get you started with this excavation.

 How to Spot Pride Guide (Sneak peak):

• Avoid interrupting others when they are speaking: This action is a sign that you are not actually listening to the speaker, you are merely waiting for that person to stop talking so that you can talk and demonstrate your intellectual and or experiential prowess.

• Avoid marveling at the "incompetence" of others: I struggle with this most often when I am driving. Whenever I find myself believing that my Philadelphia roots actually makes me a better driver than the Bostonians that I share the road with, I know that I need to do a pride-check. Marveling at the "incompetence" of others usually happens in the first 10 seconds of a judgment laced encounter. Thinking that you could have/would have done XYZ better than someone else is another hint that pride creepeth in.

• Avoid being easily offended: We are usually offended when we feel like someone treated us in a way that we did not deserve. We are offended when we feel disrespected. We feel disrespected because we feel that we are worthy of something more that what we received. "I KNOW she didn't just say that to ME!" Even though we are amazing creations of God, due to sin, we are also quite despicable. The fact of the matter is that we are unworthy. Shall we consider the fact that Jesus did not receive the treatment that He was worthy of  when He was on earth? How is it then that we feel as though we deserve better than what Jesus received? Pride check,1-2-1-2. #T.O.D.for God

Additional Scripture Reference:
God blessed Joseph with a gift and he enthusiastically shared this with his brothers in an irresponsible manner. He repeatedly and braggadociously disclosed things that God shared with him privately. As a result, his brothers created a plot to kill him, sold him into slavery, and he spent many years of his life in prison. Read all about it in Genesis 37-50. Here is an excerpt:

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:5 (KJV)

19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
Gen 37:19-20 (KJV)