Arrogant

Psalm 17:10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

I have a good accountability partner who helps me with one particular problem I have; arrogance.

I mean to speak boldly for the gospel and I believe I have a close personal relationship with my Lord. In that my verbal expression and my writing can be abrasive to some who do not know me well enough to see it is a matter of uncontrolled enthusiasm.

While I was looking for some biblical help from God’s word, I came across this quote. I read “enclosed in their own fat” to mean that I am pleased with myself. Perhaps that is true because there is nothing more pleasing to me than to hear from my Lord on any matter, large or small.

Looking towards other translations I found an interpretation that indicated a lack of pity towards others. This too is also true of me in those moments when my enthusiasm is unbridled. A former pastor once told me there was a reason that self-control is listed last in the fruits of the spirit. I took it to mean to resist temptation, but I now extend the meaning to also include unbridle enthusiasm.

I love to see unbridled enthusiasm in the newborn Christian. There is a freedom that often reminds me of baby goats bouncing around joyfully with no aim or purpose except to express the joy of being alive. While it is great in new Christians, a man of my age and maturity would look silly acting like that.

I honestly feel that way even now decades after my new birth. That is good and right within the confines of my relationship with my Lord but I have a responsibility to my readers to be considerate of their position and condition and not to allow myself to be seen as arrogant.

This Side 2

Picking up where we left off yesterday.

What does taking our inheritance on this side mean to us?

Numbers 32:20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,

There is that conditional if word again. Trading off unconditional for conditional because what is promised is unconditional, but we want what we want. This invokes the if clause.

Verse 21 And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,

Do war on the other side to secure a place for all the others?

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So spiritual warfare is now demanded of you, you have made it a condition of your contract to have your own way.

Numbers 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.

What do you love in this world so much that you would not only give up your promised inheritance but put that thing you love at risk also if you did not keep covenant with the demands set on the condition of if?

Cathedrals, foundations, or legacy, things set with your name on them?

I don’t know. I cannot say I love anything on this side that much. I am not willing to take the risk knowing that I have only been faithful in a few things. I don’t trust myself that much.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

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