Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 287 OCTOBER 2016 BODY OF CHRIST NEWS A Huge Place in Hell for Pride How many of us recognize, regard- less of our self image, that pride can prevent our progress and success in life? Pride stops us and turns us away from the door of healing and inti- macy with God. In pride, we stumble and trip over our own egos. What is pride? Pride is an attitude that allows us a high opinion of our abilities or our selves. Pride is the belief that we are somehow above other people. As the Bible say, “Pride goeth before destruc- tion, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18) Pride is the opposite of humility. Humility is our awareness of who we are as we focus on God; pride is our awareness of who we are as we focus on ourselves. It's a big problem is when we spend so much time with our heads lifted up in pride, we fail to notice the little obstacles under our feet that make us stumble. Pride carries with it the fear of falling below the image we want people to believe. Pride makes us more concerned about our reputation than our character. Many people in this day and time have become caught up with taking selfies of themselves. Some celebrities take as many as 500 to 1,000 selfies a day, that's right a day. The spirit of pride has surely taken their soul. How much time do you spend on selfies? It was pride that turned lucifer away from God to worship himself. Pride is absolutely destructive. Pride robs us of blessing and intimacy with God and leaves us busted, disgusted and upset. Where does the source of pride come from? Do we get spiritual amne- sia; we forget who God is! We forget who has delivered us from bondage of sin. We forget who has supplied and blessed us beyond measure. We forget that our total purpose is to love and glorify God. It is dangerous to forget. God warned the people of Israel about what happens when they forgot Him and became lifted up in pride..think- ing we did it on our own, is what the Israelites' said. (when you get a chance read Deuteronomy 8:11-19 and 2 Kings 5.) When we forget that we live by the grace of God, we try to live in our own strength. It was God who told Israel that they would live in houses they did not build and eat from vines they did not plant. Have you ever ask God for something that you really needed or wanted, and then when you got it you forgot who gave it to you? say- ing thing like; “I did this and I did that all by myself” When we achieve something it's very important for us to remember it wasn’t us but by the grace of God. In every area where one is successful someone in that pro- fession is full of pride. We have also seen it in ministers of the Gospel begin to be lifted up in pride. When we are in pride mode, we try to go at life alone. Pride keeps us from hearing and heed- ing the Word of God. Pride won't allow us accept counsel and grace from others, there are some issues in our lives in which God will send someone to assist us. When we actually achieve something through our own natural mean, we tend to paint God out of the picture. Yes, we may be great teachers, or sing really good, but in whom did those gifts originate? God! A good example of pride is Naaman who was a mighty warrior and the captain of an army, he had leprosy, and he still had to rely upon the mercy of God. Naaman was able to hear the truth of his servants' words. “Then went he down, and dipped him- self seven times in Jordan, accord- ing to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” (2 Kings 5:14) Naaman was healed and reborn at this same time. The Bible says that he came up from the waters of the Jordan with flesh like a little child's. He was healed not only from leprosy, but also from the issue of pride. Naaman submitted himself to the true and living God and was healed by His grace alone. How often we, too, become prideful when we forget that we are saved by grace alone simply by trusting God! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Healed of leprosy and of pride Naaman returned to praise the Lord, saying, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all earth, but in Israel.” (2 Kings 5:15) This should be our declaration as well. All of us have struggle pride to some degree at some point in our life. Let us remember at ALL times that God is the source of all that we have and all that we are. For those who don't believe, there is a huge space in hell waiting for the prideful. Pastor PM Wynn & husband, Pastor Lee W. Grove, Jr., are the Founders of Heavenly Sent Ministries. They both are also Associate Pastors at the Potter House of Denver. Pastor PM can be reached by email; pmwynn9@msn.com By PM Wynn Grove When we forget that we live by the grace of God, we try to live in our own strength. SERMON