I have heard it said that there is really only one sin, and that is the sin of Pride. All others sins result from this one. Pride is the desire to satisfy our self-centered focus above all other things.

There is a difference between the pride of feeling good for accomplishing something, or the pride in the success of our friends and loved ones and Pride of superiority. The problem occurs when, like many good things, the pride it is distorted and becomes above everything including God.

Pride was the cause of Satan’s fall. He was originally one of the angels, Lucifer, star of the morning. Isaiah 12:13 says about him, “You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God” Ezekiel 28:17 writes about Satan, “Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor.”

We rationalize our sins when we put our love of ourselves, our pride, above God. “I want this or that,” gives us the reason, for greed, envy, lust, hate, etc.. Psalm 10:4 writes, “In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.”

I believe the antidote to this sinful pride is gratitude, or thankfulness. It is very difficult to be self-absorbed and be truly thankful at the same time; Particularly, we need to be thankful to God for all he has given us.

Dear Lord, everything good that we have comes from you. Help us remember to give our thanks to you for our success, intelligence, health, strength, family, friends and all good things, and protect us from the devils lure toward sinful pride. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Yesterday the forces of evil came out of the darkness to kill and injure college students in Michigan. This battle with evil has been going on since Adam and Eve, and will continue until the Lord returns. We may think that these evil acts are the result of the few bad people who inflict them, but Paul tells us otherwise.

He says in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

The Evil One, as the Bible describes the Devil, is manipulating people to turn them from God, harm others, and destroy themselves. He is a master of tricks and lies to convince people to do evil.

We must constantly be on our guard and put our faith in God to give us strength and to protect us. We must also remember not to allow the evil done against us to be used to manipulate us to do evil as well.

Dear Lord, though we may see and experience acts of evil in our world and not understand why, we can know that with faith in you we do not need to fear. Give peace to those affected by these events and hope in the knowledge of your Salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I have heard it said, “You become who you run with, and they become you.” Obviously you don’t actually become that other person, but when we spend lots of time with someone, their lingo, attitudes, and perspective influence ours. It is very important, therefore, to manage who we spend our time with, because, positive or negative, they are influencing and changing us.

The Bible talks about this in Exodus 23:33, where God tells the Israelites, “Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.” Proverbs 24:1, says “Don’t envy godless men; don’t even enjoy their company.”

The interesting thing is that in modern times with television, podcasts, youtube, and other connections, our circle of people influencing us does not just consist of the people we physically spend time with. We can be just as influenced by people we follow on social media, television, and the like; so we need to be careful who we are “running with” even in our “virtual circle”

Dear Lord, help us have the courage to remove those who are negative influences from our circle, and when that is not possible, help us be the positive influence that raises the group to a higher level of faithfulness to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen

The Bible writes about angels in many places, and describes how they are here with us on earth, bring us messages, and intervene to protect us.

Jesus tells us in Luke 12:8 “I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. ”

And in Psalm 91:11, “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.”

We may never have an encounter with an angel, or not realize we did, but we know God sends them here to support and protect us. We may never know the things angels have done to influence events to protect us but we know that they can and do.

Dear Lord, the angels are another mystery you have left for us to consider, we thank you for the promise of sending them to protect us when we acknowledge you. What an assurance it is to know they are here. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Mark 9:14-29 is the account of Jesus casting a demon out of a boy who is possessed. Verses 22-24 begin with the boy’s father asking Jesus, “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

This happens to us as well. “I believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.” We find ourselves in a difficult financial situation, legal problem, or a situation where there is just not enough time for things to work out, so we pray for God to help, but deep down we have doubts. In those times we need to remember that we don’t have to figure out how God will resolve it, we just need to believe he will.

I like the expression, “God can find a way even when we don’t see a way.”

Let’s all remember to put our belief in God’s power, and when we don’t see how things can turn out well, remember the words “help my unbelief.”

Dear Lord, We know you have all power. Help us truly believe this when it comes to our own situations, that you can find a way when we cannot see a way. in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.