December 14, 2024 – Where Does Self-Centeredness Lead?
Isaiah 14:12-15
Sermon: 2284 Counterfeit Christianity, Part 2
Pray Over This
“‘How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.’”
Isaiah 14:12-15
Ponder This
What is self-centeredness? At its core it is pride. Do you know what made the devil the devil? Self-centeredness. What do you see in this passage about the enemy? Over and over again he says, “I will.” What did Jesus teach us to pray? “…not my will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). What did Satan say? “Not Your will, but mine, be done.” How do you think Satan got Eve to take of the forbidden fruit? He appealed to her pride. He said, “You can be like God.” What causes unbelief in the Word of God? Pride. What made the devil the devil? Pride.
If you want what is real, you go to the Word of God; you lay your intellectual pride in the dust; and you call out to Jesus for mercy. Pride may be satisfying for a little while, but the fruit of self-centeredness is bitterness and bondage.
Did you know why so many of us have trouble? Because we are bitter and in bondage. So many of us have met religion but have never met Jesus. We may have surrendered one area of our lives to Him, but we have not given Him our all. We are not lying broken at the foot of the cross daily. We are not constantly leaving our pride in the dust. The Spirit of God is not in these people, and they are troublemakers everywhere they go because their religion has never satisfied them, and it never can.
- What areas of your life have you not surrendered to God?
- What would it look like to surrender those areas to God?
Practice This
Think about where you wrestle with pride the most, pray about it, and write down some ways you can acknowledge God in those areas.
For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers, please visit www.lwf.org.
You can also listen to Adrian Rogers at OnePlace.com.
