Envy the Assassin

Envy like pride and anger desires to take you down. The jealous heart is developed by comparing ourselves to others. We want their possessions, power, positions and prosperity. It hurts to come to grips with the fact that we lack. We discover we are not all that we think we should be or have what we think we should have.

Jealousy and envy can break down the support system of our life (Proverbs 14:30). When the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans, he says that we should rejoice with those who rejoice. (Romans 12:15) Rejoicing with others who have what we want is a lifeguard for us. It keeps us from being in bondage to resentment and discontentment.

Who can you congratulate today to guard your life from jealousy?

Anger the Assassin

Anger has taken men and women down throughout history. It is a fact of life because we live in a broken and sinful world. The Bible assumes that you and I will get angry. (The Apostle Paul says, "In your anger do not sin,". Ephesians 4:26)

What you do when you get angry is important. You and I will make a decision when we get angry. Will we choose to sin or to be holy? Today if we find ourselves angry, let's be careful. Sin is crouching at the door ready to pounce if we don't control our anger.

Pride the Assassin

Pride is an assassin. It seeks to build us up so that it can take us down. Everything that goes up must come down, right? The tricky thing about pride is that we can be blind to it. Pride is easy to see in others, but often very difficult to see in ourselves.

God has given us a bodyguard against pride, arrogance and vanity. Humility acts as protector of our soul. It causes us to see ourselves rightly, not just lowly. This why God tells us in James 4:10 to humble ourselves.

Be on guard today with humility.

Steven Johnson's Tweet

You probably seen the Buffalo Bills Steven Johnson tweet after dropping the game winning touchdown pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers. If not, here it is....
"I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."
If God tweeted, what would He tweet back????
It might sound like this...
"I GRACE YOU 24/7!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!! I DO EXPECT YOU TO LEARN FROM THIS!!! BECAUSE!!! IVE FORGIVEN EVEN THIS!!! EVER!!! YOU'RE WELCOME THO..."
Maybe that's God's response.

Too Much

I am often overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I need to pray for and it tempts me not to pray.

If you are like me you have a prayer list that is a mile long. Just the sheer volume of it is discouraging. Time and energy seem to evaporate. But I know that I must overcome the temptation to bypass praying by praying. This is why prayer is a discipline of the faith.

A Battle

#3 - There is always someone or something that will try to keep me from praying. I have discovered that my flesh, this world and Satanic forces are working to keep me from praying. The activity of prayer has to be one of the greatest battlefields in the mind of the believer.

Prayer is essential to God's work that's why I think it is opposed so greatly.

Regrets

One of the things I have learned about prayer is that I have never regretted the time I have spent praying, but I do regret the times I have not prayed. When I look back over my life I know that I should have prayed more.

I never have prayed and thought well that was a big waste of time. It is just good and right to pray.

May we all pray more...