Powerful Scriptural Triads - Part 3

This triad idea is so huge. I find that making lists can be helpful in studies like this one but there is a point where you realize and say, 'Wow, This is going to be a very long complicated list.'

Here is one gem I found this morning that I hope is a blessing.

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." - 1 John 2:16 KJV

"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." - 1 John 5:6-8 KJV

Three things that are not of the Father but then there are three that are witnesses here on Earth and in Heaven.

Lust and pride involve self-orientation apart from God. They are three very deep things that came with the fall of mankind. God didn't design creation and include those things. They are a dynamic added after Adam exited the garden of Eden.

The three witnesses on Earth came after the fall also but center in on Christ Himself. They are Christocentric witnesses involving His incarnation. God becoming a man produced three visible witnesses that can speak to us.

Who will we listen to? Will it be lust or will it be redemption? They both call to us and pull us in different directions.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - Romans 12:2 KJV

The good, acceptable and perfect will of God is that we take heed to the three witnesses we have been given.

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Awake To Grace Or Blind In Pride

One thing about grace is that it humbles a person. You have to get used to the fact that God gives you what you don't deserve all the time. Air becomes a gift. Life becomes a gift. Abilities are a gift. Weaknesses are also. God's power keeps us.

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." - Colossians 1:16-17 ESV

God's power keeps creation from dissolving away. God's power keeps our friendships and our marriages. His power allows our will to function and our brain to process thoughts.

Pride is such a dangerous sin because it loses sight of grace. Pride is possessive and exalts itself. Pride sees favor as deserved and gifts as ornaments to it's identity. Pride exercises power because of ability. Pride compares possessions. Pride is deceptive. All of us are susceptible to it. Any fallen person can be filled with pride.  

God did not create pride. Pride is the individual mismanagement of God's generosity. Angels invented it and fell from Heaven because of it. Mankind came under the influence of those angels and also fell.

Jesus is devoid of pride. He is the perfect manager of God's gifts. He got what He didn't deserve and gives others what they don't deserve in love. Anyone who comes under His covering can have a different mind. The mind of humility sees grace. This mind sees favor apart from merit. This mind sees stewardship of possessions. This mind gives second, third and forth chances because it is rich in mercy.

Mercy destroys pride complexes so that grace can be recognized. Mercy wipes away the past. It wipes away the affects of the bad things that hurt us. That is what it is most known for. But, It also wipes away the seemingly good things that we valued as important but were based on a wrong premise. Mercy reduces us to zero and gives us a clean slate so that God can love us and really it is His love that gives us value.

Today is a new day and I need mercy this morning. I need it to take out the trash and I also need it to clear my shelf of all it's shiny trophies so that I can live in grace. Whatever I have is a gift. I go to work but the opportunity to make money is a gift and I aim to be a better steward today than I was yesterday.

People, all of them, are gifts.

Another day of life is a gift.

Thank you God. We are not going to try and pay You back. We are just going to take what You have given. Be glorified today and keep us from the blindness of pride.

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Pride's Struggle Against God

Some people reject salvation because they refuse to side with a God who will not endorse their chosen Identity. How shortsighted and sad.

"I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!" - Psalms 66:17-20 ESV

Pride cherishes it's independent ways. Our flesh will always love to sin. It isn't going to change. But, That is not the issue. Thank God, It is not the issue.

Iniquity is emotional rebellion. None of us have a perfect emotional life. The questions is, 'Do we nurture our negative emotions or do we discover a new identity that can feel righteously because it is born from above?'

"Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them." - Leviticus 21:17-23 ESV

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-12 KJV

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV

God wants perfection and He has provided it in His Son. The old lame, broken and imperfect identity with it's impulses and desires can not serve as a priest. Only the new nature can.

Pride chooses to nurture in a person's self life that which God has rejected.

We can cherish our iniquity because our old man remains unaccepted or we can worship a God who has given us a new nature born in the humility of His Son's sacrifice.

Once we believe what disqualified us before no longer does. All things become new. God won't see us after what we seem to lack. He will only see us as perfectly hidden in the life of His perfect Son. We become winners seated in the victory of our triumphant Messiah.

Fight if you feel you must. Fight until you are exhausted. God gave you the right to choose. He will be the same. His patience has no end. His holiness will remain uncompromised. He is willing to love you... You just need to let Him love you and He will. His love will change your citizenship and your eternal identity. That is why Jesus died... to save stubborn people just like you and just like me.

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