The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
“Dark Insanity”
“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee” (Obadiah 1:3).
Addressed to Edom (the descendants of Esau), the Lord’s indictment can also be traced back to another who serves as the father of all proud deception:
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14).
We do not know how such delusion arose in Lucifer, resulting in the insanity of his attempting to be “like the Most High.” We just know that it happened, and that the father of lies ever serves as the true source of all pride and its deceiving effect. Indeed, every thought or action that exalts anyone other than the living and true God occurs through devilish influence and deception.
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Where we see human bluster and its absurd notion of self importance, we see someone who has succumbed to Satan’s own delusion of pride. This includes born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our flesh remains susceptible to the devil’s enticements to exalt ourselves, usually in subtle ways easily missed if we do not seek our Lord’s keeping and protection. “The flesh lusteth against the spirit” declared the Apostle Paul (Galatians 5:17). At the root of such carnal desire lies the same attempt that originated sin in God’s creation, namely, the devilish desire to be something more than we are, and to think, speak, act, and relate according to the delusion of self-centeredness. Even the most devout believer lives with an atheist - the flesh - that insanely believes it possesses the capability to know and perform that which is best.
“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (I Peter 5:6).
Remembering the source of pride helps us to identify the temptations we face to succumb to its delusion. Long ago, a being somehow deceived himself into believing he could become more than his Creator made him to be. He ever seeks to infect us with such dark insanity. We do well, indeed, we must ever be on guard again a deceived devil’s attempts to drag us into his deception. The Lord Jesus Himself serves as the epitome, prototype, and power of the humility to which God calls us, enabling us to walk not only faithfully and obediently, but sanely” (Hebrews 12:2).
“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.”
Proverbs 11:2)
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
(Ephesians 2:5-8)
Weekly Memory Verse
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (II Peter 1:19).
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