APRIL13

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

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James 4:6 &10

“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Matthew 23:12

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Psalm 10:17

“Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,”

Proverbs 11:2

“When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.”

Isaiah 57:15

“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

2 Samuel 22:28

“You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down.”

Psalm 9:2

“ I will be glad and rejoice in You;  I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

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Our book for this month  is called “100 NAMES OF GOD”  written by Christopher D. Hudson.  Each day we’ll take one Hebrew name for God as given in the Bible to study and relate to.

EL ELYON

GOD MOST HIGH

Genesis 14:20

“And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Though some people are terrified of heights, all people get a perverse pleasure from being “higher” than others.  The tallest boy in the class looks down (literally) on his shorter classmates.  Being ranked higher, having a higher income, IQ,  GPA, test score or social standard – all of these are recipes for pride.

We love being ABOVE others, which makes things interesting when we see God described as GOD MOST HIGH ~ ~ EL ELYON ~ ~ in Genesis 14.  This distinct name sets God apart from all would-be “competitors” or “rivals”.  As the MOST HIGH, the God of the Bible is supreme.  He is lifted up, exalted, positioned far above mere HIGH things or even HIGHER things.  As the MOST HIGH, He surpasses all else.  No one can go toe-to-toe or see eye to eye with the MOST HIGH. No one can raise himself or herself above God and look down on God….or even be equal to Him.

This name of God is used in a fascinating story told within the Old Testament book of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar was off-the-charts arrogant.  The prophet Daniel warned Nebuchadnezzar (from the prophetic Word of God)  that because of his immense pride, he would be driven from his palace to live like a wild animal.

Nebuchadnezzar scoffed.  But, then, for seven years Nebuchadnezzar lived like a dumb beast.  Only when his heart was brought low and his eyes were lifted up to see the one, true God, did he FINALLY  acknowledge God as “THE MOST HIGH” 

The great C.S.Lewis once said, “As long as you are proud you cannot know God,”  BINGO! 

Pride is that sinful tendency to exalt ourselves ~ to live as though we are the loftiest beings in the universe.  But as long as we’re always looking down on everything, Lewis argued, we will never see the One who is above us.  So true  that is!!!!

(But there is another aspect to pride, and that is in thinking that we can live our lives our own way, even though we acknowledge EL ELYON as the highest.  It is imperative for a Child of God ~ ~ meaning, one who has accepted only  salvation through Jesus Christ and not by being good enough himself ~ ~ to follow Jesus with every detail of his life…..submitting totally to Him in every large and small decision throughout the day.  That is showing that God is MOST HIGH.  Romans 14:23  “ ….for whatever is not from faith is sin.”)

Who are you lifting up in your heart today?  Yourself?  Another person? Or the Most High God?

What does it mean to you that God is MOST HIGH?

PRAYER

MOST HIGH GOD, please forgive my pride!  In the words of John the Baptist, may you “become greater”  and may I “become less.”  Amen

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