Pride was Satan’s downfall. He chose to allow His pride filled ego to be his guide. He put self in the place of Almighty God. Yes, pride was Satan’s undoing, but it is also the ultimate downfall of man as well. The selfie mentality that the world promotes is proof of the ongoing self-absorption of mankind.

In the Bible, God clearly tells us that we must die to self. God warns us about all of the dangers of living for self. It’s as if He knew humanity would become narcissistic. Satan was destroyed because of pride, and he wants us to suffer the same demise.

Self-serving, self-centered pride . . . “ I can do it all by myself” thinking eventually becomes total self-absorption. This prideful heart is what causes us to commit the iniquity of vanity, the sin of cutting God out of our lives by trying to do it all on our own and then praising ourselves for our successes.

“Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity… Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes…”   ~Isaiah 5:18 & 21

Without God’s guidance and protection, Satan can control our thoughts through the evil corruption of pride! No matter how great we might think we are, we are no match for the devil’s deceptive power of persuasion.

Pride is akin to atheism, in that we are glorifying ourselves rather than God. Pride is the sin that caused Satan to fall. That in itself should be enough of an eye opener for us to surrender and turn to God with everything!

If we believe we are above the need for God’s help, we are then using our free will to choose to walk away from Him. By deciding to go it alone we will get stuck in our prideful state and eventually become totally deaf to God . . . and this is why it’s called the deadly sin. The only sin that will keep us from eternal life is saying no to Jesus and shutting Him out.

“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”   ~Mark 3:28-29

Without God’s Holy Spirit we have no one to lead us, no one to rescue us or comfort us, and most importantly, no one to forgive us and therefore no hope for eternity. God has put the desire for eternity in every man’s heart.

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.”   ~Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT

No matter how far we drift away from God, He is still there waiting for us to return. Isaiah 5 ends with this plea, “… but His hand is stretched out still.” He never leaves us or abandons us no matter how far we stray from Him.

If we would simply go to God and talk to Him about everything, He would gladly guide, lead and direct us. If we could get out of our self thinking, and into leaning on and trusting in the Lord, we might have a much easier time of it. God will give us divine power in order to fulfill His will for our lives, no matter how difficult it might seem. All we need to do is stop trying to force our will, and just, trust, Him. This knowledge makes me overflow with the desire to surrender to His plan. 

“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.”   ~Proverbs 25:9 NIV

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”   ~Proverbs 16:9

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”   ~Proverbs 3:5-6

So here’s the Biblical formula, the secret to success principles according to the word of God; Ask God to lead you into His plan and then listen to His guidance. Ponder, think before doing anything, get some Godly advice, then move and take a step in the direction God is leading you, and always do right! If you're doing what He wants you to be doing, He will put a desire in your heart and establish your thoughts—your desires will come to fruition if it's God's will!

“Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left; remove your foot from doing evil.”   ~Proverbs 4:26-27

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.”   ~Psalm 90:17

Q: Do you want to stay stuck in self and risk missing out on eternity? (Please leave your answer below.)

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