My first year of high school, I was placed on the junior varsity cheerleading squad. This shouldn’t have been such a big deal. I was a freshman, after all. But most of my friends had made it to the varsity squad and their glittery uniforms, while the JV team only had t-shirts with iron-on decals.
At the first JV football game of the season, I tumbled across the track, throwing my back handsprings like a circus performer. I wanted to make sure the varsity cheerleaders knew a mistake had been made: clearly, they should have given me a spot on their coveted squad. When I got home that night, exhausted yet satisfied that I’d done the job, my mother let it slip that she’d “enjoyed the Claire show.” Her words stung, but I got the message. I was being prideful, and she’d seen right through my charade.
When I think about pride, I often think about myself at that JV game. I was so convinced I deserved a position on the varsity squad that I spent the night showing off, rather than actually paying attention to the football game. After all, football was the whole reason we were there. The cheering was secondary.
Paul called out the Corinthians on this same kind of sophomoric pride. He called out their useless squabbling over their allegiance to a teacher—as if by following Paul, they were more righteous than their friends who followed Apollos. Whether they knew it or not, the Corinthians had lost sight of the most important point of all—that is, Jesus—and had turned their focus completely on themselves.
That’s what pride does. It turns all of our attention inward.
For adult-me, self-pity is the most common form of pride. When I feel left out by a group of friends, the sadness that creeps up isn’t just sadness at the rejection; it’s also a prideful entitlement, which shouts, “I should have been invited!” Pride can hide in our allegiances—to particular brands, particular books, or particular ways of eating, thinking, or voting. Rigid loyalty to anything other than Christ should alert us to destructive pride hiding beneath the surface.The Spirit of God lives in us (1Corinthians 3:16–17), making us temples for His Spirit to dwell in. And as such, we need no special brands, no special invitations, no special groups or labels, no allegiances to a specific preacher. The foundation is Jesus. Anything else can stay or go; only our pride tells us otherwise. Paul corrected the Corinthians when they fell victim to that distraction, and he didn’t mince words. He called them babies! He said they were acting like typical, worldly people. And I wonder, “Am I really all that different from them?”
Perhaps my cheerleading story is a silly example, but it brings up helpful questions for me. When it comes to Christianity, what am I holding onto that is secondary to the gospel of Christ? Do I take pride that I’m a part of a certain Bible study, small group, or online devotion series? Do I feel hurt to be left off of a specific worship team? Do I have allegiance to a certain writer, church community, or social-justice mission? Those things are all well and good, but when it comes to our faith, Paul calls us to let go of everything that’s not Christ Himself. As Paul says, these things are part of the house we’re building and can never be the foundation. The gospel is never Jesus and—it’s only Jesus.
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148 thoughts on "Christ, Our Foundation"
This is one of my favorite devotional days ever. I sure have learned a lot about pride and different faces of pride. Just Jesus should be at the core of everything, not us or our preferences. Sometimes we lead ourselves astray, but Jesus will always keep us on the path of righteousness. Amen!
I am only a few days in and have found this series to be incredibly convicting and helpful. Jesus, help me bring the focus back to you.
“Rigid loyalty to anything other than Christ…”, ouch.
I am praying that I would find my foundation more in Christ and less in the things of this world. This world and all that is in it is temporary, but God is eternal. ❤️
“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8)
This verse, along with the verses in this reading, remind me that if I have Jesus, just Jesus, I have everything. And sometimes, adding to that in our own pride detracts from the joy of having our whole trust and identity in Christ. Praying that he keeps us firmly grounded in him, and that he gives us the grace to steward whatever else he may add to our lives well. ❤️
So good. Jesus and only Jesus.
I’ve been enjoying this series so much! So eye-opening!
Please pray for me. I am in Africa serving right now, and it’s been hard to be here and see corruption. I need Jesus to focus my eyes on him & what he’s doing in these people.
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Praying for you right now!
Praying for you sister.
Praying for you!! God is so good!
“Let go of everything that is not Christ himself” ❤️
“Rigid loyalty to anything other than Christ should alert us to a destructive pride hiding beneath the surface” that line really hit me! Jesus should always be our firm foundation!!
That quote really hit me too, Claire!!!! Thank you for highlighting that.
Yes, Claire! That struck me as well. ❤️
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Well, I’m so happy I read this today! I feel like I have been confusing my feelings with my pride if that makes sense. I have been taking my pride and making them my feelings rather than accepting it As pride and handling it that way. I’m learning how to be a better communicator and I find That I get defensive when I make mistakes or when I feel like someone’s attacking me. I definitely feel like I’ve been making a lot of things about myself rather than Jesus. And focusing all the things that are happening to me rather than the things that are happening for me I feel like I have a bit Ungrateful. I feel a little embarrassed to admit it, but it’s the truth reading this today has helped me open my eyes and realize that I need to make it about Jesus and take the focus off of me and the things that are worrying me because I am Gods temple and worry and pride are toxic for my temple. Thank you for this great reminder! I’m working on becoming a better person. I need the lord’s guidance as I navigate through these new challenges.
I’m with ya sister! Needed this today.
Me too, Sandy! This hit home. I needed this. ❤️
Wow! Your words, Sandy, could have been mine exactly. Thank you for sharing your heart. Jesus, take the wheel!!
Love the devotional – very convicting!
This devotional stepped all over my toes. But thanks be to God for this truth and for opening my eyes to this truth about my own pride. ❤
Normally I read the book, this is my first time on the app. So many insightful words to add to today’s reading.
Wow at the truth revealed at how pride will disguise itself as sadness or self pity. I have found myself doing this in my current situations and all I can say is Lord, please forgive me and show me a better way. What a word of wisdom.
Amen. Search my heart Lord.
SO GOOD! When I read this section of scripture, I always begin singing in my head – Christ is my firm foundation, the rock on which I stand! …. Rain came, wind blew, but my house was built on You.
Such a beautiful reminder that He is the only one! Amen!
“ The gospel is never Jesus and—it’s only Jesus.”
The last line of this devotional. I’m SO confused. Can anyone explain it to me?
In my mind it means that the good news about our salvation is that it is through Jesus only. It’s not through Jesus plus good works or Jesus plus anything else. I hope that made sense.
@Katie B – it’s referring to – its never Jesus and this worship group, or it’s Jesus AND my small group, it’s just ONLY Jesus. Nothing else! ❤️
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Wow, I feel SO called out right now in a good way. I just had a pretty rough dinner with my toddler and husband. My son has been having some pretty big feelings about dinner time and my husband and I often don’t see eye to eye about how to handle this. My pride definitely gets in the way here and I think I sometimes make things worse because I think I know better. Ugh! God, please help me let go of my pride and not take things so seriously. Help me let go of my need for control! Help me hold boundaries while modeling emotional regulation. Let my weaknesses draw me closer to You. Amen!
lol, your story reminds me of my husband and son back in the day when my son was around 7 or so and my husband had just joined us by marriage..and they used to piddle and play around so much I would kinda get mad at my hubby and say I had two seven year olds!! So…good luck!
But yes, as mother and doing things for our children all the time we kinda get to a place where we want to do everything our “better and quicker” way. But I encourage you to let him interact in any way (to a point obviously) and enjoy that he is there. They just have a different way and we have to allow that. Always better to be a unified front though in the big things though! Prayers! Enjoy this fun (and exhausting) time of new motherhood!
Pride in marriage. That is a huge one, Kim. I totally understand.
My brain cannot handle the richness of this letter! Trying to make sense of my chaotic thoughts today… I was drawn to verses 6 and 7. We can (and should!) plant and water, but ONLY GOD gives the growth. Without God, we are nothing (as MARI V said!). We are God’s coworkers, God’s servants, God’s building, God’s field – We all have been given specific tasks and talents as we work in God’s kingdom. By God’s grace, we should use them, but not build on them.
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Sharing two quotes I read in John Mark Comer’s “Practicing the way”:
– Augustine: “Without God, we cannot; without us, God will not.”
– Dallas Willard: “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.”
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Dear Father,
Only You give growth. Only Yours is the glory. You don’t need us, but You want us and have made us coworkers in Jesus Christ. You have given each of us specific tasks, so that we may continue to build on Jesus, with Jesus, and for Jesus. May we by transformed by Your grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. May we serve You with humble efforts instead of prideful attitudes. In Jesus’ name,
AMEN.
So good Julia, I had to copy this!
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“humble efforts instead of prideful attitudes”
Talk to us,Julia C!!!
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So good!!
Hello Shes
The devotion author, Claire Gibson, dinged me this morning! Pride! Hidden but horrific! When I place – and if happens, far too often – human stuff, be it traits, habits, behavior, objects above fealty to Christ. I sit/stand/saunter about Convicted! Guilty!
My Lord… Please help me to shirk the urge of self pity. Please help me to not slip into a false, faulty kind of faith. Please help me to overcome the worst tendencies, as You see them for what they are. The “Me” show.
In your infinite mercy…Please forgive me. Please cleanse me. Please renew as the psalmist says a steadfast spirit within me. And as the poet & philosopher Maya Angelou said, “when we know better; we should do better”. With scripture as constant reminder, I seek accountability & actions that acclaim Christ. Not ego.
So help me God.
“The me show” that is good. I did a study called “Free of Me” and it was a life changer! Taking everything away from me, me, me and putting on Christ! I didn’t think so many of the chapters would resonate with me, but of course they all did!
Amen! Love the Maya Angelou quote.
Agree with your comment Gwineth52! The devotional definitely hit me hard as well. I have been praying recently for freedom from ego. I recently came across a secular book titled “Ego is the enemy”. I’m super happy to be back here on the app, I was not able to get the newest study until today. I ended up purchasing the digital book, which is stunning! Love the artwork! Sorry for the long post.
Same (luckily I have the physical book)
A house needs a firm foundation in order to stand. As we are reminded in today’s reading, there is only one sure foundation – Jesus Christ. All other foundations will crumble and fall.
This past weekend we had 2 weddings to attend! One in NJ that my husband officiated and one in RI. What a blessing to witness these two christian couples becoming a family, a family with Christ at the center! They are starting off their marriages with a firm foundation – praise the Lord!!
Why is it so hard for the world to see this? Why does it take disasters to bring people to salvation? God freely offers us all things, if we simply believe.
Why do I let things cloud my vision? Pride and jealousy seem to always squeeze their way in. They must go if I am to thrive in my walk with the Lord…It’s the little things that Satan uses to dangle in front of me, that cause me to stumble.
I want every day to be lived for Christ. I want His thoughts to be mine, I want to everyday – be holy as He is holy. It can be accomplished through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. The same power that rose Jesus from the dead lives in me, Hallelujah! Jesus is my Cornerstone, my solid Rock, my Firm Foundation!! All glory and praise to Him who reigns above in majesty supreme!
Wednesday blessings to each of you! Praying for all your requests.
Hello Sharon, I join you:
“Why do I let things cloud my vision? Pride and jealousy seem to always squeeze their way in. They must go if I am to thrive in my walk with the Lord…It’s the little things that Satan uses to dangle in front of me, that cause me to stumble.”
I get it. I do it. I too seek to turn away from self-absorption & sinfulness & towards Him where salvation lies. But I sure enough need His help.
Praising God with you ❤️
A couple of points stood out for me today:
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1. The wise of this world is called the crafty in the Bible. For it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness (1 Corinthians 3:20 ESV). Wisdom is God’s eyes, the wisdom from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (James 3:17)
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2. Carnal Christ-followers have jealousy and strife issues (1 Corinthians 3:3). These sum up pretty much everything, the root cause of all things, including deep divisions in churches, in families. May God help us to crucify our flesh. Amen KRIS to the quick shift between carnality and spirit-led. What day and night. When I joined the church worship team, the pride issues were so evident (thinking of you SHARON JERSEY GIRL and the same thing your church is facing). The pride was too much for me to handle. It also highlighted the pride within me and I did not want to fuel that, I left shortly after. I noticed this pride caused a lot of hidden resentment within the team, and silent division. God uses those stances to expose hidden characters that are unlike Him, which is a chance for repentance.
PRAYERS…
@SUSAN JOINER: for baby Wyatt and successful surgery, recovery, grace for his family to overcome.
@LAURA DIANE: continual prayers for your dear daughter. Thank you for the sweet update.
@LAUREN GW: thinking of you and the kids these days, praying for healing over your husband/family, and that you can return to your home in peace and joy.
@SEARCHING: ❤️
Be blessed dear sisters.
I didn’t read your post until after I had posted mine…it seems the subject of pride pops up in many of us.
But – not to big that God can’t correct!
…We are still working through the issue with the praise team. Prayers for my hubby as he addresses it, much wisdom needed in saying the right words.
This really struck me…just wow!
” Pride can hide in our allegiances—to particular brands, particular books, or particular ways of eating, thinking, or voting. Rigid loyalty to anything other than Christ should alert us to destructive pride hiding beneath the surface.The Spirit of God lives in us (1Corinthians 3:16–17), making us temples for His Spirit to dwell in. And as such, we need no special brands, no special invitations, no special groups or labels, no allegiances to a specific preacher. The foundation is Jesus. Anything else can stay or go; only our pride tells us otherwise.”
Also thank you everyone for the kind welcome back and prayers; very much missed you all! <3
Welcome back, Lexi ❤️
Quick question, a little confused on 3:10-11. Paul mentions that he’s ‘laid a foundation’, but then continues on to say that “no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down”. This comes across a bit contradictory to me. I realize that Paul is saying that the “foundation” he laid is in passing on the gospel (through telling others of the work of Christ), but did anyone read this at first as Paul laid the foundation?
When Paul says, “I laid a foundation” he is referring to the foundation he laid when he founded the church in Corinth. The foundation he set was the person and work of Jesus Christ. He wouldn’t remain in Corinth permanently and he knew others would follow and build on the foundation he put down.
Hope this is helpful!
Woo..what a devo! Pride can hide in our allegiances. I’ve never thought of pride this way. Books, brands, etc. The way we eat! I have such problems with open mouth chewing..oomph! Does that make me prideful or do I just have an aversion to mouth noises? I really struggle with this. I do know that I can fall back on my own strength when life is going along smoothly. It is so important for me to stay in God’s word daily. To focus. To not get caught up in this world and become prideful.
Good word! Christ is the firm foundation. In Him alone I build my house/my life.
Give “Firm foundation” by Cody Carnes a listen
Praise God for His faithfulness and security.
It’s ALL Jesus! NONE of it is me. ALL glory or my precious sweet JESUS. I cannot and WON’T do life without HIM!
So thankful for this devotion today. Pride does have a way of sneaking up on us. For me self-pity can be one of the ways. I’m so grateful for the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that will let us know we are off track.
Our foundation is on Christ alone!
I was catching up on yesterday’s devotional and wrote a prayer request that was meant for today.
A very special little one year old boy named Wyatt will be having a serious surgery this morning at 11:00 on the east coast. Would you please lift him up in prayer? The surgery is to remove 3 golf ball sized cysts at the base of his skull. The doctors do not know if they are cancerous as of yet. They just need to be removed because they are causing other problems at this time. His parents are believers, but I am sure that they would covet your prayers for Wyatt today. Thank you so much!
Oh wow, yes prayers for little Wyatt and his parents in this scary surgery.
Praying for little Wyatt right now! For the doctors performing the surgery and of course for his mommy and daddy for strength.
Praying!!
Prayers lifted for Wyatt ❤️
Prayers for Wyatt, doctors and family.
Yes!
Praying
Prayed for precious Wyatt! Wisdom for the doctors and comfort for his parents as they wait.
Lord, give the doctors wisdom and skill as they work on Wyatt. Give his parents peace
Prayed for Wyatt right now since he is in the middle of surgery. Prayed for his family as well. Please keep us updated.
Prayers for Wyatt!
Prayers for Wyatt!
Praying for little Wyatt’s surgery.
Praying for Wyatt and his family
This is the perfect passage for today ahead of the Presidential debate. A solid reminder that we must not boast in worldly leaders yet boast in Christ. My prayer is for the election season to somehow be God honoring though I feel it is far from that. Claire nailed it with “The gospel is never Jesus and- it is only Jesus.”
This was my thought as well! I looked up Apollos on the web and read, regarding these passages in First Corinthians, “ Christ is not divided, and neither should we be. We cannot love personality over truth.” Thank you for your comment.
It surprises me, sometimes, how I can be so mature and then slip into “immature” mode. I can be living the good life, doing all the right things, having such words of wisdom…and then I find myself in a situation where it’s obvious I don’t have it all together. This happened this week. I won’t go into all the details, but basically it came down to this: I haven’t been spending QUALITY time with God. I’ve been rushing thru my devotions, not thinking about Him very much throughout the day. I’ve had a lot of family around this summer and have allowed myself to be distracted. And then it hit me like a 2×4 up the side of my head: I haven’t been giving God the place of priority in my life. Why does it stop when other things fill my time? because of me. I don’t have to stop my closeness to God just because other things are around me. I need to keep my closeness to God BECAUSE other things are around me. Pride says I don’t need God quite as much, I’ll be ok if I let things slip a little. But we all know that pride will NEVER let us be better people. God is really convicting me, and I’m glad for it. I don’t ever want to lose my place with Him because I let a little pride sneak in and slowly move me away.
Yeah, when I have family in or there with them..it’s crazy how time will go by, a few days, and I’m like, wow, I haven’t thought about God a lot in this time!! And then I long to get back to my routine of scripture first, and singing praise songs all day, and putting my focus back where it belongs. It makes me wonder if I did have to work, how I could stay close to God all day with all the other distractions!? Business and distraction (social media is huge!) is a great tool of the devil for sure! Thanks for sharing!
Wow, this really hit home. I think most of us can relate to this in some way. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for your words, KRIS. I was convicted in a similar way with the last study (Psalms of Ascent). Am I making room for Him in my life? Am I dedicating time and energy to make His name known and nuture my relationship with Him? If I am allowing idols and distractions to steal
So true, Kris…
Kris, I can understand as I have had my daughter and children living with me for several weeks and her husband on the weekends. My Bible study time and prayer time has been upended. It’s in bits and pieces every day. Very distracting but I’m glad I can help them while he is in school. End of July, my house will once again be quiet just before my 10 day Christian camp program. Refocus is definitely needed. Lifting prayers for all, asI haven’t been able to make it through all the comments.️
Wooo..whee! That. was. a good one. That devotional really expounded on the scripture in a powerful way to me. How sneaky deaky pride sneaks in and we don’t even realize it yet! I haven’t read through the comments yet, but I am guessing it convicted us all!
Lord, keep pride from my heart, the fleshy way we want to be known. It is hard. Pride is sneaky, and it is hard to see ourselves in all areas of our lives. Let us do things for you, and you alone! You are our hope, our foundation that everything should be built upon. Keep our motives simple Lord, not our fame or earthy wisdom..But all for you. “In Christ alone…my hope is found…” Not in the groups we lead, or attend, or where we sit at church, or how we raise are hands..let it be you Lord. Not in our place at work, getting merits and award. Not in our families and friends…take rejection and angst away from us…in our marriage, take our prideful strife away. Lord grow us as as faithful servants without the selfish pride…cleanse are hearts clean today, and everyday. You restore us and keep us on the right path. Lord, get rid of my stubbornness and the need to be right. Help me to be humble and focus on you.
Amen Rhonda! Perfectly said.
Amen to all of this Rhonda!
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So good for today’s church.So many denominations and we loose site of the main gospel sometimes. We are more similar than different
I love when Claire says “when it comes to our faith, Paul calls us to let go of everything that’s not Christ Himself.” I love how God works because last night I felt that. I wanted to let go of social media and work last night and just read a book and not be distracted by anything else and I did just that. It felt good and it felt right. The Lord knows what you need when you need it. And what are we holding onto that is secondary to the gospel of Christ? Wow. God is good and He will always and will continue to be my firm foundation.
This was such a timely message for me. I’m like Claire in that self-pity is a huge struggle for me right now. I had never thought about it being a form of pride but it is. My prayer today is that I will fix my eyes on Jesus who truly is the foundation on which I stand. Everything else is sinking sand.
So many good things to think about in these scriptures and this devotional. I can relate to so much of it. Pride has caused so much division in my family and in my life – my own pride and others.
I wanted to share something really special and significant with all of you today. My birthday miracle, that happened on Monday. My daughter, who you have all been praying for for quite a long time, texted me a happy birthday message. This was completely out of the blue, because the last correspondence we had with her was “don’t ever contact me again. I am trying to forget you.” She had said this to me before and I would still text her every once in awhile “I love you” or I would still send her a birthday present or Christmas present, just because I wanted her to know that I was still thinking about her and I still loved her. I would also say, every time, “I would never turn my back on you if you came to me.” But this last time, I just gave in. I finally yielded. I told God, okay, it’s truly not about me, it’s about YOU. You are going to have to make this happen. You are going to have to do a miracle in her life. I am letting go completely. This was four months ago, I think. So anyway, back to the text. I was shocked and thrilled at the same time. I immediately texted back how happy I was to hear from her and how much her text meant to me. I then added, I love you. She wrote back, I love you too. I wrote that our offer was still there to get together whenever she was ready. She put a heart on it. Although this is small in comparison of what needs to happen, the courage it took on her part to text me after her last hateful text to me 4 months ago (and years of hateful correspondence), is so encouraging. And I am praising God for this miracle! Today, some family members and friends are fasting and praying for the Spirit to continue to move in her heart and in our relationship. We have had so many people join us in prayer for our relationship with her and I just know God is going to move in her life someday and it will be a huge testimony to so many.
Laura Dianne, your post brought me to tears. I am joining with your family and friends to pray that the Spirit will continue to move in your daughter’s life. God is good and He is good at being God.
LOVE this!!!!
Sweet Jesus, LAURA!! This does not seem small at all….will pray! In the end, it is still Jesus who is “going to have to make this happen” but I am praising alongside you. Praying for your peace no matter what is next and that God would order every word / reaction / pause / etc.
Oh Laura, this update moved me. May this be the beginning of restoration between your daughter and you. Praise God!
Oh wow..Sweet Jesus is right!! (I love that, I am going to have to start saying that!) This is so wonderful, a little spark to give you a God wink (a big one, might I say!) that He is hearing our prayers for your dear daughter! Society doesn’t help because of their encouragement that they should follow their hearts. Only us, Christians, know that we can’t follow our fleshly hearts, that we must die to ourselves and our pride. And it could definitely only be a God move on her heart and our prayers! My heart has always hurt for you as a mother. And I know it felt like I was judging you years ago when I said to lay aside everything and just love her…which I know you do so much, but you are not going to alter and bend your stand on God’s word. And that has really shaped my thoughts and views on the whole homosexual issue over the last few years and I see it as SO courageous of you. And God is the ultimate judge and I want to be found standing on his word as well, so I thank you so much sister for sharing your journey with us, and let us come alongside you in prayer for your daughter!! We love you and stand with our arms helping to hold up your arms when they are weak!
Laura Dianne praying for you and your daughter! Thank God for the glimmer.
Oh Laura what a gift!! I’m so happy for you. God is at work!
I, too, teared up! This is incredible and a huge testament to God working when we “let go.” Praying for your heart and the urge to “help” God in His work. Praying you are able to rest in the gift He gave and wait for Him to bring about more miracles!
Wow! What a praise! This is huge!! Perhaps the Lord is working in her heart. It is so precious that she text you on your birthday and replied back that she loves you, too.
Crying reading this. What a sweet turnaround Laura. I know how much this meant to you, and also for us, to see you happy. May this reconciliation continue to develop.
I’m an infrequent commenter but I have also been praying for your family, and I’m praising God with you all! Continued prayers for a changed heart for your daughter. And, a belated happy birthday!
Wow! Glory to God! I will join in prayer with you, LAURA DIANNE. Every little step is HUGE and worth celebrating.
Thank you Laura Dianne for sharing this update! What a birthday present!!! This is HUGE! Small steps but still – HUGE!
It is an honor to be a part of all of this through prayer. I along with many others have been praying and will continue!
So happy to read your beautiful update Laura Dianne. There may be others here quietly dealing with these issues and trying to be truthful in God’s word and loving at the same time and you are an inspiration. God restores!
I forgot to say Happy Belated Birthday!! Hope it was beautiful in addition to this beautiful text from your daughter!
We have a big God ❤️ Continued prayers for you and your family, Laura
Thank you all for joining me in prayer today for my daughter. Her name is Taliah. I never shared that before but you ladies have walked so intimately with me through this, I felt like you should know the name of the person you are praying for. Thank you for your encouraging replies. I felt all of your love and prayers for our family as we trust God to keep working in this story. I want as many who need to hear our story to hear it. Because when this prodigal comes home, there will be great rejoicing across the World (yes, people from across the globe pray for my Taliah). I am so blessed by all of you. Thank you!
Praise God for the way that He is moving in Taliah’s life! As a mother of two grown daughters my heart hurts for you every time I think of how heartbroken you are over this situation. I pray for both of you every day and look forward to the day that you are completely reconciled and, more importantly, that she has reconciled with her Heavenly Father. ❤️
Wow, thank you so much for sharing, Laura! Have been praying for this situation ❤️ this is so encouraging!!
This brought me to tears. Praying the Lord will continue to soften her heart. ❤️
Oh hi Claire, you are me. I had a very similar highschool experience, that apparently creeps into my adult life as self pity is my pride. Took me a long time to figure that one out, dave Ramsey helped in that lol. But this particular passage brought me right back to our psalms from last week, unless the Lord builds the house the labors labor in vain. I love on the podcast this week, Rachel said that she reads truth was not something she set out to do, that it was the fruit of focusing and spending time on Jesus. God has told me maybe a million times, that what he has for me I couldn’t plan or imagine, but man that doesn’t stop me. I’m constantly trying to move on to the next big thing in pursuit of God’s calling on my life, which turns out is just me pridefully wanting everyone to see I’m on varsity when God has called me to JV. Pray for me, that I will be so laser focused on the Grace of God and I will let go of my plans and make room for God’s.
Yes, that’s good Lanie! Even on our teams in church…I want to be on the varsity! Wow. That spoke to me! I want recognition..even though I don’t think I do!
Yes, Lanie. I too was drawn to what Raechel Myers, co-founder, had to say about SRT origin story. First to Him & then to task. SRT was the “ fruit of fellowship” with the Lord. It’s not about us (read “Me”). It’s about God’s ( not “My”) work. As Apostle Paul is quick to say to the Corinthians: He planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
Joining you in prayer Lanie ❤️
Wow that was convicting this morning! Pride is definitely an area where I have struggled. Lord, help me to not be prideful in the way I live my life, treat others around me, or towards You.
This devotion is timely for what is going on in the church, today. I pray we can continue learning from our mistakes with humility, and strive for unity and keeping Jesus as the center of it all.
May we remember He is the reason we gather. He is the reason we work. He is the reason we live and breathe.
God bless you, Shes. ❤️
Yes it is! It is a hard and fine line for wanting to clarify and call out churches that are not following God’s word, but it is each individuals heart, and between them and God really, not us. Do we need to sharpen each other, yes. Do we need to correct, yes I believe, like Paul is doing, but it’s not to belittle, it’s to point them to Christ. There is a right and wrong, just like Jesus does. He calls them in their sin, but also calls them to repent and sin no more. Help me Lord to do just this!
Yes, amen, Rhonda ❤️
Amen, He is the reason ❤️
❤️❤️❤️
Reading this, my mind went a little different today. It went to those moments when I post something on social media— whether is innocent photos of my pretty flowers or a professional post on LinkedIn with “advise,” and even inspirational Christian-themed posts— and wondering if my innocent “let me share the pretty moments (or even the bad ones) a form of pride?? Deep down, am I doing it to bring glory to myself? And I honestly didn’t think I was, but I’m putting a pause in this moment because I feel the Spirit is nudging me on this. Definitely a moment of introspection today.
Maria, I went through this “pruning”! I ended up having several dreams of seeing the most spectacular image in nature, pulling my phone out to take a picture and then the image dulled, it was no longer special to me and I was so sad I couldn’t share it. I used to have an account called the fruitful OT, where under the guise of Bible verses and pretty pictures I was sharing my pursuit of health, wealth, and adventure. This led me to delete the account as I realized the fruit of the spirit in my life was none of those things I was sharing, but the unseen. The little moments with God that were so beautiful to me, but only I could see the beauty in them because our God is so specific. A lot of my beautiful moments were just for me.
Lanie, this is something I’m learning. I didn’t think I was doing it to be an “influencer,” or as I? Funny you mentioned this because after the devotional this morning, I deleted my social media accounts for now. I want to do a social media fasting, if that makes sense. Also, I am starting to learn that, as you mentioned, many moments are just meant for me to enjoy and take in and do not need to be published to the world.
I love taking pictures of my flowers and moments. I actually use my IG as a diary of my life in pictures because I love to look back through them and see the pops of reminders of all my blessings. I rarely look at who likes or even who messages on there. So I guess it is all about your motives. I have a love/hate relationship with fb. I like to share because my dad is on there and he can see what we are up to. I do like to share scriptures and memes that make us reflect on things, and sometimes my weekly Bible study. I usually post without even going to the sight, I don’t like to get caught up in scrolling, but then other times I find out a lot of times of people passing or other new that I would never have found out otherwise. So again, fine line of HOW you use it, and if it is a time waster or beneficial at times. I do really get aggravated with people staring at their phone nonstop. My husband scrolls of fb and doesn’t realize he is so oblivious to everything else and me for long periods, but me pointing it out only makes him angry. sigh. My young grandchildren have their own phones at 10 and 11 and stare at who knows what. It is bad for the generation for sure.
Verse 21 was one I wrote down about boasting in human leaders. I know it is so easy to get caught up in the leaders of our churches and our countries and how much they are “wrong” but this is a good reminder that we are to put our faith in God and not humans. Such a good reminder especially now as this is a presidential election year in the US. Happy Wednesday she’s.
I wrote that verse down too!! Such a perfect verse for this season.
Pride in self, I think, not only takes our eyes off of Jesus but can also lead to being judgmental of others. So many sneaky ways the evil one uses to attack our faith.
One verse in particular stood out to me, 1 Cor 3:23, “And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
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Songs coming to mind –
The Solid Rock hymn, Edward Mote, 1834
Firm Foundation, Cody Carnes
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MERCY – praying for your husband as he processes all that has happened.
SARAH D – good to see you
RHONDA J – joining in prayer for Olympia
ERB ❤️ the danger of compromise – thank you for the reminder!
CEE GEE ❤️ yes, I want a pastor concerned about following Jesus, not following him
Yes, good point -so true!
Amen! We have everything in Christ!
Oof Claire, you are so right about hidden pride. When what matters is “The foundation is Jesus. Anything else can stay or go; only our pride tells us otherwise.”
Lord help me see where my pride is hiding.
Oof indeed. I put woo-wee, an older form of oof from my grandma probably! haha
“On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”
“Christ is my firm foundation. The Rock on which I stand.”
Songs that came to mind as I was reading these passages.
Lord, I pray that we wouldn’t build on any foundation but You. Please help us to discern when things are shaky and our pride is leading us the wrong way.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
Happy Wednesday ladies. I’m getting a late start today. Have a great day!
Tricia
Great minds think alike and all that! I just posted those same 2 songs and then read your post ❤️
This is such a beautiful song, and over the past few months, I wake up with it in my head and not sure why. But it just has such a beautiful message.
Also, “My Fee Are on the Rock”!! by I Am They!
Singing with you!
“So let no one boast in human leaders, for everything is yours”
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“Rigid loyalty to anything other than Christ should alert us to destructive pride hiding beneath the surface.”
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Lord Jesus, You are the only foundation for life eternal. May I have eyes to see when I align myself with any teaching or person who ìs building on their own, false foundation. Thank You for the gift of Your Spirit to help me.
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This reminded me how important it is to be praying for our church leaders. Especially that they are able to resist temptations and pride. And that they would help redirect their “sheep” to focus on Jesus, not themselves.
Amen, KELLY. As a little one told me a couple of years back, it’s all about Jesus.
Yes and Amen.
Indeed and amen to your prayer.
Amen!!
Amen, so convicting! Help us Lord, take away our pride, and point everything to you, even in the church, especially in the church and your people!!
As my husband and I are in full time ministry, I say – “Yes, and Amen”! It’s so important to pray for church leaders!!
Amen, Kelly ❤️
Amen