Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Strength...

Do you think the word strength was made for men, or that men were made for the word strength...?
Strength is a good word right? The Lord said to Joshua three times, 'Be strong and courageous' (Joshua 1:9), and Jesus said in Matthew 5:5 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth', however we know that meek doesn't mean week, but rather, strength that is restrained or under control.
But i read something the other day that caused me to think a lot about the word strength, from a book by Bishop Paul S. Morton called 'Why Kingdoms Fall'. He said this: 'strength of pride is a weakness, a gateway to a stronghold'.
Have you every noticed that pride is nearly always wrapped in strength? Don't we feel 'extra strong' when someone challenges something we say? Don't we experience a baptism of relentless determination when someone out of turn tells us what to do, or somehow seems to place a question mark over who we are? But if all we ever see is the wrapping paper, then our perception is one of strength - but unrestrained strength, out of control strength and a strength born of the wrong motive.

Strength is good, but strength of pride is a weakness - a gateway to a stronghold, and I renounce it in Jesus name!

:-)

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