Blogs

The greatest warning in the New Testament concerning our thoughts is centered on how we think of ourselves and others.  Romans 12:3 “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.  1 Corinthians 4:6 “that ye might learn in us, not to think of men above that which is written.”  1 Corinthians 8:2 “And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.” 2 Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.”  Many verses give this same warning.  In some places it is called being high minded. 

There are many motivators that can cause us to think too highly of ourselves. Pride, ambition, power, control are some of the motivators in this thought process.  The turning point in the life of King Saul is found in this principle.  The prophet Samuel confronted King Saul with this truth because the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. In 1 Samuel 15:17 “And Samuel said, when thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee King over Israel.” The principle we can learn from this is that we are as big in the eyes of God as we are little in our own eyes.  We are also as little in the eyes of God as we are big in our own eyes.  The behavior of King Saul that revealed this problem in his thinking was his disobedience of the Word of God concerning the complete destruction of the Amalekites.  To disobey God’s Word to our lives would be an outflow of thinking that our plan is better than God’s plan.  

To compare the beginning of Saul’s leadership with the end of his leadership there is a marked difference.  Saul’s words of humility are recorded in 1 Samuel 9:22 “Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families in the tribe of Benjamin?” This was the beginning of Saul’s leadership.  It was founded in humility.  From this spirit of humility, God’s Spirit could mold and shape him into the leader and king that God wanted.  Saul’s words at the end are recorded in 1 Samuel 28:15 “I am sore distressed: for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams.”  The presence of the Lord and the power of His Spirit will not abide someone who thinks too highly of themselves.  The power of humility and understanding that God is in charge is the only place a believer can find the relationship and fellowship with God that we need. 

Paul described in 2 Corinthians 12 concerning his “thorn in the flesh”, that it was given to keep him from being exalted above measure.  John the Baptist said that he must decrease, and Jesus must increase.  Peter had to be humbled by his denial before he could be used as the preacher at Pentecost.  The Prodigal Son outside of the presence of his father lived in a hog pen, he ate the food given to the pigs.  Only after we lose our own pride can we enjoy the presence of the Father in rejoicing around His table. 

It appears that in our day we are trying to operate outside of the power and presence of God because we simply think too highly of ourselves.  It appears that we have forgotten that without Him we are completely helpless and without any strength.  God, restore us just as you did for Samson.  May we humble ourselves once again and know that without you we are absolutely nothing.