FAITH CAPSULE: Today, know it that lifted up heart opens up door for hardened spirit of pride.

Daniel 5

God does not have plans for those with pride but to pass them unto destruction. God addressed pride through Jeremiah, “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.”” (Jeremiah 13:8-10) In this wicked world, pride has taken a prominent position. The word of God pointed out that pride is evil. With pride, man refuses not to hear God. Man is position to hear but makes the choice not to hear the words of God. Many are lifted by God but pride of the heart becomes the agent of man’s destruction.
Uzziah was an example of pride destruction. When he was sixteen years old he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem because God lifted him. Uzziah did right in the sight of God. He sought God as God made him prosper. Later as King, “…he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” (2 Chronicles 26:16) Have you been lifted up by God but now you are lifting up your heart and become hardened? Uzziah as king is wrong to burn incense to God as priest. Uzziah became angry in response to Priest Azariah’s opposition for his wrong doing. In the process of his angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on Uzziah’s forehead. God lifted Uzziah, pride of the heart lifted Uzziah to destruction. It is written, “King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord…” (2 Chronicles 26:21)
Among ways not to become a victim of pride is to keep heart with all diligence. (Proverbs 4:23) King Uzziah was a victim of hardened heart. Nebuchadnezzar was also a great king until he became a victim of pride through his hardened heart. Daniel 5:20-21 recorded, “But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.  Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.”

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace not to live life as a victim of pride.