Sand is often mentioned in scripture, and with a variety of meanings. We read of “sand in the sea” and “sand by the sea” and “sand of the sea”. Each has its own nuance and aspect. Sand was obviously a major thing in the desert lands of the Middle East.

We are looking at “sand by the sea” here. It is plain from the context that the ‘sand by the sea‘ is similar to, if not the same as ‘the stars in the sky’. In other words it refers to a great number, as we see in Genesis:

Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
[Genesis 22:15-17 NKJV]

As noted above there are other types of sand - in the sea and of the sea, but there is also ‘desert sand’, and each has a relevance based on what The Lord is saying to us.

Without going into this in too much detail, while desert sand blinds you to the truth (as in a sandstorm), seashore sand is truth revealed; each grain aspires to be dry land or solid ground. In the words of the song “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

Returning to Abraham; his descendants were to be as the sand by the seashore - which is each of us who believe. Found in those descendants of Abraham is ‘the remnant’:

For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return; the destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
[Isaiah 10:22 NKJV]

That remnant, which is The Lord’s chosen people, chosen before the beginning of time, are His special treasure ...

They shall call the peoples to the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; for they shall partake of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hidden in the sand.”
[Deuteronomy 33:19 NKJV]

Here is Jesus showing us that His Word - good for Isaiah, good centuries later for Jesus Himself, and good for us in today - is an eternal word, liberating us from present troubles and releasing us into the eternal now of His Kingdom. Jesus - as a young man, began His ministry by quoting Isaiah in the synagogue, but with an authority that came from His being ‘the anointed one’.

This blend of Isaiah 61 and Matthew reveals that His word does not change. Something to meditate upon.

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the meek;
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And a final word from Matthew 5: ...

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The character of Haman in the Book of Esther is a ‘type’ for what scripture calls ‘the flesh’; the way we are when we are all out for self. In Esther 6 and 7 - with the destruction of Haman - that this nature in us will be put to death by coming before the King and serving Him. In 1 Samuel 2:30 we are told, But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honour Me I will honour,, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

In our reading Mordecai is honoured by the King - a man whom the King delights to honour - because of his servant’s heart. In John’s gospel we read:

But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour.
[John 12:23-26 NKJV]

God will honour those who put themselves aside to serve Him. The King will honour him with the robe of righteousness (God’s covering) and set him on a horse (power of mastery over the flesh nature).

There is a burning away of things that are in us before we are ready to be The Lord’s. Once that burning takes place then the fireworks happen. There is an awakening, an explosion within that is The Lord’s purpose.

Apostles are ‘sent ones’ and that really is what Isaiah was - sent of God. Are you or I sent? Maybe we would like to be, but most of us are not. We need not be concerned; The Lord has us where He wants us - just keep hearing. If we are called to service, He will speak.

Remember the five fold ministry - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. It is five-fold to show the grace of God to us, but pastors and teachers are really one ministry - and the most numerous.

Be content where the Lord has placed you; He will call on you for greater service when or if you are ready. Do not feel passed over if you are not called; for every service, large or small in our estimation, is of inestimable value in the kingdom of our Lord. He loves us all in a way we cannot comprehend. We will, when at the end, we are with Him.

It is enough - our Lord says so - that we say “Here am I! Send me.” But for how long ...

And He said, “Go, and tell this people: “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
“Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate,
[Isaiah 6: 9-10 NKJV]

These are strange verses, but really we are being encouraged to persevere. It is a wonderful example of The Lord knowing our perverse nature. “ You don’t have to believe it; don’t understand if you don’t want to ... it doesn’t make it not so!”

Hang in there. God has it covered and He knows how it all works out. Whatever He has for you, just believe in it - even it you don’t know what it is yet! He will reveal it - and send you to it.

When I was singing about the Spirit moving all over the world, Gill was recalling “Peace Like A River”. So much of the Lord’s leading for us in the last few days has been on the flowing of water.

It is lovely to behold when the Lord sets a word in motion and it becomes “line upon line, precept upon precept”, and there is a flowing of peace when Jesus is with us.

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
[John 20:19 NKJV]

This is always the case when we seek Him. He answers and His word to us brings peace. He always speaks peace to your heart, and like a river it keeps on flowing - a never-ending supply of living water.

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
[Revelation 22:1-2 NKJV]

The promise in these words reveals the continuing flow of His peace.

Yesterday I found myself singing the song “All Over The World The Spirit is Moving” - a song which always puts us in mind of our late inspirational friend John Whitefield - and, not for the first time, thought of the expression “as the waters cover the sea”.

These words are yet another example of The Bible’s curious usage, which often seems to make no sense to the rational mind, but which speaks to the poetic and spirit-filled.

There are only 2 uses of this particular expression and these are quoted above and both say that the idea of knowing God is relevant. We can have knowledge of Him as the waters cover the sea.

The sea is often a metaphor for unredeemed humanity, and ‘to cover‘ means ‘to hide or overwhelm’ here; so what do we understand by ‘waters’? The first mention is at the beginning of the book ...

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
[Genesis 1:2,6 KJV]

What then does Scripture mean by ‘the waters’? It seems to mean ‘life’ as God would see it. His Spirit moved on the face of the waters’ and He divided them above and below The Firmament. Dividing is part of our God’s creative process, and that always produces life. Yesterday we saw that Jesus is ‘the moving of the waters’. We can only believe that ‘the waters’ represent the spirit in us, filled with the Holy Spirit.

Let us therefore rejoice as the life of our God in us - through our knowing Him - overwhelms the unredeemed spirit in us! A thousand hallelujahs are not enough to give thanks to our Lord. Let’s sing ...

Sometimes The Lord shows you an aspect of scripture that you have failed to notice before. The story of Jesus healing the sick man at the Pool of Bethesda is a familiar one, but somehow I have failed to notice - over many readings - that an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. This was the time to effect healing.

There is a time for everything in the Spirit and the living healing waters have to be stirred up. Without the stirring, without the movement in the water, it would stagnate, algae would grow and the pool would be impure - so it is in the Spirit. If I allow the water of the Spirit to cloud with impurities I cannot be refreshed; there is a barrier between me and God.

Jesus asked the man “Do you want to be made well?”, which might be thought a strange question, and could have received a curt reply; but Jesus knew what was in man, and understood that many of us - after living with a condition for a long time - do not want to be healed.

There is a scene in a comedy film, where a leper complains that, being healed of his leprosy, he has lost his means of income. No one has any sympathy for a beggar who was healthy enough to go out to work.

At the pool of Bethesda ["house of mercy" or "flowing water”] Jesus recognised that the infirmity was spiritual not natural; the man was too lazy to make the effort to enter the healing waters. In the Bible we see a principle, “first the natural, then the spiritual”; but for Jesus the spiritual came first - heal that, and the natural follows.

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. [John 5:8-9 NKJV]

All it took was a word from Jesus to change the situation. The man had been washed by the water of the word and been made complete. Jesus cut through the excuse. Jesus went straight from “Do you want to be made well?” to “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” The only thing in between was the man’s excuse. For “take up your bed” read “do not lie down or submit to this spirit”. The difference is in this one thing - it is not man who speaks, but Jesus. As we have seen when Jesus spoke to the woman of Samaria ...

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
[John 4:13-14 NKJV]

Jesus is the moving of the water.

OSWALD CHAMBERS - RUN TODAY’S RACE
Wednesday 24th June 2020
Are we detached enough from our own spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told. These are phases of His ways we rarely recognise.

I love those words - Him declare I unto you. I make no apology for maintaining my preference for the King James Version; it is what I grew up with, and for me, it has a poetry and a majesty that other versions lack, good though they may be.

I always wondered about these verses and have spoken of them before, but never come to a firm understanding - and ‘a firm understanding’ is essentially what we are being urged to find.

When the Athenians are described as being ‘superstitious’, what is meant is that they are too religious; falling into tradition and form, which is more akin to superstition than to faithful worship and an understanding of the nature of God. To the Athenians He is “the Unknown God”; He has no name, and thus no nature that they know.

So Paul speaks to the Athenians the truth of God. He shares his understanding and love of Father God in a way that reveals the intimate relationship our Father has with each of us through Jesus. He brings the good news of the Gospel to them, encouraging them to accept - not just Jesus’ teachings - but Jesus himself into their lives. I feel sure Paul would have shown them how to pray and build on that joining, assuring them that God answers prayer according to His will and purpose, just as He did with the young Solomon:-

Then God said to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honour, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.
[1 Kings 3:11-13 NKJV]

Paul’s declaration was not only to the Athenians, but to us today, speaking Solomon’s words from Proverbs, 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]

... alternatively, you could listen to this slightly more upbeat version?
“Trust In The Lord” - The Rizers

Is your faith saving face or have you found saving faith? Today’s scripture reveals what happens when we have found Saving Faith.

There have been times when my faith has been leaning more towards 'saving face' before the gathering, thinking maybe that if I appear holier than I feel then God will cover my deception before the world and at the same time give me more faith than I have.

As a teenager and beginning to find my feet in the world, my best friend and I would discuss 'religion', 'religions' and whether or not there was a God. Our discussions were often greatly skewed towards Christian religion, as we knew little of any other. I remember that on one occasion we decided that Jesus existed, because He was historically documented; but that the case for God - in good Scots Law fashion - was 'not proven'. We also concluded that to have faith you needed to have faith ... but how to find it, as it was not readily available in the shops. We therefore destroyed all notion of faith through the application of deductive reasoning.

And yet, at the back of the mind, was the constant prodding of the seed of faith that God had planted before the beginning of time. (God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. [1 Timothy 1:9 NKJV])

What then is faith? Hebrews 11:1 above gives us the writer of Hebrews answer, and another definition I heard lately was "Faith is the indefinable certainty of God behind every thing." This is something I now know, but it took many years and many false avenues before I came to the depth of faith I have today. Until recently, I used to regret the many years when I languished in a casual belief in God. That in a sense, is faith that has faith in faith, and is worth little or nothing at all.

The only faith, is faith that is sure of God, and so I prayed about those wasted years. The Lord did not seem troubled. The reassurance was not of the 'that is OK, better late than never' dismissal, but of an amazing, revelatory, passionate embracing reassurance.

He said "Even if you were not always with Me; I am always with you." That is Faith with a capital F.

We read this in “Devotions For A Deeper Life” by Oswald Chambers:

“The Christian life is a holy life. Do not substitute the word happy; happiness is a consequence of holiness.
“So many good people are caught up in what we may call “the gospel of temperament.” In other words, they subscribe to the belief that they must be happy and bright. But these moods are consequences, and not causes, of the Christian’s relationship with God.
“Our Lord insists that we keep our eyes fixed on “the strait gate and the narrow way” which, in essence, is pure love and holy living in every area of our lives. Happiness is not to be our primary aim. Our aim is to please the Lord Jesus Christ, to serve Him in the beauty of holiness, in love, and in humility. Is this your aim?

“It Is A Good Thing To Give Thanks Unto The Lord” - The New Creation Singers

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.
You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
[Deuteronomy 7:1-2 NKJV]

The Jebusites are those who 'tread down'; kick out; reject. Those who are not governed, who will trample on and reject anything that comes along, and there are - like all these nations - two ways to look at this. Either we reject or are rejected. The outworking of being rejected (or feeling rejected, whether in actuality or imagined) is that we in turn reject.

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
[Matthew 7:6 NKJV]

The rejection spirit is one that tramples you down and tears you in pieces. You are left alone. Everything has been kicked out, because you walked and continue to walk in fear. You have given what is holy to the dogs; given away your inheritance. But The Lord says that He has cast these nations out, He has delivered them over to us* (through His Holy Spirit we have His strength to overcome), so that we can conquer them and utterly destroy them. Show them no mercy.

"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
[Deuteronomy 7:6-8 NKJV]

God is saying to us clearly and unequivocally to reject these many nations that swarm around us intent on our destruction. He has given us the power - by calling on His name - to wage war on the enemy and have full and final victory.

________________________

• * But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God.[Deuteronomy 20:16-18 NKJV]

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.
You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
[Deuteronomy 7:1-2 NKJV]

The Hivites - their name means 'village dwellers' from a word meaning to tell; make known; declare; show. They were people who are governed by a need to gossip, tell lies and whose tongues are always wagging – keen to expose instead of covering and protecting. Doesn’t seem like much really – but a strong and mighty nation nonetheless, for it is the complete opposite of all we need to be in Jesus. He was truth, and these spirits are anything but.

As a ‘village dweller’, in that I live in a beautiful village in the west of Scotland, I appreciate what is meant here. It is not that all villagers lie and tell tales, though doubtless that happens here as in any community, but that in small gatherings there can develop an insularity a separating from the way the truth and the life, which comes down to a very introverted behaviour, complete selfishness, which finds its outlet in condemning others - and obviously it keeps us apart from God.

James summed it up in these verses ...

Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry. For man’s anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires].
So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.
But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].
For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; for he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.
But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).
If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person’s religious service is worthless (futile, barren).
External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.
[James 1:19-27 AMPC]


I had not thought of it this way until I read James’ words, but anger is a form of the Hivite spirit. It is making known, telling out a complete self-centredness against another or others. It is the opposite of the peace we know when The Lord is with us, even in the midst of the trial.

Speak to Him, talk to Jesus. In that moment, His peace will fill you and anger, lies and self will flee ...

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.
You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
[Deuteronomy 7:1-2 NKJV]

I feel I need to stress at this point the first words of our text, which are When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, which is to say that our Heavenly Father has already done the work. He has brought us to the right place and has thrown out these enemies, these nations or spirits which are out to beguile us away from Him. We have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Despite this, we must be aware that this work is the end of the matter - the omega in the alphabet - and in our timeline we are still on the journey under our Lord’s watchful eye. We are still between alpha and omega; still in the battleground and we must always be on our guard, turning to The Lord for His loving arms of protection.

If we remain in the place of subjugation as we saw in the previous meditation, whether under subjugation or perpetrating subjugation of others, we are consumed by that humiliating spirit, that nation which slowly devours us, enslaved by the enemy.

The Perizzites - 'unwalled village dwellers' - are unprotected from wild animals, reptiles and beasts of every shape and form, all of whom are not good for anyone. So beaten down are those of the Perizzite nature, that any passing spirit hops in to the mix and they are powerless to resist.

So we are looking at those people who are governed by whatever comes along – open to any passing influence, good or bad, easily led and therefore easily led away from all righteousness. In a way, this is unbelief or at least a step in that direction.

There are a myriad demonic spirits around and about us, and individually they may be merely vexing, but once we are reduced to the unprotected Perizzite way, we cannot resist even the weakest of invaders. Our prayer is that we never reach this debilitated state.

Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.
[Psalm 28:10 KJV]

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[Isaiah 53:6 KJV]

However, we have the assurance that we have a Great Shepherd, who looks after even the one that goes astray.

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
[Deuteronomy 7:1-2 NKJV]

It is said that pride comes before a fall, and the next nation to rise and bring us down (if you see what I mean) are The Canaanites, 'lowlanders'; traffickers; bringing slavery; humiliation; subjugation. What we might be tempted to call 'low-lifes', who subject others to humiliation, and are therefore governed by contemptuousness. What else can we be if our lives are filled to overflowing with pride.

But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
[Jeremiah 34:11 KJV]

Giving in to fear and not trusting in our Heavenly Father seems to lead to a slide further and further away from The Lord and deeper into the yawning chasm of self. Pride gives us the false confidence that “we can do it, all by ourselves”! We are in deception; subjugated and humiliated by the way we have become. Once you let the enemy in, he turns your self against yourself, and you are enslaved. Before you know it you’ll be a Perizzite.

However, no matter how deceived or disillusioned we have become, our Lord is more than able to to lift us out of it. He lives within us and He is more than able to strengthen our resolve to show no mercy to these diabolical nations.

Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, “At the end of seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear.
[Jeremiah 34:12-14 NKJV]

Our Lord will set us free from the house of bondage if we will but incline [our] ears.

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
[Deuteronomy 7:1-2 NKJV]

The Amorites - self-elevating and boasting Is their place as evidenced by the meaning of their name. What I believe this comes down to is those who walk in vanity, pride and arrogance. These things are present in all of us, and we often do not realise it, or if we do, we can only suppress it Ineffectively – it is a basic drive in all of us to protect the self from harm – and we do that in part by telling ourselves 'I am better than him'; ... ‘of course, such things come naturally to someone like me' and so on.

We can see a progression forming in these nations. They are all things of the self; part of our nature that have great power over us.

The spirit of fear inspires in us a desire for a settled untroubled existence and we become complacent in that cosy existence. We settle into a ‘religious’ existence instead of life in the spirit and see no need for change - maybe believing that we are spirit-filled too - which will inevitably lead to a pridefulness in how awfully well we are doing! Good for me. Well, I ask you! Satan begins to have a field day in us.

And that spirit of pride is inextricably linked with so many other spirits that fill us. It is like Japanese knotweed, or ground elder, it creeps along under the surface and before you know it, it's everywhere – choking the good stuff you are trying to cultivate. (I should know for I’ve just spent 3 weeks battling the stuff in our garden and still pull out more daily! )

Our verses make it plain that these things are part of our fallen nature and not something we can deal with under our own steam. Thankfully we know a strong and mighty gardener who, if we ask Him, can pluck this stuff up by the roots and consign it where it rightfully belongs - and at the same time create in us a genuine humility. Then we can genuinely express pride, and so boast in knowing a great almighty Saviour.

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’
Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” says the LORD.
[Obadiah 1:3-4 NKJV]