God Resists the Proud

Hi Everyone,

I hope all is well. Today is another beautiful day, for the Lord has made it, and we will rejoice in it! I have three visions to share with you today, about pride, ego and God’s direction in life.

The Visions

The Arch

In this vision I saw an incomplete arch that was standing at the edge of a highway.  The arch was about 20 feet tall on the right hand side of the road.  Only one half of the arch was actually completed, forming a quarter circle above the spring line which extended out over the road about 10-15 feet.  Suddenly at the midpoint of the arc, at about 45 degrees, the arch broke off and fell to the ground.

As I thought about the vision, two arches came to mind.  The first was the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.  It was an arch that was built to commemorate the heroes of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars.  And the other arch was the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, Missouri.  It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States. Both of these monuments and many others like them are designed to inspire feelings of grandeur and awe. They are all to commemorate the accomplishments of men.  It seems that all around the world people, as individuals or groups, seek fame and fortune, and desire to have a place in history. They want to see their names remembered and exalted.

The Tower of Babel is a good example of how people from very early times had the desire to make a name for themselves.  They were not concerned for how God might perceive their building project, or their motives.  In the 11th chapter of the book of Genesis we find this great undertaking to build a tower and a city to promote their name to the world.

 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.   As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.  Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.  The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.  That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.  From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.  Genesis 11:1-9

The Lord is God, He is creator and ruler over all things.  We are to honor Him and bring His name glory. But when we are driven to make a name for ourselves, pride and self-glorification overshadows the glory of God.  

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.  Proverbs 16:18

In the vision the arch was only half complete.  Someone or some team of people had started to build the arch, but abandoned the project for some unknown reason.  But an arch needs both sides and bases to support the arch itself.  With only a half arch, the cantilevered portion, extending over the road, was too heavy for the supporting side to hold it up.  So it broke off.  The weight could have toppled the entire piece as a unit, but the base must have been firmly attached to the ground, so that this did not occur.  

It is possible that the vision is showing us how we can make plans and undertake great projects, but if they do not align with God’s plans and purpose, they may be stopped and never completed. 

Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.  Proverbs 19:21 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”  You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”  James 4:13-15

Edom, after having been destroyed by the Babylonian army, made plans to rebuild their cities, but God had other plans.  Edom was the land where Esau, Jacob’s twin brother lived, and the Edomites were Esau's descendants.  If you remember, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup.  This showed Esau's careless attitude toward his God given inheritance, the very promise of God.  That is one reason why the Lord claimed to have loved Jacob and hated Esau.

This is the burden of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi:

“I have loved you,” says the LORD.

But you ask, “How have You loved us?”

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever. You will see this with your own eyes, and you yourselves will say, ‘The LORD is great—even beyond the borders of Israel.’  Malachi 1:1-5

Edom and Israel were always at odds.  Edom refused to let Israel pass through their land when they had come out of Egypt. (Numbers 20:14-21)  And when Babylon sacked Jerusalem in 586 BC the Edomites celebrated their defeat.

Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”  Psalm 137:7

The entire book of Obadiah in the Bible concerns God’s judgement against the Edomites.

The Edomites lived without the knowledge or the fear of God.  So they were “a people with whom the Lord is indignant forever.”  

The Lord will give grace to those who humble themselves, but to those who are puffed up with pride, and arrogance, he rejects.  

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”   James 4:6

Pride is sin.  And the Lord will not tolerate it.  It is best to humble ourselves before him, and receive his grace, mercy and favor.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.  James 4:8-10

The Nose

 In this vision I saw a line drawn down the center of a nose splitting it into two equal parts.  I believe that the vision is about the simple truth of not going in two different directions at the same time.  Just as we have one mouth, a person who “speaks out of both sides of his mouth,” lacks integrity. He is double minded and deceitful, speaking words that negate each other.   The nose is in the center of the face, and if something catches our attention, we turn our heads in that direction.  But we cannot simultaneously go in two different directions.  This vision shows the importance of prioritizing our thoughts, plans, and goals and ultimately having a single purpose.  If we are aligned with God and his purpose for us, we will not be wandering around in circles, getting nowhere in particular.

Too often, people fail to seek the Lord for His wisdom and guidance, so they drift through life.  They could look back upon their lives and discover that not much was accomplished in the last 5, 10 or 20 years.  If we choose to follow the Lord, He will lead us in the direction that we should go.  He will give us divine appointments, and we will be at the right place at the right time.  So we need to submit to God, for He has plans for us:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.  Proverbs 16:9   

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.  Psalm 139:16

After I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit,  the Lord started removing things from my life that were not aligned with His purpose for me.  He first asked for my design business, so I gave it up willingly.  Next, he asked me for my master’s degree which was nearly complete, and I also gave it up, even though my  husband was not pleased with the idea.

Next, he asked me to give up my exercise ministry at the church.  But after I had decided to give it up, I was surprised that He allowed me to keep it!  Even my husband acknowledged God’s design when he said, “God just wanted to know that you were willing to do what he asked, just like Abraham when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac.”  

So God has asked me to give up other things.  Once he told me, “Do me a favor and take off your watch.”  I got rid of it and have never worn one since.

Another time the Lord had asked me to “Give up pop,”  (a Midwest term for soft drinks/cola). So I have not had a diet cola in 30 years.  Later He told me “No added sugar.”  So that was almost 10 years ago.  And about 5 years ago, the Lord gave me a vision.  I saw my television draped and pulled away from the wall.  I knew that the Lord was asking me to treat the television like I do to the piano.  I draped the piano and ignored it.  So I haven’t watched TV for the last 5 years.

Recently he told me to give up a friendship that I have had for 20 years.  That was painful, but I did it. God does not want to compete for our attention.  Everything that we are not willing to give up is an idol.  

And just these last three weeks, the Lord asked me to give up wearing makeup.  I have worn makeup everyday since I was 16.  This was hard for me, but I did not wear it for three weeks.  There were times when I really didn’t want to leave the house. I was embarrassed to go without makeup.  I had to get used to my face as it really was, with dark circles and wrinkles. Oh my!

I knew that the Lord did not appreciate makeup, for years ago, I was getting ready to teach a class, and I was in the bathroom putting on my makeup.  I heard the Lord speak to me saying, “Is it for me that you do this?”

And I said, “No– I guess I am doing it for me.”

I am ashamed to say that I did not give it up at that time.  I somehow justified it.  I should have repented and given it up.  

Since then, from time to time I would come across the story in the Bible about the most wicked woman, Jezebel,  who was so evil that one day she “painted her eyes,” went out onto her balcony and was thrown down to her death by her eunuchs and eaten by dogs.   I would then think of her when I would paint my own eyes.  

Also in the Book of Enoch, to which both Peter and Jude refer in their letters, and is considered scripture by the Church of Ethiopia, we see that the “sons of God,” (the watchers), taught men to make implements of war and the women to paint their eyes.  

So three weeks ago, when editing my blog, the Lord brought conviction to my heart regarding makeup, and I realized it was a form of idolatry, for I did not want to give it up.  It was something that I considered so important.  But I gave it up, nonetheless.  I believed it was forever.

Even while writing this now, the Lord showed me the connection with Job.  The Lord told Satan that he could do anything to Job and long as he did not touch his body.  So Satan destroyed his entire wealth and killed his children.  Job responded without sin:

Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying:  “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return.  The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the LORD.”  In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.  Job 1:20-22

Satan spoke a second time to God about Job saying:

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life. But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” Job 2:4-5

God gave him permission with the stipulation that he could not cause his death.  Again, Job did not sin, even when his wife tried to incited him to do so.

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.  And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes.

Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.  Job 2:7-10

I mention this because the other things were not so difficult for me to give up. But makeup was hard for me since vanity and identity is at the core of our natural being.  For me this was a stronghold in my mind.  Could I be accepted the way I was?  Who was I after all?  Who did I present myself as being?  I uncovered the fear of man hiding in my ego, and influencing my self image.  What would others think?  That is the fear of man!

Do we fear God and obey him?  Or, do we fear man, and diminish God’s commands? 

The Lord once told me:  “As long as you are fearful of man, I cannot use you, for you are already being used.”

What was God saying?  The fear of man is really about how we see our own value wrapped in others’ opinions of us. Because of the fear of man we tend to be people pleasers.  When we are concerned with others’ views of us, then we are less likely to step out in faith, following the Lord’s direction, and more likely to protect our self-image.  Therefore to fear man is bondage, and Jesus died to set us free!  We have to choose to fear God for that is the beginning of wisdom.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  Proverbs 9:10

Then just a few days ago, the Lord gave me the next vision:

The Eye

In this vision I saw an eye with eyeliner.  I was confused at first, but later elated. I believe that the Lord was telling me that it is okay for me to wear it.  Hallelujah!  I was amazed to find out how much I depended on eye cover up and eye liner to feel that I was “presentable.”  The three weeks that I spent with no makeup has made me face the reality that we are aging and our bodies are perishable. I have also learned that the fear of man must be put down, and squelched, otherwise we are not fully available to the Lord.

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken.  For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”  Genesis 3:19

The scripture above is taken from the account of creation in the Old Testament. Today, we do not go to the grave or Sheol. But because the Lord returned to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70 as he had prophesied in the gospels, coming within in their lifetimes, the Old Covenant that “was soon to disappear,” was now finally terminated, so that the New Covenant could be fully established. With the temple destroyed, the animal sacrifices and the law could no longer be followed. This was the end of the age that was prophesied in the Synoptic gospels and in the Book of Revelation.

Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Luke 24:44-45

The redemption that was “at hand,” is now complete. The New Covenant in the Lord’s blood is now consummated. Therefore, if we have been born of the Spirit of God, then we will continue to live, spiritually even though we die physically!  Hallelujah! If Jesus did not return to close out the Old Covenant and establish the new, we would be still under the “law of sin and death.” But Hallelujah! Jesus kept his promise so we have eternal life in him!

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”  John 11:25-26 

 I am glad that the Lord gave me the green light to wear makeup, but I must say that I am so much, much more grateful that Jesus came to die in our place, and purchase for us salvation in his name! Thank you Jesus! You are holy! You are Worthy! You are great! There is no one like you! Praise be your holy name!

Thanks for reading.  Please share this post with others that need to be encouraged in their walk with the Lord Jesus.

Be blessed!