CAC LIVING WATER - THE PROBLEM OF SELF-EXALTATION

LIVING WATER DAILY DEVOTIONAL
THE PROBLEM OF SELF-EXALTATION

20TH , JULY 2022 

 

EXTRA READING FOR TODAY:  Ecclesiastes 2-5

READ:  Luke 14:7-14

 

7 Now He told a parable to those who were invited, [when] He noticed how they were selecting the places of honor, saying to them,

8 When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not recline on the chief seat [in the place of honor], lest a more distinguished person than you has been invited by him,

9 And he who invited both of you will come to you and say, Let this man have the place [you have taken]. Then, with humiliation and a guilty sense of impropriety, you will begin to take the lowest place.

10 But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host comes in, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher! Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit [at table] with you.

11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled (ranked below others who are honored or rewarded), and he who humbles himself (keeps a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly) will be exalted (elevated in rank).

12 Jesus also said to the man who had invited Him, When you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, lest perhaps they also invite you in return, and so you are paid back.

13 But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind.

14 Then you will be blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied), because they have no way of repaying you, and you will be recompensed at the resurrection of the just (upright).

 

 

 

MEMORISE: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled (ranked below others who are honored or rewarded), and he who humbles himself (keeps a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly) will be exalted (elevated in rank).” - Luke 14:11

 

 

 

 

EXPOSITION

It is today common tendency for people to call themselves what they aren't. As a matter of fact, the social media that should be of great advantage in the area of information dissemination is not really helping matters, as it encourages deceptive tendencies, instead.  They post anything, including false information about themselves, creating false impression about themselves to the public. Men's attempts to exalt himself above/against God's agenda for him ends in debasement (cf.Isa.14v12-17).

        Jesus watched as some guests at an occasion preferred the highest seats without being ushered to sit down on them. He quickly used that opportunity to teach one of His greatest lessons. It is better to sit in the low seat when invited for an occasion than to take the high and later be told to vacate such seat. That is undesirable, compared with being honourably  invited up the high table. The truth is, those who are too forward and are fond of themselves lose their dignity fast. The self-exalting is proud. They will be humbled (Jas.4v6). Desire elevation by God than doing it yourself. Don't blow your trumpet. Let God and others blow it for you.

        When you exalt God in your life, in due season, God will make arrangements for your exaltation and glorification (c.f. Phil. 2v9-11). Stop arrogating  rights to yourself, claiming that you are supposed to get this or that. Let God give you what rightly belongs to you in His own time. Don't snatch anything by force. Learn from Jacob's dilemma as an usurper (Gen. 27v1ff; 32:22-32). He cut corners to attain what he knew God had for him. God didn't spare him. Don't look for quick fixes to get to the top. Patiently and humbly go through the ranks to get to the top. It is sweeter and more honourable. Don't try to recommend yourself; let God and others do!

 

 

PRAYER POINT:

1. Lord, it is only Your lifting I desire, because it alone is long-lasting.

2. Deliever me, Lord from every arrogant attitude that can make You to detest me.

3. Pray that God should help curb the abuse of the information system by youths and adults, alike.

 

 

DO HAVE A BLESSED DAY

 

©2022  LIVING WATERS IS a daily devotional by THE CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH