There are two kinds of pride… a good side and a bad side. Good pride urges us to pull our pants up to our waist, comb our hair, bathe, and brush our teeth in order to be presentable in society. We can take pride in doing a good job or in creating a work of art. On the other hand, pride can stumble our walk with Jesus and cause us to think more of “me” than of serving the Lord.

Pride causes us to believe we are better than other people and to look down on them. We are all sinners and are all in need of God’s grace. It’s not a Christian virtue to pridefully look down on other people. We are all human with many failings, so if you set the standard of perfection by your own actions, you’ve lifted yourself above Jesus. He was perfect in every way and never sinned. He is the standard of perfection we need to aim for. Since we are all human with a sin nature, we can never achieve perfection in our own right; therefore, we can’t be so prideful as to expect others to meet our standards.

“A man’s pride shall bring him low; but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit” (Proverbs 29:23).

Remember, none of us is righteous by our own means; our righteousness comes only through Jesus. We owe Him our life.

This doesn’t mean we aren’t to discern. Scripture tells us not to pursue friendships and marriages or any partnership that compromises our walk with Jesus. Always ask yourself if joining closely with another person will bring you closer to God or drive you away from Him. If Jesus is first in your life, you will try to be like Him, and He will be your guide in all things. Jesus was humble and only got angry when God the Father was dishonored or when the Pharisees allowed pride to compromise compassion.

What makes you angry? Is it someone who steps on your pride? Someone who makes you feel inferior? If these things make you mad, then your pride is making you follow a wrong path. According to Scripture, we are to love our fellow human beings.

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).

More than likely, you do things that step on other people’s pride. You cannot control another person’s actions, but you can allow the Holy Spirit to guide your actions.

There are many bad attitudes that pride brings into your life. Pride won’t allow you to forgive someone who has wronged you, even if they don’t seek your forgiveness. It also stops you from asking forgiveness from someone you’ve wronged.

“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:5-7).

Take all things to the Lord and ask Him to help you subdue your own pride. Let Him lift you up instead of allowing your pride to bring bitterness into your heart.

We can’t find a better example of the ugliness of pride than the pride of Lucifer. He was filled with pride, thinking that he was equal to God. He’s a being created by God, therefore inferior to God.

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15).

Sadly, too many people reject Christ and follow the ways of the world, which is ruled by Satan. When you look down upon another person with anger and spite, you aren’t following in Jesus’ footsteps but are following Lucifer in his pride and hatred. Satan’s pride caused him to lose his place in Heaven, and he will spend eternity in the lake of fire. He will be there with all who reject Christ and choose to follow satanic ways. Be sure to look to Scripture to guide your life, choices, words, and attitude.

The only example of true humbleness is Jesus Christ. With the words of His mouth, He created the earth and all that’s in it.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4).

Jesus is God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. He was in the very beginning of all things… the Creator. He existed in Heaven where love abounds. There is no sin there and no pride. Yet, He loved His creation enough to humbly step into this fallen world in the form of a human baby in order to give us the only way of salvation.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

John did indeed behold Jesus in all His glory. John saw the miracles, and he saw the pride-filled Pharisees try to discredit Jesus. John was there at the last supper, saw Jesus arrested, and watched Him humbly allow Himself to be crucified. John also found the tomb empty on the third day. He saw the risen Lord. He was there on the day of Pentecost and was filled with the Holy Spirit. John must have been quite a rowdy fisherman when Jesus first called him. Jesus nicknamed John and James “The Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). John mellowed over time but never compromised God’s truth. His writings give us a special insight into the love of God.

Jesus came to earth in order to save humanity from sin. He gave His life for you and for me. Although He created the entire universe, He humbly stepped into His creation to show us the only way to eternal life. His own words tell us to be humble in our spirit.

“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Poor in spirit doesn’t mean that you have a weak spirit, but that the spirit you have is humble and not enriching itself. Jesus goes on to say, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Meekness isn’t weakness but power under control. A meek person has a mild disposition and a gentle spirit. Pride isn’t in them, just the love of God.

The wrong kind of pride will bring much misery into your life. When you’re filled with pride, you have no room for the love of your fellow humans. Pride causes us to see worldly desires rather than the desire to please God.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16).

We only need to look upon the recent riots and destruction in order to see the result of pride unleashed. Christians need to put pride behind us and serve our Lord and Saviour rather than allow pride to drag us down to the level of worldly people who serve Satan instead of Christ.

That evil being was prideful enough to try to tempt Jesus to sin. If he was arrogant enough to try to tempt Jesus, he will certainly try to tempt those of us who follow Jesus. After Jesus had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, Satan thought He was weak. Not Jesus… He was humble, not weak. Every temptation put before Him by Satan was answered with Scripture. The third and final temptation presented was that Satan would give Him all the kingdoms of the world if only Jesus would worship him. That would have meant Jesus wouldn’t have to endure the cross, but it would also mean His blood wouldn’t have been shed for our salvation. Pride could have caused Jesus to accept the challenge, but Jesus had Scripture ready to thwart Satan’s feeble attempts to cause Him to stumble.

“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10).

If you allow pride to rule your life, you are not serving Christ.

Remember, it was pride that caused Lucifer to think He could be like God almighty. Lucifer is so far from being like God that there is absolutely no comparison. God is love; Satan is hate. God wants you to be with Him forever in Heaven, but Satan only wants you to join him in the Lake of Fire. Both places are eternal, but only faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus brings eternal love and peace.

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23).

Pride is a sin. Don’t let pride cause you to fall. Bow your heart humbly before Jesus and let Him lift you up.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:10).

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com
ron@straitandnarrowministry.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

If you’d like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.

 

Modern man is puffed up and full of pride from all the “knowledge” discovered through science. Much of that knowledge is made-up stories and passed on as fact. Fearing and respecting God is a very wise way to live.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).

This truth is evident throughout Scripture, and in our modern world, it’s obvious that the fear of God is lacking. The world grows darker and much more evil every day as God’s truth is rejected. God created all that we see, but science tells us every complex and unique particle evolved randomly over billions of years. Who do you believe? I believe the One who was there and did the creating, the One most scientists don’t believe exists. I also read Chapter 1 of Romans and understand why there is so much perverse behavior in the world. That chapter clearly tells what happens when God is rejected as Creator. God is omniscient and knows everything that has ever happened, as well as what will happen.

“Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10).

He gave prophecy so that we can be guided through life and through these end times in which we live.

“When will this world end?” is a question that’s been asked for centuries. One day, Jesus’ disciples came to Him and asked about the end of the age. Remember, Jesus was God incarnate and the Creator, so His knowledge of all things can be trusted. Their questions weren’t about the “Harpazo” but were about His second coming and the very end of time. Jesus told them not to be deceived. There’s a lot of deception in the world today, even from pulpits. Only believing God’s truth will help you to wisely understand the times. He told them about the signs of the times that would include wars, rumors of wars, love waxing cold, the abomination of desolation, and much more. One of the signs given was that it would be like the days of Noah.

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37).

The men He was talking to understood what He meant because they weren’t mixed up about what the days of Noah entailed. It wasn’t until later that the meaning got confused because Scripture began to be interpreted in secular terms, forgetting the wisdom of God. Today, many Christians are confused about the happenings of our time because we believe man’s opinion is superior to what God says. So, according to Scripture (God’s word), what were the days of Noah like?

“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4).

Giants in the earth? That’s what the King James translation says. Let’s dig a little deeper into the original Hebrew words and see what was really said. You may be surprised. The Hebrew word “napil” (pronounced nef-eel) is translated “giants” in the King James Version of the Bible, but most other versions say “Nephilim,” which is the better translation. They were hybrid creatures, the offspring of the fallen angels (sons of God) and human women (daughters of men). These Nephilim creatures were gigantic… and evil. People of the day were just going about “business as usual” and not paying attention to what was happening around them. Much like today.

“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:38-39).

People today have access to information and should easily see the signs of the times. Just like the people before the flood could see Noah building the ark but chose to ignore the signs and were surprised by the flood, so people today choose to remain blind to what’s happening all around. As long as life isn’t challenged too much and we’re relatively comfortable, we ignore the genetic manipulation happening with our food and “health” care. Yes, today isn’t much different than the days in which Noah lived.

Where did these Nephilim come from? Who were they? Why did God need to destroy the inhabitants of the earth, including the animals? Certainly, if, as one misinterpretation of this verse suggests, these Nephilim were just earthly kings who married women against their will, God wouldn’t have been angry enough to destroy everything. Or if, as another misinterpretation suggests, the so-called Godly line of Seth married the ungodly line of Cain, that still doesn’t explain why the people and animals had to be destroyed. God had not yet called out the Jewish nation to be the line that would bring forth Messiah, so there was no restriction on marriage outside of a certain tribe or group of people. The phrase “sons of God” refers to a direct creation of God, such as angels (Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Job 38:7).

Adam was a direct creation (but not Eve, who was taken from Adam). The angels were directly created by God and are always male, so in Heaven, they had no wives. In the New Testament, we’re told that when we believe in Jesus, we are a new creation and become a son of God. In Genesis 6:4, these sons of God are the fallen angels who followed Lucifer in rebellion against God. Yes, they are the ones who fathered children by the daughters of Adam (human women) and are now in everlasting chains awaiting judgment. We know this because Jude tells us.

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6).

We could get into the Greek words here, which make it clear that these angels changed their appearance and took on human form. They are the ones who came unto the daughters of men, and their union produced the Nephilim. These Nephilim are not human, nor are they angelic. Their spirits cannot be redeemed by the Blood of Jesus because they are not human. Jesus came as a human to redeem humans, not genetic hybrids.

Noah’s family was wise and feared God. They had not been a part of the evil around them.

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

This doesn’t mean that Noah didn’t have a sin nature, but the word “perfect” comes from the Hebrew word “tamim,” which speaks of genetic purity. Noah and his family were fully human and not tainted by the evil around them.

According to Jesus’ own words, the end times will be “as in the days of Noe.” The wickedness of the antediluvian world will soon return and is in the wings now. Genetic tampering is happening today, and the genetic abominations that caused God to destroy men and animals will soon engulf the world. Huge, grotesque, monstrous beings, that’s what the people of Earth who have rejected Christ for salvation and are left after the “Harpazō” (the great snatching away of the Ekklesia of Christ) have to look forward to in their future. Goliath, Og the King of Bashan, and the gigantic inhabitants of the Promised Land give us some idea of the size and fierceness of these creatures. They will be huge and have no feelings of mercy or kindness.

Gene manipulation is occurring in science labs today. Most scientists don’t fear God; therefore, they have no true wisdom. Put “transhumanism or “transgenics” into a search engine and see what comes up. Genetic abominations are being created now. Mice with human brain cells, sheep with human hearts, pigs with human blood, and much more are being produced today. We all know of the double helix of DNA, but now scientists are producing animals – and humans – with a triple helix. The military is developing the technology for a “super-soldier” that has no fear and cannot be killed. This isn’t science fiction, but science fact.

These and many more genetically altered life forms are in a science lab – or neighborhood – near you. Hollywood is preparing us to accept this. Movies and television offer films that glorify vampires, zombies, aliens, and all sorts of evil. We’re being led into accepting these satanic creatures, but this is just a sign that the “Harpazō” (the great snatching away of the Ekklesia of Christ, which is our blessed hope) is on the near horizon. Still, most people are totally unaware.

We might feel as though we’ve seen the most horrible of episodes in mankind’s existence when we remember the millions of Jewish men, women, and children who were murdered in German concentration camps during WWII, and how so many nations had an opportunity to help but didn’t. We are sickened when we hear of children being murdered in classrooms, and we might think we’ve seen evil at its worst. It is evil, but when we fully understand Genesis chapter 6 and grasp what Jesus meant when He said it would be like what occurred “…in the days of Noe,” we should understand that we are very near to God’s judgment. Just as Enoch was “raptured” prior to God’s judgment, so will all Christians be taken prior to the final seven years of Earth’s history.

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

The Hebrew word for great is “rab,” and it means: Exceedingly, abundantly, or overwhelmingly great. Just how bad could it have been? The same Hebrew word for “great” is used to describe the situation with Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 13, which is another example of end times that Jesus used in Luke 17:28. God removed Lot and his family, then proceeded to destroy those two cities as well as all the surrounding cities. Those who rejected God’s warning and remained in the sin-infested cities were destroyed. For God to destroy so many people in the flood of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah, the wickedness must have been great.

Jude says, “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7).

We could do a word study here, but suffice it to say that God doesn’t look kindly upon any sexual relationship except a one man/one woman marriage.

That same evil is spreading and engulfing planet Earth, and yet we are still here. Obviously, we haven’t gotten to the place that God sees as the point of no return. Evil is strong, and many people have no fear of God.

“And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12:4-5).

Do you fear God? That’s a good start. If you fear Him, then obey Him. Accept the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for your salvation. Then, turn your life over to Him and live as a son of God… a new man and a direct creation of God.

“But as many as received him, them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

Could it be that these monstrous beings are already among us?! Transgenics, transhumanism, and designer genes are already here, so we can be assured that the Harpazō will happen in the very near future.

Doug Hamp has written a book called Corrupting the Image, which goes into this in depth. He also has a lecture on it, which can be found on YouTube.

If you haven’t given your life to Jesus Christ, do it now. Tomorrow may be too late. If you have accepted Him for salvation, then turn from all manner of evil. Witness to friends and family. Understand the signs of the times, and don’t skip studying prophecy.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

ron@straitandnarrowministry.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

If you’d like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.