James 4:6 ‘But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.’

DAILY READING 1 John 2; 2 Chronicles 35; Psalm 89:38-52

One of the most vicious rulers in the history of Babylon was king Nebuchadnezzar II. He was notorious for waging bloody wars, ruthlessly attacking and annexing neighboring countries.
In 612 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Jewish Temple and took thousands of Jewish armed men, workers, and the King of Judah back to captivity in Babylon.
With the stolen wealth from his conquests Nebuchadnezzar built monuments to his own glory. He built the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and had each brick inscribed with his name.

2,500 years later, Saddam Hussein became ruler of Iraq which is the present-day region of the ancient city of Babylon.
Saddam Hussein saw himself as a modern reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar. He spent millions of dollars in an attempt to reconstruct the city of Babylon, rebuilding on top of the old ruins of ancient Babylon. Just like Nebuchadnezzar, Saddam had each new brick inscribed with his name.
When archaeologists uncovered a plaque proclaiming Nebuchadnezzar’s greatness, Saddam ordered another plaque alongside it, glorifying the greatness of Saddam Hussein.
And just like Nebuchadneszzar attacked neighboring countries, Saddam also embarked on a campaign of terror and conquest of neighboring countries, first attacking Iran, then Kuwait and ultimately dreamed of recapturing Jerusalem.
Saddam Hussein’s rule was a repressive dictatorship and his government carried out various purges and genocides that killed an estimated 250,000 Iraqis.
Interestingly, Saddam experienced a downfall similar to that of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 4:30 says Nebuchadnezzar was driven from mankind; he ate grass like oxen, his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws until he acknowledged the sovereignty of God.
After Saddam Hussein’s government was toppled, he was driven from his palace and after a massive manhunt he was eventually found living in holes, his beards were overgrown, he was tattered, grimy and disheveled. After being convicted of crimes against humanity, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging.

Indeed history is full of great lessons. One of the important lessons we can learn is that pride indeed goes before a fall.
Nebuchadnezzar learned this bitter truth when he exalted himself and God made him to eat grass for seven years like an animal, until he learnt humility and acknowledged the greatness of God.
When he was restored back to humanity after learning his lesson, he said, “… and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”(Daniel 4:37).
Truly pride is a silent destroyer of destiny. It was pride that killed Herod. One day, during a public address, he spoke so eloquently that the people shouted that his voice was the voice of God. Instead of giving the glory to God, Herod’s heart was lifted with pride and at that instant an angel struck him dead. (Acts 12:21-24).

James 4:6 says: …God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Pride is the failure of a man to see the help of God in his affairs. When a man stops seeing what God has done, everything starts going down. Certainly, to take God for granted is to become grounded.
Our breakthrough does not lie in our strength. It is God’s grace that makes great. Truly without God we are nothing and can do nothing. He is the reason why we are alive. It is only because of His mercies that we have not been consumed. The very breath in our nostrils is only because of His grace.
There will never be a day when we won’t need God’s grace because anyone who lacks grace will surely end in disgrace.
The more we honor God the more He honors us.

1Samuel 2:30 says ‘But now the Lord said: be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed’

The more we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, the more He exalts us. The more we praise God, the more He raises us.

Humility comes when we fill our hearts with God’s Word until God completely dominates our hearts and there is no room for pride or self-exaltation.
True humility doesn’t make you think less of yourself, rather it makes you think of yourself less.
Indeed we must continually give God first place in all our affairs. In humility we must always remind ourselves that everything we are we owe to God; everything we have, came from God.

Let us ask God today for the grace to live a lifestyle of diligent study of His Word, prayers and worship so that we can continually abide under the shadow of His mighty Hand and never be exalted in pride.

PRAYER: Lord, please give me the grace to humble myself under Your mighty hands so that I will be exalted in due season. Please uproot every root of pride in me and enable me to always give You all the glory at all times in Jesus Name. .
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God is preparing you for the season He prepared for your breakthrough WORDBITE 222.