Aug 2 – 1 Chronicles 12:23-40, 1 Chronicles 13, 1 Chronicles 14 Romans 15:14-33 Psalm 90:1-10

Rom 15:17-20

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience-by word and deed,

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God-so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;

and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 

Pride in ourselves is a dangerous thing. It puts us on too high a level and we will likely fall off it.

They say pride comes before a fall, which is true although the bible doesn’t put it like that. In Proverbs 16:18 it actually says Pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall – which if anything is even more severe!

Paul had accomplished a lot – if he’d let pride in he would have been in a very dangerous place. But he refused to see anything he did as anything other than obedience to Christ.

It’s easy to take the focus off Him and think we’ve achieved something. But that’s a dangerous way to live. Our ambition should be nothing more than the Gospel and obedience to Christ and if we boast – it’s only about how amazing he is – not us.

How can you tell if you are heading down this path. Watch the words you use. If you start talking about what you are doing rather than what he is doing… you are on the way to boasting about yourself.

Ps 90:10

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

For most of us, this is true. Interestingly enough for the author of this Psalm is was not.

This is the only Psalm written by Moses (that we know of – maybe one of the anonymous ones were from him too, they are anonymous so who knows?). Moses when he reached 80 must have thought he was done.

40 years in Egypt as a member of the royal court… then 40 years as a fugitive. At 80 he thought he was done.

But far from it. Moses was wrong about this span of his life. He’d live for another 40 years on top of this! And they would be the most productive of all the years he lived – he was a rescuer of an entire nation and their leader!

When you think you are done, God has other ideas. When you think it’s taken too long for your ministry to emerge – God has other ideas. When you are ready to give in – God has other ideas.

Don’t give up on the dream. God sustained Moses beyond expectation, because God had a plan.