From Pastor John Collins:
Pastor John Collins: An age of arrogance, ego and pride
Pride gets us nowhere with God
The Giant Goliath held King Saul and his army in a
siege. In his arrogance, he taunted the
army threatening anyone who would stand against him. Young David, years from
becoming the next king of Israel, was there and stepped up to face
Goliath. Goliath's pride and arrogance
would not allow him to see the threat that David really did present. David's faith and humility in facing that
giant pleased God, and God allowed David to defeat Goliath by hitting him with
a stone thrown from a sling and then David cut off Goliath's head. Pride gets us nowhere in the face of God.
Pride and humility.
We are a proud people here in the United States. We have so much that we have accomplished,
the rest of the world sometimes looks at us in disgust because we give the
appearance of not being satisfied. It’s
never enough and we draw attention to ourselves where ever we go. Celebrities are recognized and lifted up as
examples for us to live by. Through all
of the media, it’s “look what I can do”.
God resists the proud. Pride will not get any soul into heaven.
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 (NKJV).
Our faith as Christians today doesn’t measure up to the
faith of Abraham, of Noah, of Moses, of David.
These men were humble to begin with and knew the value and spirit of
humility before God. Our pride gets in
the way. How would God choose from among
us today? We often don’t have the
strength of faith to worship Him, let alone look beyond what our human hands
and minds create and put before God. Our
offerings of ourselves lack humility. We
need to let go of pride and ego, let go of the pride that we have accomplished
something and let God and Jesus Christ work in our lives.
Evangelist Pastor John Collins began a revival of awakening.
That awakening stirs the spirit of those who hear him. From a pulpit or behind the microphone of a
recording studio, his words are Biblically correct. Being Biblically correct in
a very politically correct world is difficult for most of the strongest of
Christians today.
Pastor John Collins says it well and puts pride and humility into this perspective:
“Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.’” Luke 9:46-48 (NKJV).
Who is worthy to be lifted up? How does God choose those
that He would separate and use for His purposes? He chose Abraham and Abraham
was considered a friend of God’s. He chose David and David was a man after
God’s own heart. He sent His Son who died for us all. Even those who walked with Jesus thought of
themselves and the impact that they would have on this world. This is so
wonderful to know that the human instinct to desire to rise above and be great
was felt in those men who walked with Christ. This allows us to recognize this
in ourselves and work to overcome that ego. They were corrected and they
learned what true humility is. They witnessed their Lord humble Himself to the
Cross. Yet there are so many that want to be great in the name of the Lord.
They call attention to themselves and think highly of themselves. But, God
resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Believe me when I tell you
that God knows what He is doing and He knows our hearts.
Pastor John Collins of Redeeming the Gospel Revival, John Collins Ministries continues on: God has no use for pride.
God does not want servants that think highly of themselves
and their eligibility. God wants people to serve Him that are humble of heart.
When we choose to walk with Jesus it should be with a pure heart and a true
devotion to obedience to the Lord. We should never seek our own acclaim. We
should not care what others think of us. We should be concerned only with
whether we are an asset to the kingdom of God or a burden. If we have selfish
ambition in our heart and a desire to stand out and be important, we are
seeking status in this life and we are then unworthy to be a true servant of
the Lord.
We must be careful when we desire to leave a name for
ourselves, to want to be recognized for our importance or to be valued among
men. A truly worthy person that will serve God well is a person that has no
ambition in his heart. This person thinks of salvation when he looks upon the
souls of this world. This person has sadness in his heart because of the
condition of the human race. This person worries of the state of others’ faith
in their lives. This person considers opportunities to share the gospel and
help others come to Jesus. This person wants to see others go to heaven and
lives his life as an example. This person will sacrifice and find ways to be a
light in a world of dark. This person will please God.
“Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” James 2:5 (NKJV).
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:3-6 (NKJV).
Learning to be humble takes a commitment to become obedient
to God. In order to become obedient to
God, we need to learn to draw near to Him in prayer and through the words in
the Holy Bible. God wants each of us to
have the opportunity to come to know Him, so that we all can go home to Him one
day. That is the reason He sent His Son
Jesus Christ, for our salvation through His sacrifice on the Cross. Jesus humbly accepted the punishment of our
sins, died publicly in humility and obedience.
God won’t ask us to do anything that He won’t equip us to handle. We can become obedient and humble ourselves
before God, just as His Son did. God
wants us to come to know Him and His love, to help us with our lives and be
part of our lives here in this world.
Pride and ego turns us from God.
To be meek, to be poor in spirit means to be humble; we need to learn
the humility of Christ. Bring back God in our lives, come humbly to the foot of
the Cross.
“God is never secondary in my life, He is always Primary”- Pastor John Collins, Evangelist.
So you’ve disappointed God, now what?
Pastor John Collins says "It is not possible to go through this life without sinning and it is impossible to not have disappointed God at some point in your life, but what is most important is what you do about it. It is not easy for mere humans to recognize the ways of God and to know the miracles and hope that suffering produces. In Jesus' name, with faith, there is now the hope of forgiveness and of acceptance into heaven. With your own suffering comes humility and growth in your faith. Faith is something that you have to fight for and want. Faith is not a given and it is not just a belief. It is a trusting and a knowledge that Jesus did die for your sins and with this knowledge comes a willingness to live in hope and obedience to the word of God. It is easy to allow your humanly interpretations of situations and your own personal desires to get in the way of the will of God. Every so often you need to do a self-check and examine your motives and desires in this life and to see if they line up with the word of God. Do your best to not interfere with the will of God and do your best to not confuse the will of God with your will. You can tell the difference between the two by examining which one will produce righteousness in your life. Which choices in your life will bring about godliness? When you feel that you have disappointed God then it is time for you to repent. You can't live in perpetual guilt and you cannot allow your mistakes to drive you away from God. You must become humble so that you choose to come before Him and seek His forgiveness and His guidance, so that you can move forward in your life with confidence and trust, knowing that you are seeking the kingdom of heaven above all."
This is a sample of Pastor John's new sermon series. This powerful message does not promise false
hope, does not promise wealth of money or property, and won't leave a false
feeling of security. What he does do is focus attention on salvation and
pleasing God.
Pastor John Collins feels that there is a great need in the
United States to get away from the prosperity gospel, to get priorities right, that there is no price to
be put on a soul. Each person is
precious and deserves to hear the word of God in its entirety and without it
being watered down. Pastor John Collins
is available to travel to speak to churches or groups for this sermon
series. He can be reached through John
Collins Ministries, www.johncollinsministries.com.
