Repent from pride

This study is a word of God for the Church leaders as well as for the congregation, but especially for the leaders. If you really want to know what God has to say to you, then please ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes, ears and heart for this message. If you need to take action because of what He shows you, then do so and don’t waste your and Gods time. Our precious Lord Jesus is coming back soon and there’s not much time left. It is end time and God seeks leaders after His own heart. Those who will remain proud, will be fired from the ministry by God Himself, but those who will seek His honour and His glory will find it.

When we think about the first sin that was committed, then many people think that was disobedience to God. The general picture that people have is the picture of Adam and Eve in the garden, eating of the forbidden fruit that gave them the knowledge of good and evil. However, that was not the first sin, although it was the first sin on this earth. The first sin that was ever committed did not take place on earth, it took place in heaven. It was at the moment that satan allowed himself to be proud.

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nation! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High”.

Isaiah 14:12-14

What was satans attitude? It was pride! When did it happen? While he was ministering to the Lord. He saw how beautiful God had made him and became so very proud of that. He saw the important task he had, as THE worship leader of heaven, and found himself so important because of that. His ministry was the most important ministry of heaven. He had a position above all other heavenly creatures. There was only one Person who stood above Him and that was (and is) God. He must have made beautiful worship back then, but at a sudden point he became jealous and his position was no longer big enough for his big ego. He decided that he could be like God. At the moment he took action, together with a third of all the angels, he actually thought that he could throne above God. The result of this is that he and the other angels who joined the resistance, were banned from the heavens forever. The remarkable thing is that God didn’t create a new worship leader in heaven. Instead of that He created four worship leaders. Now there’s no worship leader in heaven who can say that he is the most beautiful and the best in ministry, because there are always three others. What a wisdom.

When we read the bible it is pretty obvious what Gods attitude against pride is. He hates it. When pride slips in, it can and will destroy your ministry and your personal relation with the Father. Unfortunately this world is filled with (Church) leaders who are so very proud of what they became and about how good their ministry is. Many of them can’t stop talking about it and are telling the people of all the good things they do. All over the internet we see promotional articles and movies about ministries. Most of them are talking about the “ministry” only. The focus is no longer on Jesus Christ, on what God wants to do and on repentance, but it’s all about “love” and completely about what they accomplished and about all the good things they do for a world in need. Tell me, in what way is this attitude different from all the charitable institutions of this world? I see no difference. In fact they are more like the world then that they are different from it. It is the opposite of what Paul says in Ephesians 4:

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:17-24

Now what kind of attitude is it when ministers are talking about how good their ministry is and when the focus is no longer on Gods aims and on repentance? It is pride! Wherever I look I see it. The church of today is filled with proud people. And then the second thing comes: money. Many of these so called leaders are summing up all their good deeds and then ask you to donate to their ministry because they are doing so much good things and they need funding for it. Again it is pride, but it’s also unbelief and the opposite of what Jesus said:

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

Matthew 6:1-4

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:25-34

You might know by now that satan always tries to make you feel guilty about your sins, even after you’ve confessed them. But there is one sin that he will never make you feel guilty about and that is the sin of pride. Now why is that? When he would make you feel guilty about the sin of pride, then by doing so he would also admit that it is a sin and that he was wrong when he became proud in heaven. Instead of that he wants you to believe that it isn’t a bad thing to feel proud about anything. Yet God hates the attitude of pride. Those who will remain proud will be humiliated by the Lord and those who humble there selves, will be exalted by God.

The kingdom of God is not about the branding of your ministry. It is not about branding at all. Branding is a thing that is used in the commercial world. It is used in business. We’re not working for a earthly business, we’re working for Gods business. And Gods ways are different then these earthy businesses. Self promotion always comes from the enemy. Yes it’s very attractive to promote yourself or your ministry. Sure, you can have received a vision from the Lord and sure it is possible that you see nothing happen. But instead of promoting yourself and walking ahead of God, you should wait for His perfect timing. Everything that’s promoted by you will fade, but everything that is promoted by God will last. I’m not saying that you can’t share anything at all, it’s all about the motivation behind it. What is the motivation of your heart? Do you really want to serve the Lord only? Is it really your intention to give Him all the worship? Or is there a feeling deep inside of you that longs to be worshipped for all the good things you did for the Lord? Come on, let’s be honest here. I believe we were all born with a carnal feeling to be worshipped. We all want to feel important and deep inside of us we all long to be worshipped. But all these feelings are pride and God hates it. We need to resist these carnal feelings and to humble ourselves before God, but also before our own brothers and sisters. Only then God will use you and your ministry, but every ministry that is build on pride shall be destroyed by God. You should better be aware what your true motivations are before you continue to do your work for the Lord. It is end time and He will no longer allow you to use His name for your own honour. Remember that you can fool the people you work with/for, but you can’t fool God. He knows what your true motivations are before you know it yourself.

Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion: part of its beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, as an offering made by fire to the LORD.

Leviticus 2:16

He shall take from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the grain offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma, as a memorial to the LORD.

Leviticus 6:15

Frankincense is a symbol of worship to the Lord. Notice that the priests were allowed to take some of the offering for their selves, but they weren’t allowed to take anything from the frankincense. That only belonged to God. This is still true for these times. None of the worship should be taken for ourselves. It only belongs to God. Again, it ONLY belongs to GOD! If you allowed people to put you on a pedestal, then repent from it! Don’t allow people to do that! Everything that you have to offer to them comes from the Lord and from Him alone. He should get all the worship and praise for that. Don’t take anything of the frankincense for yourself because when you do, God has to humiliate you. Repent from it while there’s still time. Repent and let the Holy Spirit build something new into your life so that He can use you as soon as the revival FIRE of God starts to burn into this world and in your nation.

But when you don’t promote anything, how will the people know about your ministry then? That is something many ministers are worrying about. Did you ever noticed that Jesus never promoted Himself? Jesus never used TV and radio programs to promote Himself. He never asked His disciples to announce everywhere that He was coming to an area. And yet the people knew. Why?

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Mark 16:17,18

In other words, at the moment you start to do what Jesus did, all these things will start to follow you! You don’t need to follow the signs and miracles, you need to follow Jesus and you need to start doing what He did; His ministry. Then you will see all these things happen in and through your own life as well. The result of that is that people will see that God is with you. At that moment you no longer need to promote yourself because the people will talk about you and your ministry. Why? Because they see that your faith is real and that signs and miracles are happening. They will come back and take others with them and your ministry will grow. Then you can show them who Jesus is. But again, never take some of the frankincense for yourself. Give all the honour, praise and worship to Jesus and teach the people to do the same. At the moment you do that, the Holy Spirit will support you in every single you and the anointing will flow!

Many Church leaders of today are finding their selves very important and very spiritual. Yes, that includes a lot of the well known charismatic leaders as well. Many think that they reached a level where they no longer need correction. They place their selves above the other believers and try to make their selves untouchable. At the moment that God has a word for them, many reject it because they don’t acknowledge the word and because they think they’re on a level where God only shares His words personally with them and not by using any of His messengers. These leaders may think they’re good and they even can speak the truth, but the fact is that the attitude I just described is disobedience to God and again an attitude of pride. Didn’t God say to test EVERYTHING? Instead of testing the words that God gives them, they reject the words without testing. They refuse to search God for it and to ask Him if the words that these messengers spoke are really true. Indeed there are a lot of false messengers of God these days, that is VERY true. But there are also true messengers of God who were really sent to some of those leaders with a true message of God and those messengers were also rejected, together with the message that God had for them. Because of that many of these leaders are living under a curse of God. They forget that satan is able to blind you for sudden sins. They forget that there can be situations in life where you no longer can see clear in your own life. It is Gods mercy that He sends His messengers to them, to help them to see it so that they can repent from it and once again can live according to His will. They shouldn’t accept any message that is brought to them in the name of the Lord, but they should test what message came from Him and what message wasn’t. By rejecting the true messengers of God, they became no longer useable for God. In the next time you will see who these leaders are, because they will all fall, resign or being fired, just as all the leaders in the Bible who rejected Gods word and His prophets.

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. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3-10

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16

Please, don’t think that God is giving you this message to make you feel guilty and unwanted. He gave you this message that you might see what is wrong in your life so that you can repent from it and no longer have to live under Gods judgement. His heart is restoration for those who really want to follow Him and are willing to listen to His voice. You are His precious child, but your life needs to be in line with His will. All the decisions you make need to be in line with what the Holy Spirit is telling you. And everything you do needs to glorify our precious Lord and Savoir, Jesus Christ. If this message was meant for you, then you feel who the Holy Spirit in convincing you at this very moment. If that happens, don’t ignore His voice but listen to it. He only wants what is best for you. Listening to His voice brings back all the blessing that He has for you. It is not about us, it is all about Him. I know how hard it can be not to be proud sometimes. But still we need to humble ourselves in order to receive His best. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes for what’s happening in your own life at this moment. He is more then willing to show to you and to help you deal with it. Be useable for God and don’t allow pride or disobedience to have any place in your life. His blessings and His anointing will return as soon as you repent and start to live according to His perfect will.

Here are the keys that were mentioned in this study. If you want to be a true follower of Jesus Christ you need to:

1. Repent from your pride and unbelief! Confess it as a sin, repent from it and you will be forgiven and become. Humble yourself and you will be exalted.
2. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness!
3. Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. The Bible says that YOU have to put on the new man. Nobody else can do that for you. You need to do it yourself.
4. Test EVERYTHING! And did I say that you need to test everything? Nothing is excluded. If you don’t want to be fooled by the enemy, you need to test everything. Ask the Holy Spirit for a revelation.
5. Stop talking about all the good deeds you do! Testimonies are needed to encourage others and are for the glory of His name, not for the glory of your ministry or for you as a person. Know that God knows your deepest motivation! You can pretend and think you can get away with it, but without true repentance God will stop you Himself.
6. Stop asking for money! Trust the Lord for all of your needs. That includes funding. It is unbelief to say that you trust Him for your needs while you ask for money
7. Hunger and thirst for righteousness
8. Be merciful
9. Be a peacemaker
10. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

The FIRE is approaching and we are going to see the biggest revival that was ever seen on earth. You can be a part of it if you do what He tells you to do. I’m not going to tell you what that is, because that differs with every person. You need to ask the Holy Spirit what He wants you to do, at what time and where. If you do exactly what He tells you to do, you will see the glory of God, the biggest gift that He can give you. I pray His blessings, His mercy and His FIRE over your life at this moment in the mighty name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST!