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Take 5 minutes to pray to God. Ask Him to open our minds and hearts to what He has to say through His Word.

James 4:5-10

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

In the world of sports, a huge event that just occurred was a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio. Even though the fight was disappointing (nothing really happened), Mayweather won the fight and remains undefeated. Not only did he won the fight, but he won $100 million to go with the championship belt. And he was already the highest paid athlete before this big payday. Like he really needed that money!

Let's get one thing straight... I don't like Floyd Mayweather. He is a criminal, he's violent, and he's proud. He has the mindset that he can do whatever he wants. But life seems to be going well for him right?

Here's a scary thought! "God opposes the proud." When we are proud we try to make ourselves feel like we're better than everyone else. We might think we can do anything we want, that no one can tell us what we can't do. Pride is a big deal, God opposes the proud. When we are proud we are forgetting that the most powerful being ever is bigger than is by a lot.

James then tells us how to not be opposed by God. How to not be prideful. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." That's our answer to pride. To submit ourselves to the real heavyweight champion, God.

Keep in mind the song by Chris Tomlin, "Our God." In the bridge he sings "and if our God is for us then who could ever stop us." Do you really want that God that cannot be stopped opposing you? Think about what we're doing when we are proud..

Questions:

1. How are you proud?

2. What do you need to do to submit to God?

3. Put that into practice, strive to submit to God this week. 

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Written by Max Davis