Seven Dangerous Spirits: Series 6

Introduction

This post is a continuation of teachings by Bishop Nyaa, pastor and founder at Uzima Tele Tele Church, which empower you as a Christian. This post exposes the spirit of pride, which is among the seven dangerous spirits that appear harmless but are lethal and once they enter into your life, they open doors to more evil and failure in your life.

The Spirit of Pride

Even the world understand the severe effects of the spirit of pride and you will often hear people state that pride comes before a fall

Ø  The Bible speaks of people who rose to the greatest heights in their lives only to fall because of their pride

Ø  A classic example of the wages of the spirit of pride is the fall of Lucifer from heaven.

Ø  Described as beautiful as the morning star and the son of the dawn, the devil was initially powerful and in Is 14:16 it shows that he was so powerful he made the earth shake and kingdoms to tremble but because of the spirit of pride, he was made an outcast and like a corpse trampled underfoot.

Ø  Believers under the attack of the spirit of pride suffer from the ‘I’ syndrome, which did cost the devil his place in heaven. According to Is 14:12-16, the devil allowed the I effect to control him

·       I will ascend into heaven,

·       I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:

·       I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

·       I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

·       I will be like the most High.

Ø  when the spirit of pride is in control, the presence of God departs from you and as you would expect, this is the beginning of your downfall

Ø  overcoming the spirit of pride comes with spiritual maturity as indicated in 1 Tim 3:6, He must be mature in the faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the Devil was.

Ø  In 1Peter 5:5  In the same way you younger people must submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, "God resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble."

Ø  This means that lack of pride attracts favor and you know what the word says about favour; ‘ favor is better than silver and gold’ Proverbs 22:1

Ø  God instructs us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 ‘if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’ This means that you can be called but when you have pride, God will not only turn his face from you but also, He will not heal your land (land representing your work, family, children, marriage, relationships and body among other aspects of your life

Ø  The spirit of pride makes you question those in authority and often, you think you are better than others and you cannot understand why others are chosen over you. A good example of people under the spirit of pride in the Bible are Aaron and Miriam in Numbers 12

Christians especially those in the positions of leadership such as church elders, deacons and departmental leaders such as the Praise and Worship leaders are most targeted by spirit of pride as illustrated in Numbers 16.