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EMPTY BOASTINGS
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12
James 4:16

Proverbs 25:14

 

“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift
is like clouds and wind

without rain.”

 

EMPTY BOASTINGS
 
Boasting reflects the attitude of the presumptuous man. He thinks he can control his own life through his plans and power. He sees things according to his lens of self-confidence. God is totally out of the equation, and he trusts that all is well because he has laid it out well in his mind and on paper. Such is empty boasting! Read Proverbs 25:14.
 
Boasting is not glorifying to God: Man’s boasting is presumption characterised by word or action. He does not glorify God. It is pride, and it glorifies self rather than God. It is like seeing a mirage of success ahead. He is inflated with self-confidence, and his mind is inebriated with vanity to disregard God. He simply gratifies his foolish senses, without any regard for God. He is a great flatterer of self, patting his own back without evidence of goodness or advantage for others.
 
Boasting is evil: Boasting is a sin because the seed of boasting is Lucifer’s pride. “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee” (Ezek 28:17). It is founded on a wrong view of self and what God has designed us for. It shows our total lack of dependence on God. It reveals our insensibility to His presence, which is why we take Him out of the picture. Let us not glory in boasting. It only brings the wrath of God upon us, for it is blasphemy to think that we can ever achieve anything without God.
 
Dear reader, consider what King Nebuchadnezzar experienced when he boasted of his kingdom. “All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee” (Dan 4:28-31).
 
THOUGHT: Am I a boaster?
PRAYER: Father, grant me the spirit of humility to acknowledge that I cannot do anything apart from Thee.

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