A Lesson in Pride

Welcome back! This week we discuss pride: what it is, the dangers of it, and how to uproot areas of pride in our lives.

Anchor Verse: Daniel 4

Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts 
(this helps the show expand to more listeners!)

Check out the new Evolve Journals perfect to use as a prayer journal, gratitude journal, idea notebook, or journal for growth & healing! 

• Teal Evolve Journal     Soft Pink Evolve Journal    Gray Evolve Journal

New Bible Study journals now available!

• Black Cover    Olive Green Cover    Golden Brown Cover

Transcript

Camille Allison: 0:08

Hey friends. Oh, welcome into the show. This is Camille and this is her soul. Welcome. If you're new, welcome back. If, um, you remember me, I know it's been a while y'all, but don't get on me too bad Life has. Um, I'm gonna say this, life has a way of making you prioritize and reconfigure things, and unfortunately. But honestly, a much needed break had to happen. I don't know how else to say it. Um, I feel like with this show specifically, because we do Bible study and because we talk about the word of God and how it applies to our life, I felt like I couldn't just give you guys something generic. I felt like whatever it is that I came on here every week to talk about, it needed to be authentic. It needed to be, um, true to the word of God. And I didn't wanna just come on here and give you. Just anything. And I didn't have the necessary time, uh, available in my schedule to do any of that. I, I'm sorry, I just didn't, I didn't have the necessary time to give you guys quality episodes, and I knew I didn't, so I had to step away and I didn't know how long I was gonna step away. But listen, God does everything for a reason, but I do wanna sing. That I have thought about you guys constantly. You guys have been on my mind constantly and. I always knew that. Well, I didn't always know, but I, I feel like God right now has just opened the door for this to, um, come back full swing like we never left. So again, welcome if you're new and if you're not new, if you're here because you were here before and you're excited to be back. Thank you guys for clicking on this episode and sitting with me for a short while while we discuss today's lesson. Lord God, we come to you right now and praying to thank you for this time to sit at your feet, to learn from you, and to just be in your presence. I pray that as this message goes forward, that it will touch the hearts and the minds of those who need to hear it most. Father God, and I just pray that you just be with us in this moment and guide us as we go through your word. We love you. We praise your name. Thank you God. Amen. All right you guys. So today we are gonna be talking about Daniel chapter four, and I've titled this message a Lesson in pride. Now at this point, stop, pause, go read Daniel chapter four. It's not that long, but just so that you can have a general understanding of what it is we're gonna be talking about. I'm gonna break it down, obviously and give you guys a little bit of context so we can understand what we're talking about here today. So Daniel is serving as, um, what's considered one of the wise men in the King's Royal Court. He's a part of the administration team, so to speak, and what we have is King Nebuchadnezzar calling on Daniel to interpret one of his dreams. He's already done this before. In another instance, I believe it was chapter two, Daniel was able to tell the king the dream that he had and interpret it because God gave him the vision and gave him the interpretation. So the king has remembered that Daniel interprets dreams and he has already tried to call on. The, um, astrologers and the mediums that they would normally use. They don't know what to, what to make of the dream. Okay? They've tried, they failed. The same thing happened previously as well. So again, the king remembers that Daniel interprets dreams, um, and he did it successfully before, so maybe he can do it again. So here, king Nebuchadnezzar has had another dream and this dream. He wakes up and he's troubled by it, you know, so in the dream, he sees this great tree, this enormous tree. It's full of food, and it provides great shelter. The tree reaches all the way to the sky, and it provides shelter and food for all the living things in and under it. And then a holy messenger comes down from heaven and commands that the tree be cut down, leaving only the stump. And he, um, says that it is to be bound with iron and bronze, right? So the messenger declares that the tree's mind will be changed. Excuse me, that the tree's mind is gonna be changed to that of an animal for seven times, which can be translated as seven years until he acknowledges that the most high rules over all of the kingdoms. So this is the dream that Daniel has been tasked with interpreting, and when Daniel. It is given the meaning he wishes that it did not apply to Nebuchadnezzar, but that it would actually have applied to his enemies. And so Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzar that the tree is himself, that he has grown to great power, that God has given him great power and influence, but because of his pride, he is gonna be humbled. He will be brought down as that heavenly messenger said. It is predicted that King Nebuchadnezzar is going to lose his sanity. He's gonna live like an animal, and this will be until he acknowledges God's sovereignty, which is predicted to be for a seven year time period. And at this point, Daniel is urging the king to repent, to do right, and to show mercy to the oppressed so that his prosperity might continue. The dream actually is fulfilled. A year later, God gives King Nebuchadnezzar 12 months and y'all, I don't know if King Nebuchadnezzar just forgot, or maybe he just didn't believe that anything could touch him or anything bad could happen. But a year later, he is walking around boasting about his great power in his majesty, and sure enough. At that very moment, what was predicted comes to pass and Nebu sanity is taken away. He then goes to live among the animals. He eats grass like cattle. His body, um, is drenched with do. The scripture says his hair grows along like eagle's, feathers, and his nails like claws. So not only is he living like an animal, he starts to physically look like one. And this goes on for seven years. But after the seven years. King Nebuchadnezzar is um, restored. Essentially, he exalts God. He submits and he recognizes his sovereignty. His sanity is restored. He is restored back to the throne. And that's, if you remember in the dream, the angel said to leave the stump and he had the stump fortified with iron and bronze that symbolized that he would restore, that he would be restored to his throne. So after the seven years. He's just put back on the throne, but he has been humbled by God, and now we can see these characteristics of reverence, respect, admiration, and worship. Whereas before, every time we saw King Nebuchadnezzar, he was full of pride. He did not recognize God. He did not even see God as being responsible. In fact, in the Book of Daniel King, Nebuchadnezzar would frequently refer to God as Daniel's God or the God of Daniel. Never truly recognizing him as his own God. Instead he worshiped these pagan gods, again, rooted in pride in something that God needed to uproot. Um, getting back to the story, king Nebuchadnezzar. Praising God and honoring him as the king of heaven. He declares that God's dominion is eternal and my favorite. The la the very last verse of this chapter sums up everything and when I read it, it kind of like punched me in the gut. It says, and those who walk in pride, he's able to humble. And certainly that was the case with King Nebuchadnezzar and that's the case with many of us. Either it's already occurred, maybe not yet. Um, maybe to come, but certainly for those of us who walk in pride, God is able to humble. Now after hearing about King Nebu Connect's dream learning its meaning and seeing it come to pass, what is it that we can learn about pride and how can we apply this story, this lesson, if you will, to our lives? So I have come up with, for things that we need to do if we are dealing with pride, if and when we deal with pride, the first thing that I'm going to suggest. Is recognized, and this is where I want you guys to sort of start taking notes because I do think that this is important and it's something that you can always look back on and use. So the first thing we're gonna do is recognize what does pride look like actually, right? It's not always the obvious and outright arrogance like we saw with King Nebuchadnezzar. Or sometimes we might see with other people in life. Sometimes it can look like. Unforgiveness, um, unforgiveness is a big one. A lot of us deal with this, and some of us deal with this for years and don't even recognize the detriment that it brings to us, right? The way I look at it is Jesus forgives me constantly every single day, you know, and I don't deserve it. Who am I to deny forgiveness? To anyone else. I am equally undeserving. I am equally, um, at fault, but Jesus doesn't hold anything against me. God sent Jesus to the cross for my sins. In that way, I'm already forgiven. Right? So if we think about it on that grander scale, on this smaller scale, why do we withhold forgiveness from others? Right? Can you imagine if Jesus denied us forgiveness? Like where we would be, what our lives would look like. We aren't, um, that big enough, so to speak, to withhold that. And honestly, we aren't. Right. So unforgiveness is, is a, an example of pride. It also might look like refusing help. This is a big one for many women, wives, moms, women in general. You guys, this is thinking that we can do everything without accepting the help that God has sent us.'cause somehow we feel an awkward sense of self-righteousness by doing that. So for example, right? I think as a mom. Sometimes I might become overwhelmed and I might pray like, God, please just help me. Let your strength be my strength. Just allow me a moment of rest. Allow me a break, um, send some sort of help. Right? And because the help doesn't necessarily look like the way that I might want it to look, I find myself sometimes refusing. The people that he might send in my life to help. Not trusting it or not recognizing that it is godsend, right? And like I said, it's somehow due to this awkward sense of self-righteousness, right? This, I've got it, I can do it. I don't need anybody's, anyone else's help, that sort of mentality. And then a third way that pride might show up in our lives. And certainly this is not, um, the entirety of what pride looks like, but a third way is trying to control every minute and every moment of your life or your kids' lives or whatever, right? Just having this sense of control over everything. God holds the master plan and there is never a time y'all listen. There is never a time when our plan is gonna Trump God's plan, so just let that go. Ultimately, pride shows up in any situation where you place yourself in a higher position than God. So take some time to figure out what that looks like in your life, if at all, or if God has convicted you in certain areas. Is it due to pride? Is this something that you can take and apply and look at for yourself? Okay. The second thing we're gonna do is pray and repent. So after we have come to realize that we have a pride issue, we now need to pray it away and we need to repent. So this is exactly what Daniel suggested for King Nebuchadnezzar to do in verse 17, but a. He didn't do it. King Deza just was just so full of himself. He did not do it. And I'm not speaking down on him because honestly, this is us as well. We might know that we have these areas of pride and still don't do the work to uproot it. So what we need to do is pray and repent, pray over all these areas of pride in our lives, that they be uprooted, so that we do not continue in it because it's gonna bring us more detriment in the long run. The third thing we're gonna do is acknowledge. So the whole point of this occurrence with King Nebuchadnezzar was to bring him to acknowledge God's authority. It says in verse 25, 7 times or seven years will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gigs, and gives them to anyone he wishes. Right? That was the whole point. Um. In the same way, we have to follow up our repentance with acknowledgement of the most high God's sovereignty and that word sovereignty. What does sovereign actually mean?'cause I know sometimes there's biblical terms that show up time and time again. We don't really know what it means. Sovereign is basically possessing supreme or ultimate power and authority. God is sovereign. Overall, hands down, that's an attribute of God that cannot be debated. And then the fourth thing we're gonna do is submit. We're gonna submit to God and his will. We're gonna release that control. We're gonna release that pride, and we are gonna sit back and relax. Like my mom always used to say, we would be going like maybe on a trip or maybe just going down to the store or whatever it was. But anytime me and my sisters got in the car, you know, we would wanna know where we're going, how long it would take, this, that, and the third. And my mom would always say, y'all just. Sit back and relax and enjoy the ride. And so that's what I'm gonna say here too. We have to submit to God, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Just let go and let God just do what it is that he does. So here are the things that I want you to walk away with from the story in the book of Daniel. Number one is that God is sovereign. Over all rulers, over all kingdoms, over literally everything. Remember that. Number two, pride leads to downfall, but humility leads to restoration. When we find ourselves dealing with pride, the way to restore ourselves is to humbly go before God. Do those things that we just talked about, but do it from a place of humility. Number three, God's discipline is an act of mercy meant to bring repentance and acknowledgement of his authority. We have to see it as that, not as punishment, if you know what I mean. See it as a way that God is trying to shape and mold us to be better rather than a way that he's trying to punish or bring us down. And then number four is that God hates pride, and while he may not make us go insane and act like an animal and live like an animal out in the wilderness, he certainly can shake things up a bit in our lives also, that we will come to see and know who he is. Recognize his authority. So I wanted to give you guys some journal prompts In true Herso fashion, it would not be a good, it would not be a true representation or a true comeback episode, if you will, if we did not have a, a good journal prompt, and I have quite a few, but I, I have some general ideas you wanna think about and then, um, some journaling prompts to go with it. So the first big idea I want you guys to think about is discipline as a mercy. Right. God humbled Nebuchadnezzar not to destroy him, but to re but to restore him. And certainly in the middle of it, in the middle of that seven year period of insanity, and in the middle of our own trials, we might think that God is trying to. It might feel I want, I'm not gonna say think, it might feel like we're being punished, like he's trying to destroy us, but challenge yourself to see it as a way that God is trying to restore you, grow you. Growth is not always easy. Growth can be painful. So here's prompt number one. Have you ever experienced God's discipline as a way of redirecting your heart back to him? Number two, looking back, how did that season strengthen your faith? And then can you write about a wilderness or a humbling season in your life and how God used it for good. The second big idea I wanna talk about and get you guys to think on and write about is the danger of pride. Uh, chapter four verse 30 says, is not this the great Babylon I have built by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? These were the exact words that King Nebuchadnezzar was speaking pri right before God humbled him in an instant. So number one, where in your life are you tempted to take credit instead of giving glory to God? Because in verse King Nebuchadnezzar was trying to say that he's the one who's responsible for, um, the height of Babylon's success. So where in your life are you tempted to take credit instead of giving God? The glory for it. Number two, how can you shift your perspective to acknowledge God as the source of your blessings and achievements? And then number three, can you please write a prayer confessing areas of pride, and asking God to grow humility in your heart. Lord God, we come to you right now in prayer, humbly sitting before you, thanking you for allowing us to sit in your word, to sit in your presence, and to learn from you. I just pray that this message reaches the ears that needs. To hear it and then it penetrates the hearts and the minds of those who need to be transformed by this message. Lord God, I pray that pride be uprooted in each and every single one of us, that we do not continue to sit in it, that we will come to acknowledge your sovereignty, your greatness, your authority, father, and we thank you just for who you are and for the fact that you just continue to give us your grace, that you show us the air of our ways, and that you mercifully transform us. We thank you for that, father. And I pray that this message will touch all who need to hear it and that all who are under the sound of my voice, that they will go out and be able to apply this message this week. Amen. All right, y'all, that is it. I hope you guys enjoyed this message, that this was a blessing to your heart, mind, body and spirit. Don't forget to look for us on social media. We are hersal xo, literally everywhere. Um, I will leave it all linked in the show notes, but if you feel led share this episode with others, it's been a long time since we've been out, so certainly let us get this episode pushed out to as many people as we can. So don't be afraid to share, comment, engage, follow along with the show, and I will see you guys in the next episode. Y'all be blessed and I love y'all. Bye.