JMD Devotional 189 Habakkuk 2:4 Exaggerated Focus
Look at the proud; his soul is not straight or right within him, but the [rigidly] just and the [uncompromisingly] righteous man shall live by his faith and in his faithfulness.
Do we really want to see things as they are? I am afraid our ego gets in the way of our vision. Depending upon the condition of our self-image, we either magnify or diminish the center of our field of view. Pride is like a lens that typically exaggerates the things pertaining to yourself and diminishes things pertaining to others; but it can also work in reverse; diminishing your significance, responsibilities and obligations while magnifying the expectations you have for others.
Habakkuk had a problem with God using a more wicked nation to judge Israel. His national pride tended to mask the severity of the sin of his fellow citizens. The presence of the temple and the pride they took in it gave the people a false sense of security; they were not seeing sin for sin; and God’s holiness and their responsibility to rebuke the offenders. Habakkuk eventually resolved his dilemma. The process begins with humility and the deflation of the “I”.
Proverbs 4:25-27 (NIV) Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
Dear God,
I so often get in the way of my own field of view, distorting my perception. Pride is so insidious! Please help me to not think too much or too little of myself; give me a right view and a godly perspective. May I see things straight on rather than slanting them to flatter myself or to diminish others. When it comes to vision, I wish I could disappear so that everything would be plain before me. When I am blind to my own folly, guide me, Lord.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
Do we really want to see things as they are? I am afraid our ego gets in the way of our vision. Depending upon the condition of our self-image, we either magnify or diminish the center of our field of view. Pride is like a lens that typically exaggerates the things pertaining to yourself and diminishes things pertaining to others; but it can also work in reverse; diminishing your significance, responsibilities and obligations while magnifying the expectations you have for others.
Habakkuk had a problem with God using a more wicked nation to judge Israel. His national pride tended to mask the severity of the sin of his fellow citizens. The presence of the temple and the pride they took in it gave the people a false sense of security; they were not seeing sin for sin; and God’s holiness and their responsibility to rebuke the offenders. Habakkuk eventually resolved his dilemma. The process begins with humility and the deflation of the “I”.
Proverbs 4:25-27 (NIV) Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
Dear God,
I so often get in the way of my own field of view, distorting my perception. Pride is so insidious! Please help me to not think too much or too little of myself; give me a right view and a godly perspective. May I see things straight on rather than slanting them to flatter myself or to diminish others. When it comes to vision, I wish I could disappear so that everything would be plain before me. When I am blind to my own folly, guide me, Lord.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 8:39 PM
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