The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride.
Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil; Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind...As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud person is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
- C. S. (Clive Staples) Lewis, Into The
Wardrobe (Upon what/whom do you look down upon? How does this sabotage your looking toward God?)
|
Numbers 20:1-13
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 Matthew 16:13-23 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to
his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man!
Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the
Christ.
From that time Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you.’ But he turned and said
to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
Reflection on the Scriptures
Today I will reflect on the words in Psalm 95. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether God’s people just do not hear his voice, or if they do hear it and
they hardened their hearts. There are multitudes of competing messages out there that drown out the Word of the Lord. But there are also legions of hard-hearted people who refuse to listen. There always have been. This concept is found twenty times in the Bible. It was used in the Old Testament in relation to the resistance of the children of Israel at Meribah to the promises God made to them. In the New Testament, Jesus rebukes the disciples for their hardness of heart in failing to understand
his message. In general hardness of heart not only describes resistance to God by refusing to listen, but a lack of understanding and unwillingness to accept truth or change one’s outlook based on what one hears. Where are each of us on this spectrum? Are we just not listening? Or are we listening but not hearing? Or are we hearing but not
understanding? And are we understanding but not willing to accept the truth of what we hear? What are we willing to do in response? -by Barbara Dilly
The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A. Kempis https://amzn.to/40FrikB Paperback and Kindle versions available BOOK
ONE: Thoughts Helpful in the Life of a Soul
The First Chapter: Imitating Christ and Despising All Vanities on Earth Today I will reflect on the words in Psalm 95. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether God’s people just do not hear his voice, or if they do hear it and they hardened their hearts. There are multitudes of competing messages out there that drown out the Word of the Lord. But there are also legions of hard-hearted people who refuse to listen. There always have been. This concept is found twenty times in the Bible. It
was used in the Old Testament in relation to the resistance of the children of Israel at Meribah to the promises God made to them. In the New Testament, Jesus rebukes the disciples for their hardness of heart in failing to understand his message. In general hardness of heart not only describes resistance to God by refusing to listen, but a lack of understanding and unwillingness to accept truth or change one’s outlook based on what one hears. Where are each of us on this spectrum? Are we just not listening? Or are we listening but not hearing? Or are we hearing but not understanding? And are we understanding but not willing to accept the truth of what we hear? What are we willing to do in response?
|
|
