“But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.”
– 2 Chronicles 26:16
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you proud of your accomplishments, abilities and/or intelligence? Has the pride spirit become your friend? Are you letting the pride spirit infuse your inner thoughts and steer your personal desires? Do you enjoy having the pride spirit remind you of how gifted, capable and/or smart that you are? Is your heart glad that the pride spirit wants all your accomplishments documented? Is your body happy that the pride spirit wants all your abilities displayed? Is your mind excited that the pride spirit wants your higher than average intelligence demonstrated? How do you think a pride spirit gets fed? What do you think makes a pride spirit happy? When do you think a pride spirit is satisfied? Pride spirits are odious minions whose job is to set up a guy, gal or kid so that the guy, gal or kid will compromise his or her morality, integrity and/or veracity. Pride spirits build pedestals for a guy, gal or kid to sound off about his or her accomplishments. Pride spirits create venues for a guy, gal or kid to show off his or her talents. Pride spirits design scenarios for a guy, gal or kid to spin off his or her intelligence. Do you know a kid – or a guy or gal, who is obviously being won over by a pride spirit? Do you know the pride spirit’s most optimum time to do its’ thing? Do you know why a pride spirit works so hard at doing what it does? A pride spirit lackey obstinately pursues ways to embed itself into the ego of a guy, gal or kid with the overt purpose of making the guy, gal or kid mess up his or her life so badly that he or she will never again be respected and trusted.
The higher a perceived position a guy or gal gets to in a society or culture, the more content the pride spirit will be. The more recognized power that a guy or gal attains in a society or culture, the more pleased the pride spirit will be. The greater the ascribed prestige that a guy or gal has in a society or culture, the more visible the pride spirit will be. Your grandpaa has found out to his chagrin that the pride spirit is working overtime to affix itself to his ego. Your grandpaa likes to brag about the Bible education and leadership training programs that he was instrumental in implementing in Bolivia and Guatemala. Your grandpaa likes to brag about the field missionary teams that he was the Field Director for in Bolivia and Guatemala. Your grandpaa likes to brag about the summer teams that he and your grandmaa administrated in Bolivia and Guatemala. Your grandpaa knows that it is not wrong to talk about what has been achieved because of his willingness to do what God has asked him to do; your grandpaa knows though that it is very easy for him to take the credit for the accomplishments in which he has been involved, for being put into leadership positions that he has been in and for accepting the kudos that goes with him having done something well instead of giving God ALL the credit.
Before God caused him to be a leper, Azariah – who was called Uzziah, had everything that he would ever want. When Uzziah was sixteen years old, Uzziah was positioned as king over the guys, gals and kids who lived in the land area of Judah. For the next 52 years – from 792 A.D. to 740 A.D., Uzziah reigned over the guys, gals and kids who lived in the land area of Judah. Uzziah – for a time, reigned with his dad Amaziah over the guys, gals and kids who lived in the land area of Judah – including the city of Jerusalem. Uzziah – as a young king, appears to have had a mentor who helped him ‘fear’ the Lord as his dad Amaziah and his granddad Joash did. Zechariah is a guy who possibly mentored Uzziah. Per the Chronicles Books chronicler, Zechariah played a significant role in Uzziah’s initial life successes. Zechariah taught Uzziah to always to seek first God – as God the Father, in whatever he did. God – as God the Father, had Uzziah – as long as Uzziah went to Him for His help, be successful in whatever he did. The Chronicles Books chronicler recounts Uzziah’s life in 2 Chronicles 26. The Chronicles Books chronicler felt it important to highlight first Uzziah’s obedience and faithfulness to God – as God the Father. Uzziah triumphs or achievements include defeating the Philistine people group army and subsequently tearing down the walls that surrounded the cities of Gath, Ashdod and Jabneh. If you have listened to the news over the past week or so, you have heard a lot about Israel’s people group army going on the offense against a terrorist group called Hamas that has made the land area of Palestine – which is the land area that the Philistine people group guys and gals lived in at the time that Uzziah reigned as king over the guy, gals and kids who lived in the land area of Judah, their base of operation against the Israelite people group guys and gals who live in Israel. There has been turmoil in the area that is called the Gaza Strip for the past nearly 3400 years – ever since God’s specially chosen guys and gals entered into the land area of Canaan – the land area that God – as God the Father, gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . the stipulation of ‘if . . .’ was to completely destroy all the people groups of guys and gals who were living in the land area of Canaan and to faithfully obey the expectations that He had for them to live their lives only worshipping Him. After Uzziah fortified the city of Jerusalem and built up a powerful army, verse 16 reports, “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.” When Uzziah did this, God made leprosy break out on Uzziah’s forehead. The pride spirit overpowered Uzziah’s always doing the right thing spirit when he entered the temple of the LORD and . . . WARNING: Beware of the pride spirit.
2 Chronicles 26 (969)