Matthew 14:1-12
Rebecca Lightfoot
Pride is the very “attribute” that will stand in the way of our lives having room for God & His Grace&Mercy to root and grow in our lives(Psalm10:4,”In his pride the wicked does not seek him(the Lord);in all his thoughts there is no room for God.”).And it will make us do things that we would rather not do!Pride not dealt with n our lives will become a horrible “MANIPULATOR” of our life.This happens to Herod n Matthew 14:1-12.Herod’s pride had so consumed him that n a vile abuse of his authority,he arrests John the Baptist for no RIGHT&TRUE reason.A dangerous characteristic of pride is that it ultimately “manipulates” us away from good reason,away from anything close to wisdom...and away from TRUTH!N fact,when pride takes over n our lives,TRUTH becomes our “adversary”-what we run from!While JtB is n Herod’s jail,he throws a birthday party for himself.Herod is pleased by a young dancer,& pride manipulates him n2 making a promise w/out thinking about the possible ramifications of such a wild promise.She asks for the head of JtB.Even though this distressed Herod very much,he lets his pride manipulate him away from what he knows is RIGHT&TRUE.(Matt14:9,”The king was distressed,but because of his oaths & dinner guests,he ordered that her request b granted & had John beheaded n the prison.”).Herod knew that it was not RIGHT what was requested,but his pride MANIPULATED him so strongly that he does it anyway!Pride will manipulate us away from RIGHT&TRUTH...and choke out the potential for GOD’s PRESENCE in our life.Dear Lord,there are areas in my life that pride is choking YOUR PRESENCE from growing n and through my life.May Your Holy Spirit & Your Word make me “miserably aware” of these areas,so I would deal with them with Your help...& free Your Holy Spirit 2 root & grow n all areas of my life!