PRIDE is what is involved here. The sin of presumption made Satan believe he could be like God. Now, that same PRIDE affected Eve which she spread to Adam. Now in their PRIDE, they believed Satan over God. They thought they knew better.

What was the result?

Destruction and the Fall.

"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18, NIV)

PRIDE made Satan encourage Eve to do what she was not supposed to do. This same PRIDE made Eve encourage Adam to do what he was not supposed to do. The result became destruction. Now every person would die physically and even spiritually without intervention because of the fall - sin entering the world.

Satan in his PRIDE wanted Eve to participate in his parade of taking people away from the Lord. He started with Eve, then it spread to Adam and so on even resulting in the death of their youngest son Abel because of the PRIDE of Cain.

The common denominator in all this is Satan believing he knows better than God and then Adam and Eve believing they know better than God.  Cain also believed his gift was better than Abel's but when God accepted Abel's gift and not Cain's, Cain in his rage killed his own brother because of his PRIDE. PRIDE made him participate in murder not only physical murder of his brother's body but spiritual murder of his own soul.

Implications:

I asked myself what are the implications for my own life?

The implications for my own life remind me that participating in the parade of PRIDE - a sinful individual who shifts his ultimate confidence from God to self to parade 'arrogance, cynical insensitivity to the needs of others, presumption', insolence, mockery, wantonness, wickedness, and insolence towards God will cause destruction and create a fall.

I should never believe that I know better than God. Even if I don't agree with what God says, I need to say to myself, 'The Bible says it, I need to believe it, and that settles it.' PRIDE will not let us agree with God and so it is called PRIDE. PRIDE is what will destroy people's lives and cause their fall.

I love being a campus minister to reach students with the love of Christ. Decades ago I loved leading the EXEC leadership team of students. But, my supervisor and the team felt that I should be involved in Bible Study Leaders Training (BSLT) by training hundreds of students because I was gifted in that. In my PRIDE, I did not want to give up the leading of the EXEC leadership team of students because I thought I knew better how to take care of the EXEC.

Do you know what happened?

It led to my fall in ministry and I was relieved of my duties. Not only could I not lead the EXEC leadership team but also could not even lead BSLT, training students to study the Word of God. 

How sad it is that the PRIDE of thinking I knew better than the team that God sent  to shepherd me destroyed my oppportunity to do ministry. This is what PRIDE does. It does not matter what our intentions are.

If we have PRIDE, we cannot serve the Lord faithfully and be used of Him.

I ask you new dear friend, what will parading in  P.R.I.D.E do for you?

Dear friend, parading in PRIDE will make you lose a lot. Only the Lord can rescue you and me from PRIDE. He promises to do that when we humble ourselves before Him. We need to put the Lord Jesus above all love including the love of self, the love of PRIDE, the love of haughtiness, etc. When we put the Lord first, He will deliver us from the fall. This is what Jesus came to do. He who had no sin became sin for us that we can become the righteousness of God.

PRIDE, the sin of presumption will tell you that you know better than God, so abortion is okay, adultery is okay, homosexuality is okay, pornography is okay, sex outside of marriage is okay, etc. But the Bible is clear on the effects of PRIDE. The only way we can escape the effects of PRIDE is to be shielded from PRIDE.

This can happen for you and me so the vices of PRIDE do not parade us to destruction and a fall. Lord promises to be there for us even when we fall to lift us up when we repent of our sin and turn to Him.

Years ago, even though I was not part of the church Pastor Hugo was pastoring, he felt that he should call me and spend time with me. He did that and I got involved in his church after having no consistent church life for 6 years. Pastor Hugo knew me when I was the campus minister for that organization six years before.

 Lord did restore me but the restoration did not place me in the same ministry but the ministry the Lord wanted me to do through the church and also through media. The international ministry lasted for 7 years.

I realized when the Lord gave me a voice to use the media to proclaim the principles of God's Word, I should not stay silent.

I was reminded that I should use God's Word to address issues happening in culture to lead people to Christ as Jonah did. Pastor Josh left an impact on me when he never shied away from using God's Word to address cultural issues in a loving way whether it had to do with abortion, homosexuality, sex, pornography, etc. I have been so impressed by Pastor Bucknell and Pastor Lake too who would speak from God's Word to address cultural issues from a biblical perspective without staying silent. God's Word should not just be about preaching Jesus loves you and died for you but also about what is happening in culture just as the Book of Jude in the Bible addresses.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jesse gave a sermon on Jonah who was unwilling to preach to the people of Nineveh because he felt they were so wicked and do not deserve to be saved. He was afraid if he preached to them, they would repent and God would save them so he rebelled against God in his PRIDE thinking he knew better than God. In the process, his PRIDE almost killed so many sailors but also made him be eaten by a great fish. Jonah would have been destroyed if he had not repented and if God was not merciful. Jonah repented and the Lord delievered him three days later. He went and preached to the people of Nineveh. His own PRIDE was put aside. He was not going to parade his PRIDE around but he was going to parade for God giving God's message to save their souls.

Friend, why not parade with God everyday?

God will deliver you even if you have fallen because He is a merciful and loving God when we repent of our sins.

The parade of PRIDE destroyed the whole world with a flood of cleansing. Only the family of Noah was saved. 

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God." (Genesis 6:9, TLB)

After the flood came and destroyed the world except Noah's family, the Lord gave a rainbow signifying his covenant with Noah and his family. But, the Lord knew this covenant would come with a price and the price was the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ so all who turn to Him will be saved even those who paraded their lives in PRIDE.

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my [RAINBOW] in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the [RAINBOW] appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the [RAINBOW] appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." (Genesis 9:12-17, TLB)

God knew what He would do in the future establishing the New Covenant through Himself so He could make that RAINBOW promise.

Sadly, another thing PRIDE does is twist what God gives us such as a RAINBOW and use it for our own selfish purposes. But, PRIDE does not just use the RAINBOW but also sadly PRIDE also uses HOLY WEEK for its selfish purposes each year.

If we have been engaged in PRIDE and have used anything in our lives that go contrary to the Word of God, we need to stop so we can be saved.

For God's Word is the CONTINENTS Standard for Living; God's Word is the COUNTRIES Standard for Living;  God's Word is the CITIES Standard for Living; God's Word is the COUNTIES Standard for Living; and God's Word is the PITTSBURGH STANDARD for Living.

If God's Word is not paramount in Pittsburgh Standard, then I am not using what God gave me for His purposes.

Sometimes I am hesitant to use the RAINBOW because of what PRIDE wants it to signify but I realized RAINBOW signifies the covenant of the Lord and is the theme verse of Pittsburgh Standard to point people to Christ.

Lest we fall to our destruction, let us be reminded of those who went before us and what happened to them and the effects of PRIDE.

"But after Uzziah became powerful, his [PRIDE] led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD His God." (2 Chronicles 26:16, TLB) j

"In his [PRIDE], the wicked man does not seek Him [the LORD]; in all his thoughts there is no room for God." (Psalm 10:4, TLB)

"To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate [PRIDE] and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." (Proverbs 8:13, TLB)

"When [PRIDE] comes, then comes disgrace, but with humiity comes wisdom." (Proverbs 11:2, TLB)

"The arrogance of man will be brought low and human [PRIDE] humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." (Isaiah 2:17, TLB)

"You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your [PRIDE], before your wickedness was uncovered." (Ezekiel 16:56, TLB)

Friend, the Good News is that the Lord Jesus is there to give us His grace as we humble ourselves before Him. No matter what you have done or where you have been, you can turn to the Lord and receive His help. Yes, you can. Now is the time for Salvation.

"But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lfit you up." (James 4:7-10, TLB)

Friend, may you know that PRIDE reckons in destruction everyday but the Lord Jesus is there to lift us up as we turn to Him. Thank you Jesus!

"Pride Reckons In Destruction Everyday! (P.R.I.D.E)"/"What will parading in P.R.I.D.E do you for you?"