31/08/2022 - HIS HEART WAS LIFTED UP

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But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 2 Chronicles 26.16

This part of Uzziah’s story shows that we are people who are very susceptible to acting outside the divine plan, so we need to be connected to the Vine, lest we fall into what the Bible calls the devil’s condemnation: not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil (1 Timothy 3.6). Whoever fails to watch and pray can make the biggest mistake of all: personal exaltation. If God uses you wonderfully, acknowledge the following: He is the Lord!

 

The Most High has given us His power for His work to be by us. Therefore, He will strengthen us! But don’t let your heart be lifted up. Unfortunately, many people were once God’s instruments, and then became nothing. He says: I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images (Isaiah 42.8).

If one day you feel you are the special, to the point that you think you can do something wrong and that God will not judge you for it, take a step back, for you will be on the edge of a precipice: Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility (Proverbs 18.12). Nothing is more threatening to the saved than to feel that you are the powerful one, because there is only One with such title. Be alert!

Uzziah did not know how to restrain his spirit, and the Word declares that it is perfectly possible to restrain it:  And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (1 Corinthians 14.32). Everyone can do this. When the person of faith says that they won’t do something wrong or let the devil use them, the devil’s power loses its hold on them. Jesus declared that He will accomplish anything we ask in His Name (John 14.14)!

The danger lies in the fact that one begins to feel self-sufficient. The tempter then changes his strategy and massages the person’s ego. By doing so, the person assumes that everything is not really as God said; after all, they have a share in their own success. When their heart is lifted up without being restrained, evil continues to rule over them. Before long, corruption will take over them. This is what happened to Uzziah.

After perverting oneself, the next step will be to transgress against the Lord, as this king of Judah did. The loss of the Word’s referential causes us to disrespect the Almighty and go beyond what is normal. This also happened to Saul. He made a deal with Agag, the Amalekite king, sparing his life and the best of the animals, which, according to Saul, the people decided to withhold (1 Samuel 15.9-23). But even making excuses, he lost the kingdom. Uzziah’s sin was trying to burn incense in God’s temple. Do the right thing!

The king entered the temple ignoring that this part of the service was given to the priests. He would burn incense on the altar dedicated to that act. Every worker has a different calling, yet some, because they are successful, think they can lead the work. Be careful!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares