Life After Freedom

Ep 07 - Seduced by Pride

• Joe Negrón • Season 1 • Episode 7

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Listen as I candidly share my personal battles with being Seduced by Pride, and the pivotal moments that led to my own self-realization. We delve into scriptural insights illustrating how pride distances us from God and blinds us to our spiritual missteps. This episode invites you to reflect on the barriers pride builds in your life and the powerful freedom found in embracing humility and community support.

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Speaker 1:

Hey, welcome. My name is Joe and this is Life After Freedom. Let's go. Hey, welcome back. We get to spend another episode together, but more than anything, I'm excited to bring some freedom into your life, some truth. So I just want to bring some clarity into the word freedom.

Speaker 1:

Freedom equals sanctification in the Bible. It's a process. That's why I say that we continuously get more freedom, that I am ready to get more freedom, because in this process of sanctification we are set free from things that are holding us back. And you know, I just love this process. I used to think it was a hard process and a difficult process, which it is. It still is a very difficult process sometimes to let go of certain things, but the outcome of it, once you get in the rhythm of freedom, you better get ready, because your spirit just longs to continue in this process, because it knows that it's bringing you closer to God. And I hope that today, your heart's desire is that you will be set free from anything that's holding you back, any lie of the enemy, and that your desire is that you get to know God more and as you get to know God more, you allow him to set you free from anything that's holding you back. Amen, I am so excited about that. From anything that's holding you back, amen, I am so excited about that.

Speaker 1:

So you know, the other day I was walking down Fifth Avenue chilling out, maxing, relaxing, all cool and then I tripped. My coffee spilled all over the place I think it was an iced macchiato and then all of a sudden I look back, you know, kind of like blaming the floor. You know when we do that? Because we think that somehow whoever just saw us is going to think that oh, yeah, yeah, it was the floor that made them trip. I saw that hand trying to grab on his foot. It's like why do we do that? Why are we so concerned with what people think about us? Can we just admit that we're clumsy and that we just, hey, didn't look out for the floor and we're paying attention to something else and we tripped. But yeah, we like blaming something else or someone else.

Speaker 1:

So why do we do this with our Christian walk? We don't want anyone to help us. We sometimes think that we got to figure things out on our own. I love the fact that I, the church I assist, or the church that I get to pastor, that we say that we would love to come alongside you and help you with your next steps. It's a beautiful thing that we get to do this Now. God has sent us to commune, to come together, to worship together. That's the beauty of church.

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Although for some of you that might be listening, church is overrated. Or maybe you've never been into a church, or maybe you just had a bad experience in a church, and I get that. I've been there where I've had, you know, bad experiences. But I just want to clarify that God designed us to be in community. So we say things like nah, I got this, I could do it on my own. Can you relate to that? I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only one that said that sometimes. But you see, god created us to walk a humble life, one that is dependent of him, not independent of him through our own knowledge, status or possessions. Now he also created us to walk together as the body of Christ, not as independent parts. See when I mentioned the church. That is what the body of Christ, not as independent parts. See when I mentioned the church. That is what the word of God, the Bible, calls the body of Christ.

Speaker 1:

So in this episode, I want to talk about pride Now. Pride is a demonic spirit and I want to make sure that we are very aware of what the enemy is trying to do. We all struggle with pride. I, for a fact, have struggled with pride throughout my life and I didn't even know it At one point or the other. We're all going to struggle with pride. So don't listen to this thinking that this is for someone else. Okay, I don't want somebody to say, you know, this is going to be a great message for my neighbor, or this is going to be a great message for that friend that I know. Nah, nah, nah, nah. This is for all of us. Come on, say it with me. This is for all of us the spirit of pride, or pride itself. It wants self-worship, or we could say, self-credit. So this spirit basically wants what belongs to God. It wants God's worship.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about pride for a second, in a deeper way. There are a few ways that pride can manifest. Pride gives welcomes and expects credit. The key word here is credit. Say it with me. Credit First. We could start with self-exaltation. Pride gives credit to himself. Now, at its worst, it seeks compliments, recognition, admiration, applaud, being depended upon. It wants to be put on a pedestal right. How many likes did I get? How many hearts did I get on my story?

Speaker 1:

You see, pride places itself more important than God. It wants to be seen. Pride worries more about being acknowledged by others than acknowledged by God. Oof, now, humility is the opposite. I learned that the hard way. It doesn't matter who sees you, as long as God sees you. I'll say that again Humility is the opposite of pride. It doesn't matter who sees you, as long as God sees you, as long as God sees us. The Bible says that Be careful not to practice your own righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. Matthew 6.1 from the NIV version. Listen, we have to get this into our heart and it's easier said than done Now.

Speaker 1:

Second is self-promotion. I'm going to stay here for a little bit, so listen to this. Pride welcomes and seeks credit from others. Self-promotion, so let's break this down. It's striving for advancement and power in order to be seen. It's also people pleasing rather than God pleasing. I mean, can you relate, because I'm over here like oh, that's exactly where I was Now in the book of Genesis, we have a perfect example.

Speaker 1:

I mean, it's example number one. Adam and Eve were first introduced to pride by Satan, tempting them to be greater than what God had created them to be by being independent of him. That was the offer. Now, of course, that's a lie. We can't be greater than our creator. I'll say it again we can't be greater than our creator. That's crazy, because Satan himself had allowed pride to enter his heart when he was in heaven. Now, around that time, he was known as Lucifer. And just to explain a little bit, lucifer was an angel, but he wanted to have a throne above gods. You're going to find that in the book of Isaiah, chapter 14.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to actually read this and I'm going to use the New Life version. I don't use this version all the time, but I wanted to share just the way it breaks it down. Verse 12 says who have made the nations weak? You said in your heart I will go up to the heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God and I will sit in the mount of meeting In the far north. I will go much higher than the clouds, I will make myself like the most high, but you will be brought down to the place of the dead, to the bottom of the grave. And then in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 28, verse 14 through 18, it gives you a little bit more insight on this, but I'm going to read only verse 17. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth. I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so just to recap what we just read Lucifer was thrown out of heaven with other fallen angels, before the creation of humankind, before Adam and Eve, and then he becomes Satan, which means the prince of evil spirits, an adversary of God, and in other words, the adversary is the enemy of God. Here's what happens. Here's what happens. We have Satan as the enemy of God, and now he goes after God's creation, offering Eve a forbidden fruit through the same desire that got him cast out of heaven. Are you following this? He knew God well enough to know that God was going to cast Adam and Eve out of his presence, out of the Garden of Eden, for the sin of pride. So what he didn't expect was a reconciliation plan. Come on, come on. God had a reconciliation plan, and we'll talk about that later on, you see, in both of the stories Lucifer's story and Adam and Eve's the consequences were death and being expelled from the presence of God.

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The word of God says in Matthew 23, 12,. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted man. We got to really listen to that word Now. Third, I want to talk about self justification. Pride expects credit from God himself. It's not just from others, it's not from self anymore. Now it expects God to do it.

Speaker 1:

So let's go into a breakdown of this. It lacks humility. It doesn't trust God. So if it doesn't trust God, it doesn't trust God's will, and God's will is God's ways and his timing. In other words, it expects God to come through, no matter what Like. It just expects God to do certain things for them. Now, rather than asking God, can you like show me what you want to teach me during the season as I wait, because I may have thought that your way was this way, but it's not, and I may have thought that your timing was this, but I'm here waiting, or it's taking longer than what I thought.

Speaker 1:

Whatever that might be, what pride does is that it blocks our ability to see our errors and correct them. You see, that timing, that timeframe, the way that God is doing things or the way that things are happening, is for us to be molded and shaped, that process of sanctification, or in other words, that process of freedom, or being sanctified, made in the image of God. And who's helping us do that? The Holy Spirit. The danger comes when it doesn't get the credit it expected from God. You know, when pride doesn't get that credit, that's when it takes matters into its own hand. That's what pride is. It's like saying God, I know, when pride doesn't get that credit, that's when it takes matters into its own hand. That's what pride is.

Speaker 1:

It's like saying God, I'm not going to wait on you. I mean, I've literally said that. I've said to God I'm not waiting on you, like I'm going to go, I'm going to do it, I'm going to do my thing and you'll. You know, stop me if you need to. Wow. That's that's prideful, right there. That's like there's no humility in that, there's no submission in that, there's no obedience in that. It's just saying I'm going to do it my way. Guess what, at the end of the day, you discarded God's wisdom and God's ways. So now what's happening? You did it with your own strength. So now you're expecting the credit. You're not giving credit to God. Well, god wasn't involved. Of course you're not going to give him credit.

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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. I'm preaching to myself right here. I love that. I'm going to read it again For by grace you have been saved through faith, and it is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2, verses 8 through 9. This is in the ESV version. Lord, may I follow your word? We need to get this in our hearts, all right. So this is why I say that I keep being sanctified, I keep being freed, because the word of God, it just speaks to us. It just really speaks to us, and for God to do the greater thing, he needs to continue to work in our hearts.

Speaker 1:

So years ago I was in a conference and they were speaking about different topics. One of those topics was pride. Honestly, I mean I heard it but I didn't relate to it. I mean I was definitely in denial. I had always related pride to the way that one carries themselves that's kind of like what I was taught rather than the posture of our hearts. But then I went up for prayer after they spoke about fear and, by the way, I did an episode titled Bound by Fear, where I explain more about this topic and some of the ways that I struggle with it. Now back to the conference.

Speaker 1:

When I went up to prayer, I didn't realize that I had fear of man, that what people said about me mattered more than God's opinion. So there in the prayer line, the guy that was praying for me discern and said hey, let's also pray for, excuse me. He said let's also pray against the spirit of pride, let's also pray against the spirit of pride. And I was shocked. I was like what, what do you mean? I mean I literally I wasn't happy. I'm laughing now, but I was not happy at the moment. I was like what? Like, what do you mean? Spirit of pride? You know, I was probably like what do you mean? Spirit of pride? But I literally was shocked. Maybe you're asking yourself the same thing right now.

Speaker 1:

So let's do a little self-evaluation. All right, I'm not here to judge anyone. I'm here to bring awareness and, more than anything, I'm here to help you see the things that God wants to highlight in your life, in my life, in all of us, so that we can become more like Jesus. So I'm going to read some of these questions. Just allow God to speak to you.

Speaker 1:

Am I constantly concerned with what others think about me? Am I constantly seeking attention from those around me? Am I tired of pretending? Am I burnt out from always trying so hard? Do I feel rejected by others? Am I controlling? Do I struggle with anxiety? Do I always feel the need to talk about myself? Do I seek approval and recognition from others? Is it difficult to admit when I'm wrong? Well, that gave me some flashbacks. Do you guys relate to these questions?

Speaker 1:

I actually lived a very rebellious life. I've shared some of it already, but in my rebellion I rejected God because I thought that he had rejected me. You see, I was so disobedient to my parents and everything they taught me. You see, I was so disobedient to my parents and everything they taught me, so I dove into drugs, alcohol, sex and anything that came against God. Through those things, I felt in control and believed that my way was the right way. Not that any of you have done that before, I would say.

Speaker 1:

The breaking point came when my lack of repentance drove me to believe that suicide was the only way out. Man, I was a slave to pride. The Bible says in Proverbs 16, 18, pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. And I love this other version. It says first pride, then crash. The bigger the ego, the harder the fall. And that's in Proverbs 16, 18, the Message Bible.

Speaker 1:

Basically, pride had taken over and I was not willing to admit that I was wrong, that I had failed at the plan I had for my own life. I was depressed, insecure, manipulative, controlling and struggling with repentance manipulative, controlling and struggling with repentance. I was desperately in need of God but kept believing the lie that God would reject me. I had to make a choice Would I call on Him or not? Would I allow myself to commit suicide or would I humble myself? Man, I was desperate, I was lonely, I was so lost.

Speaker 1:

Have you ever experienced a moment in life when God is calling you to surrender but the spirit of pride is standing in the way? Can you visualize it? Say it with me, spirit of pride, get out of my way in Jesus name. Come on, say it with me, spirit of pride, get out of my way. In Jesus name. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. James, chapter 4, verse 6.

Speaker 1:

You see, years ago I accepted Jesus in my heart. I still didn't understand his unconditional love. I constantly felt that I had to earn God's approval, and I've said this before. It's just this religion mentality. I try to pay him back for all the wrong that I had done. But even worse, I became a slave to people's opinion about me. Soon enough, I was infatuated with everyone's expectations. Their words mattered more than anything, until it became that dominant voice in my life. I was so tired of it. Anything until it became that dominant voice in my life, I was so tired of it. Even religion was easier for me because somehow I felt in control. I know many of you are feeling that way right now.

Speaker 1:

In the book of Acts, chapter 13, verse 22, god's description of David helps me paint a picture of what a life without pride would look like. I found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do. It's like there's the secret of what David was like and why he was called a man after God's own heart. He would do everything God wanted him to do. Will you do everything God is asking you to do? You see, david was a humble man. That's what the Bible says An obedient man, not by the way he carried himself as a king, but by the posture of his heart. You see, I always thought how can he be called humble when he had all this glamour right? He was dressed in clothes of royalty, garments of royalty, and yet he was considered a humble man. Yes, it wasn't about the way he carried himself. I'm pretty sure he didn't walk around with his head down. He was a man of confidence, he was a king, but he was considered humble, a humble man.

Speaker 1:

It is clear to me that pride robs us from experiencing all that God has for us. You see, it leads To a dead end. It takes away our freedom. The devil wants us to take Our eyes off of Jesus. The truth is that Jesus is all we need, and my God will meet All of our needs According to the riches of his glory In Christ Jesus, as in Philippians 4.19,. Then maybe you hear the word riches, but the riches that Jesus has to offer is not just money, it's not just finances. He is rich in patience, in love, in kindness. He will meet all of our needs.

Speaker 1:

You know God promises that he will bless us if we put his agenda first. He says that continuously through the Bible I will bless you if you follow my decrees. I will bless you if you follow my law. I will bless you if you seek me. Come on. The word says this is my favorite scripture Hands down, hands down my favorite scripture Matthew 6, 33. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. We have a choice to make everyone. Come on, we can make our lives about us or we can make our lives about Jesus. It's very simple. So to make our lives about Jesus, we need humility. As I mentioned earlier, it is the opposite of pride. Humility can be defined as one that submits to God, one that submits to God. So remember, god opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. That's in James 4.6.

Speaker 1:

So there I was in New York City, ready to commit suicide. I was so scared, 23 years old, lost, thinking about the life that I had planned. But it had all failed my expectations. They had let me down. I was completely disappointed, but I decided to humble myself and call on Jesus. Here's what he asked me Si estas dispuesto a quitarte la vida, ¿por qué no me la entregas a mí? If you're willing to take your life away, why don't you give it to me?

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At that moment, all the images of my life, they just flashed through my mind, moments where God had been there for me and I didn't see him. Moments when I tried to do it on my own strength and I and I failed over and over and over, like that very moment that I was living. Every single time that I tried to do something with my own strength, I only got so far and I hit a wall. And maybe right now you are hitting a wall. Let me tell you, I'm so glad you're hitting a wall Because if I would have kept going, I would have died. Right now, that wall that you're hitting is probably God, trying to catch your attention, trying to get your attention and telling you would you give your life to me? And at that moment, I did that reconciliation plan that the enemy didn't expect.

Speaker 1:

Here's the good news. We call it the gospel Jesus died for our sins so that we could have relationship with our Heavenly Father, then he gives us our authority back, the one that the enemy stole from us. In Luke 10, verses 18 through 20, jesus says I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirit submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Why don't we start there, making sure that our names are written in heaven? We do this by asking Jesus into our hearts. Will you trust him today or will you continue to trust your plan? If you're ready to trust God's plan of reconciliation, for you? Repeat after me this prayer Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I recognize that I have sinned against you. Please forgive me. I reject the spirit of pride and I surrender myself completely to you. Jesus, you are my Lord and my Savior. I ask you to come into my heart. I want to live for you all the days of my life In Jesus' name.

Speaker 1:

There's someone right now that has been contemplating on cutting themselves. In Jesus name. There's someone right now that has been contemplating On cutting themselves On, taking your life and harming yourself. I just want to speak to you right now and tell you that you're worth Living, that you're worth living, that you may be tired I was tired. That you may be desperate oh, I was desperate. That you may feel lost. Oh, yes, I was lost.

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But right now, jesus is calling you and, just like he said to me, if you're willing to take your life away, I invite you right now to give it to Jesus. You have nothing to lose and yet everything to gain. He's going to show you what life is all about, and his plans for you Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. I pray right now that God permeates through your heart and show you his unconditional love, that it doesn't matter how far in sin you've been, he is ready to receive you with open arms.

Speaker 1:

I pray for you in the name of Jesus. Clarity that his love will cover you right now. Holy Spirit, show up in this very moment. Thank you, jesus. Hey, if you're struggling with similar things or you know someone that is, please reach out to me so that we can pray for you today. God bless, you can pray for you today. God bless you Until the next episode. A have a blessed one. Here we go. Hey, do me a favor, hit that follow button so that you can stay connected with the latest episodes and share with your friends, your family or anyone that needs to hear this freedom message.