I have a new mentee that is really shy. She hates her looks and covers her mirror. I have another mentee that is struggling with eating disorders. She believes that she is selfish and disgusting. In both cases, they are rebelling against the way God created them to be. Why? Their hearts have an idol of pride that controls them.

What controls us is a definitive statement of what we have allowed through our thoughts because of pride. Whew! What controls us rules our motives. Hebrews 4:12 says that God’s word discerns our thoughts and intentions.

1 Chronicles 28:9 Amplified says, “…For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts…” Have you ever allowed your mind to wander aimlessly, or in a direction that you desired a specific outcome? That was exactly what I did in 1983 when I wanted someone to notice me.

I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you resist all temptations to let your mind wander. It is futile, which means: fruitless, empty, hollow, unproductive, lacking substance, ineffectual, void of results, and worthless. The moment He sets a check in our spirit, that is the moment to stop. We quench Him when we continually resist through pride.

Pride lusts. It is driven by our flesh, which defiantly resists the Holy Spirit’s leading. Romans 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”

James 4:6 says, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Verse 10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” As the Holy Spirit was speaking these things into my heart, He reminded me of something.

In 1983 I was still really a mess from falling into the ravine. I was crying out inside for someone to notice me and help me. I would dialogue about this in my heart. When I had a certain person in my mind, I would ask the Lord to have them call me. If they didn’t I would get angry. Immature? Yes, but did you recognize the pride of my heart?  No one knows what we are thinking unless we tell them.

Pride blocks grace. Paul recognized that his thorn-trial was keeping him from conceit. The Lord will use any instrument He needs to in order to conform us to His will and ways. We must guard our heart from despising His means to do it.

Think about one who sculptures stone. It might be the 100th blow with their chisel, before they can release what their intended shape is to be. I know that the Lord has used my multiple brain injuries as His tool to shape my character to be more like Him.

Read these words carefully to pick out the pride. Romans 20-21 says, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me like this?”

Pride lifts us up through self-esteem. I know, there are books and more books that are geared to help us gain self-esteem. Paul wrote about it in Philippians 2:3. It says, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

I view Romans 12:9-21 as a Christian magna carta. It is a great template for living in holy conduct. Verse 10 says, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.”

We see a clear picture of what pride did in satan’s case. Remember the serpent in the garden? Isaiah 14:12-15 says, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened  the nations!

For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”

You can read this account for yourself Ezekiel 28:12-15. Verse 15 says,”You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.”

Every trap that the enemy of our soul sets, will be through a lure of pride. What is disobedience? God says to do something, but in our pride we think that we can ignore His words. Our trial is long and we may complain, because in our pride we think we know what we need. See how insidious pride is?

How could Gideon set up an idol at the end of his life? You can read about it in Judges 8:22-35. He had won a great victory. I want to jump to the account of Paul’s thorn. 2 Corinthians 12:7 in the ESV says, “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.”

I was used to the way I memorized this verse as a child. I was startled when it was brought to my attention. Ask yourself this question: Could my trial be a purposeful thorn to keep me from being conceited? It puts another spin on it for me. It helped me offer a sacrifice of genuine praise.

Our victories are from God. They honor Him and lift His name up through praise and thanksgiving. We can only imagine how much satan hates our victories. He will do whatever he can to derail us through them ~ through conceit.

After Gideon’s death, one son said this about him. Abimelech had killed all of Gideon’s sons except one who escaped. In Judges 9:17 he said, “For my father  fought for you, risked his life,  and delivered you out of the hand of Midian.”

Here is our instruction. When the Lord gives us a great victory, we need to humble ourselves. A humble heart will be empowered through grace to resist the pull from satan’s snares to entrap us through conceit.

Think of Gideon. When the Angel of the Lord appeared, He said in Judges 6:12, “…The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Then in verse 14 He said, “…Go in this might of  yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

I want to backtrack. Where was Gideon when the Lord found him? Verse 11 says that he was threshing wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. Notice that the Lord called him the opposite of what he believed he was.

His view of himself was stated in verse 15. He said, “…O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” God chose one who saw himself differently than the Lord did. Isn’t that true of us?

When what we believe about ourselves does not line up with Scripture, then we have believed a lie. I recently had a mentee write, “What makes you so sure that I’ve adopted wrong beliefs about myself? To me they are true. And I think that if you get to know me more then you will start to agree.”

Could you hear her lie? The Lord knows everything about us and He loves us unconditionally. The lies we have believed come from one who hates everyone that follows Jesus. We need to refute the lies and affirm the truth of what the Lord says, and not go by how we feel towards ourselves.

God inhabits the praises of His people. Psalm 22:3 says, “But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” The Hebrew word for inhabit means to sit down, to remain, to settle, or to marry.

When we enthrone God in the center of our heart, anything unholy flees from the Holy. Psalm 68:1-2 says, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those also who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of the Lord.”

Like Daniel, when we purpose in our heart to walk in our holy calling, it will keep us from setting up heart idols. I like 1 Peter 1:15. It says, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” The Greek for conduct means behavior, and manner of life.

If you have fleshly outbursts, it is a telltale sign that there is a heart idol. I heard one preacher describe it as someone blocking your goal. Ever get frustrated? Years ago the Holy Spirit gave me this working definition. God intercepting my way to redirect me into His way.

Dethrone means to disown. We have allowed our heart idols to have ownership. We need to disown them. First by confessing them as sin against God. Next to ask Him to forgive us for allowing them to usurp His rightful place. Then affirm the truth. There are so many Scriptures to do this with. Here is one. Psalm 97:9 says, “For You, Lord, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.” Little gods are heart idols.

Before the Holy Spirit spoke this into my heart, I had never thought of it before. Have you? Fear usurps God’s rightful place in the center of our heart. 2 Timothy 1:7 defined fear as a spirit. A heart idol of fear is a ruling spirit that seeks to dethrone our trust.

The opposite of fear is peace. Isaiah 26:3-4 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord is everlasting strength.”

What did Paul say about peace? Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

What a great promise! Peace that guards our heart so that the Prince of Peace rules. Notice that it is conditional on not allowing fear to usurp His place. Do not let anything make you anxious, fearful, worried, and filled with dread. Why? Matthew 6:25-34 clearly states that our heavenly Father knows our needs and is well able to meet them. Giving into fear is simply lack of trust in the moment ~ sidetracked.

Consider this: God is so great He had to swear by Himself when He made the promise to Abraham. Hebrews 6:13. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do  exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Paul said that he had to fight the good fight of faith. 2 Timothy 4:7. Heart idols usurp God’s place in our heart. I wonder, as I type this, if heart idols keep us from memorizing Scripture. I can plead age and brain injuries, but I need to take this before the Lord and see what He says.

Heart idols keep us ‘me focused’ rather than fixing our gaze on the Lord. Therefore, according to 2 Corinthians 3:18, they would block our inner transformation as well. Our metamorphosis comes in two ways: gazing at the Lord, and renewing our mind through Scripture. Romans 12:2.

Back to Judges 6. It is the account of the Lord calling Gideon to specific tasks. In verses 25-27 he was instructed to take two of his father’s bulls. Tear down his father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the wooden idol beside it. That idol was a Canaanite goddess. What? 

Then Gideon was to take the wood from the idol and offer a burnt offering. Now follow me on this. What are we to offer? Hebrews 13:15 says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

We take our fleshly heart idol, tear it down by confessing our sin against Him, and turn it into a sacrifice of praise. We thank the Lord for Who He is to us in that moment ~ glorifying Him as we fix our heart on Him.

Anything that takes the place of the Lord being first in our life is a heart idol. Matthew  6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” His righteousness is conforming our thoughts, purpose, and actions to His will and ways.

You can see how a heart idol is unrighteousness ~ it conforms to our fleshly desires. Anything that we turn to before we turn to the Lord is a heart idol. Our flesh operates from there.

A heart idol is a deceiver. Ezekiel 14 says that when we have an idol in our heart, the Lord will allow it to speak to us instead of Him. Wow! We do not want that! A heart idol will block His still small voice because they are always clamoring to be heeded.

Let’s go back to Israel’s disobedience. They served other gods because they didn’t fulfill what God had called them to do. He told them to destroy all of the enemy that was in the land. They had to fight for the land that was their inheritance.

Our inheritance is settled in the heavens. 1 Peter 1:4-5. However, our heritage is the righteousness that He gave us. Isiah 54:17 says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage  of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord.”

1 John 5:4 says, “…This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” Romans 1:17 says about the cross, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

How do we apply the fruit of Israel’s disobedience to our own lives? As I read the word “plunderers” I thought of Matthew 18:34-35. God’s word says that we are to forgive as we have been forgiven. Ephesians 4:32. Colossians 3:13.

However, when we don’t it says that He will send torturers. Matthew 18:35 is our instruction. It says, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

The things that we do not shake off ~ negatively influence our thought processes. When we bury offenses, leave past emotional issues unresolved, or carry a grudge ~ we have not completely driven out the enemy. His inner strongholds remain to distract and derail us. If a train leaves the track disaster ensues.

Verse 15 says, “Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.” Distressed means: suffer from anxiety, sorrow, or pain.

Are you distressed? I recently had a new mentee write that she was going deeper and deeper into misery. Luke 4:18 Amplified says that Jesus came, “…to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity).”

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Our captive heart will be released when we turn from our sin to the Lord. Israel didn’t, and entered into one calamity after another.