I come from a rural town in South Carolina named York just south of where I live now. We were sharecroppers and owned nothing. It was a time when you borrowed enough money to buy seed to plant and at the end of the year the owner of the farm would bring out the books and tally up how much you had borrowed for seed, fertilizer and grocery.

For the span of eighteen years of my life we broke even. We never made a profit. We never had an abundant nor did we have an increase.

What we had was a relationship with God the Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Ghost. We had his Word written in the bible filled with Hope!

We had a clear understanding of being thankful and the power of humility.

Through the years God has blessed and sent an increase and I have found these verses of scripture to be an anchor:

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (KJV)
¹⁰  And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
¹¹  And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
¹²  Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

One of Satan’s greatest tools to defeat God’s people is found in this passage.

Proverbs 16:18 (KJV)
¹⁸  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Pride is: An inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable feeling of superiority as to one’s talents, beauty, wealth, rank, and so forth; disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing. Pride can, more rarely, have the good connotation of a sense of delight or elation arising from some act or possession. Some synonyms of pride are egotism, arrogance, haughtiness. (Source: Insight into the scriptures)

Pride can be deceptive. The proud person takes the way most beneficial or profitable for him, but he does not consider things from God’s viewpoint. The bible encourages us to be humble and meek and not to be feeling that we are better than others. We need to realize that we are not the sharpest tool in the shed.

1 Peter 5:5 (KJV)
⁵  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

How has the might fallen?

Daniel 4:28-30 (KJV)
²⁸  All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
²⁹  At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
³⁰  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

The king had been warned of what was in his future but he refused to pay attention to the prophet and allowed pride to get the best of him.

Success and accomplishment are wonderful until you allow them to turn to pride and you forget the Lord who made it all possible.

Throughout my life I have learned that the battle belongs to the Lord and the victory is His also!

I am not by any means saying what is happen now is going to destroy the nation but I am saying it is a warning that we have forgotten the Lord. We are too boastful about how great we are and not how great our God is.

Once you finish reading this would you quote Psalm?

Psalm 103:1-18 (KJV)
¹  Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
²  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
³  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
⁴  Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
⁵  Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
⁶  The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
⁷  He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
⁸  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
⁹  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
¹⁰  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
¹¹  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
¹²  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
¹³  Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
¹⁴  For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
¹⁵  As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
¹⁶  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
¹⁷  But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
¹⁸  To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.