Obadiah - servant of Jehovah

(We are to have a servant's heart, ie humble, like the Lord)

The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, ...(him) that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? (Obadiah 3)

Object lesson– Marshmallow on a stick lit on fire puffs up then burns up. – Objects a stick, a marshmallow, and a lighter. – Explain how pride puffs up how if we are full of pride what happens is that we will eventually cause us to be separated from God. How some people don’t ever ask Jesus into their lives because they are so full of pride. Pride puffs up just like this marshmallow. Does the marshmallow taste better “puffed up/burned” or not puffed up? When we become full of pride people don’t want to be around us. Sort of like the burned marshmallow that no one wanted to eat. People don’t like being around someone who has pride; but even more than thatGod hates pride. We must stay as far away from pride as possible.

What is opposite of humble? Proud! Which one are you? Let's study/think about it before you answer

• If Obadiah's name means “servant of Jehovah,” and the Lord Himself humbled and was obedient to His purpose in the “death on the cross,” (Phil 2.8) then, let's take a look at what he was called to preach.
• Obadiah is about the place called “Edom.” Edom is the place descended from Esau. Esau is the one who sold his birthright for a bowl of soup! But the biggest problem Esau had was the sin of pride!
• Obadiah said of Edom (vs 3) “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, ...(him) that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?”

Obadiah was called to preach to God's people about the sin of pride and how it would affect everything they did thus “cancelling out” any good works because of it. (I Cor 3.13)

What is at the top of the 7 things God hates? (Prov 6.16-19)

“These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

1. A proud look,
   
2. a lying tongue, and
   
3. hands that shed innocent blood,
   
4. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
   
5. feet that be swift in running to mischief,
   
6. A false witness that speaketh lies, and (manipulation)
   
7. he that soweth discord among brethren.”
   

Items 2-7 all begins with #1, PRIDE!

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov 16.18)

Pride was Satan's downfall - “...I WILL be like the most high.” (Isa 14.13, 14)

• Pride of heart is an attitude that declares one can live life without God. (JV McGee)

Scripture tells us that “God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble.” (Jms 4.6)

One's attitude should be “except for the grace of God it would be me.”

We are also told in (Prov 8.13) “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”

You are suppose to hate pride!

• Let others compliment you
• we are to be like the Lord, “...meek and lowly” (Mt 11.29)

Let's see how much pride you have...

Activity– Have kids volunteer to tell a story about a vacation or another life story, except they cannot say I, me, my. Count how many times they use these words. Person with least amount of I, me, my’s gets a prize. Talk to all the kids how this was an extreme example there is nothing wrong with saying I, me, my. The problem of pride however is when we focus on ourselves more than anything else.
Questions–

1. What is pride?
2. What does it mean to be humble?
3. What is grace?
4. How does God feel about pride?
5. What is humility?
6. Have “you” ever been prideful?
   
7. What should you do if we catch yourself being prideful?
   

STICKY SITUATION:

This weekend is the big swim meet and Juan's team is favored to take the state title. The team practiced hard all week to prepare for the meet. It's single elimination, so the team has to win to move on. Because Juan's team is number one, they were matched up with the lowest ranking team in the first round. Juan was confident that his team could easily put the other team away. No problem! The night before the tournament, however, two of their best swimmers came down with a cold and could not participate in the swim meet. The indoor facility was also colder than usual – making it heart to keep muscles loose for the competition. These conditions made it more difficult for Juan's team to swim their best using all their skills and speed.

The two teams battled to a zero-zero tie at the half way point. Juan's teammates were exhausted because they had to swim double to make up for the absent team member. Their worst dreams were realized when their opponents won because their swimmers were used to these conditions since this was the facility where they usually practiced. Dejectiedly, they watched the other team celebrate. All they could do, then, was watch the other games from the sidelines.

As it turns out, the team that beat them got crushed ten-zip. Not only did they get humiliated, but one of their swimmers hit his head on the side of the pool, giving him a mild concussion. Juan took grim satisfaction that at least this team didn't win the title. Later that weekend, Juan sees the boy who hit his head at the meet. The boy recognizes Juan and is coming over to talk to him. What should Juan say?

1. Compliment the boy on swimming so well and say that he is sorry about his head?
2. Laugh and say, “Heard you cracked your head on the side of the pool.”?
3. Tell the boy that he deserved to hit his head because his team was so bad?
4. Ignore the boy and walk away? 5.Tell the boy that his team will get them back next year?

Let's read these verses to see what the Bible says about gloating over other's misfortune.

 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. (Oba 1.12)

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. (Prov 24.17, 18)

PRN Sword drill – in “smaller books” -

Ezra, Neh, Est, Job, Eccl, SOS, Lam, Eze, Dan, Hos, Joel, Amos and Obadiah!