Forgo Flattery, Exalt Jesus By Joseph Prince

You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You.
Psalm 118:28

Forgo Flattery, Exalt Jesus
By Joseph Prince


When the apostle Paul and Silas were in Philippi, a certain slave girl possessed with a demonic spirit of divination met them. She was a fortune-teller who brought good profits to her masters. This girl followed Paul and Silas wherever they went, crying out, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). And she did this for many days.

Now, let me ask you, was there anything wrong with what she said? She was telling the truth, wasn’t she? Paul and Silas were indeed servants of the Most High God, and they were proclaiming the way of salvation. But I want you to see this: For many days, the girl kept saying, “These men are…These men are…These men are…” And this greatly annoyed Paul, so much so that he cast the demon out of her (Acts 16:18). Why was Paul so annoyed? Because the girl was constantly putting the spotlight on him and Silas. The devil always wants us to put our attention on man, instead of God!

My friend, if you are the sort who gets flattered easily, people can control you. All they have to do is say some nice things about you and you are influenced into doing whatever they want you to do. But when you are passionate for the glory of Jesus, you can’t be swayed by the praises of man. You want only Jesus to get all the glory.

So always point people to Jesus. He alone deserves all the glory. You’ll never be shortchanged, my friend, when you do this—God will take care of those who exalt His Son!