"Stranglehold"

"Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment." (Psalms 73:6) Yes, I did have the "Cat Scratch Fever" tape in 1978, but it was only a brief encounter that did not make it to the vinyl collection; a collection that I threw away in 1983, which was probably worth thousands, if not tens of thousands. Hardly any of my albums were played more than just a few times; they were always recorded on the very first playing, on two tapes at a time, with a little less speed on the turntable, and hardly anymore than a half gram of weight on the needle. If someone were to open the door of the room, then the needle might have lifted. One thing for sure, headphones only were used during recordings; recordings were done a very high settings, so speakers were out of the question. Enough of the vinyl era. There is something about pride that causes destruction; not only self-destruction, but the desire to destroy anything that makes you feel ashamed of yourself. The best example we have of this is the first example, which is Cain; Cain killed his brother Abel because of selfish pride. If you look at the discussion that he had with God before killing his brother, God warns Cain of the 'stranglehold' he was stepping into (Genesis 4:7). The illustration of that in this verse is that of a "chain" which is worn as a necklace, but soon becomes a thing that strangles. The idea is that of something put on to make us appear more glamorous, but it becomes that which causes destruction in the form of arrogance and stubbornness. The point of this encounter with God, is that Cain became stubborn and hostile towards God, which led to greater disobedience. The word "violence" is that of "being wrong" or "wronged," which ever you prefer, they are both used in the same fashion. To be wrong, yet not admit that you are, is pretty much the same as being wronged by someone else, they both produce the same result, injustice or oppression. It is pretty much the attitude of the heart that seals the fate of the prideful; without some kind of supernatural intervention, they are all but done! Without a doubt, pride is the most difficult force that we battle within us; not because we do not have control over it, because according to God's instruction to Cain, we have a choice; but if we give into that wrong choice, we become a servant or bait to what is produced. The servant part is that of letting it control us; the bait part is that of becoming the prey of a predatory animal. There really is nothing you can do, it is no longer in our control once the cat is let out of the bag; your only hope is Divine Intervention...
"Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God." (1 John 3:7-10) NLT