Tag: Self-Centeredness

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The Empty Spaces

 JANUARY 19

MATTHEW 5:6_for they shall be filled.

Because you have a free will you can choose not to be a righteous person. You can choose to be self-centered, egotistical, all-about-me. Everyone makes those choices from time to time. All choices have consequences. That’s because of God’s great love for you.

Let’s revisit the cause and effect sequence. Good choices equal good consequences and wrong choices equal hard, painful consequences. Do you realize what that means? You can make good choices. God created you with a free will.

Hallelujah!

There is hope. If you want righteousness in your life so much you hunger and thirst for it—you will be filled! When you become weary of being spanked by life because of wrong choices, you will turn to God for a rescue. When you are filled with love for Jesus and fall before Him weeping over the pain you’ve caused Him—that’s hungering and thirsting! This kind of hunger and thirst opens up all the empty spaces in your heart that need to be filled.

The filling is a life-long process.

The empty spaces become fewer and fewer.

PRAYER

Holy Jesus, Forgive me for any wrong choices I have made in my life. Help me love You and Your people. Help me show Your righteousness to all the people You bring into my life. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ knows my empty spaces – He can fill them!

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The Kingdom of Heaven

JANUARY 10

MATTHEW 5:3_for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

There is a reward for the poor in spirit: the kingdom of heaven.

I believe in heavenly rewards. I believe because I used the key which opened my spirit to learn of heavenly rewards. Using that same key, my spirit also received the truth of earthly rewards.

I do not claim to fully understand this kingdom of heaven Jesus refers to, but I will share what I do perceive. 

This is an earthly kingdom we live with Jesus (Luke 17:20-21). This verse does not say to be poor in spirit saves us from hell and takes us to heaven. Only our trust in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has such power.

Matthew 13:45-46 (KJV), “… the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls … when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” We enter the kingdom of heaven once our hearts perceive the truth, understand our great need of truth, and receive the Savior. To be poor in spirit is a predecessor to the kingdom of heaven.

When we set up residence in the kingdom of heaven our self-centeredness begins to fade.

PRAYER

LORD of all Lords, Thank You for the kingdom of heaven. In You I can be a part of the kingdom. I know to possess the kingdom of heaven is more valuable than any earthly treasure. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ is the kingdom of heaven—He can give it to me!

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You Choose

OCTOBER 28

MATTHEW 7:14_strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…

Roads, trails, paths, streets, highways, all take you somewhere. They all have a beginning and an end. Life is like that. 

There’s another thing about highways, streets, paths, trails, and roads—you choose the ones to take. You choose them based on your destination: the end you desire to reach. Out of all the available roads, you choose the one which will reach your destination. If you’re going to church, you pick the road that leads to your church. If you’re going to school, you pick the road to your school. If you’re going to the grocery store, you choose that street. You know where you want to be, and you choose a path to get there.

You also choose spiritual roads. If self-indulgence with the addictions and vices that accompany it, is your choice, enter the wide gate. You have room for the baggage you bring. Since this way is broad, you have room to add to the baggage as life goes along. And you will add to the baggage because that is just the nature of how addictions work.

When you choose the strait gate, you choose to begin to drop baggage. Some of it, Jesus relieves you of at the gate.      

PRAYER

Awesome God, I want to be with You—I choose that way! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ is the way—I choose to follow Him!

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It’s Not the Easy Way

APRIL 24

MATTHEW 5:43_Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.

How “it hath been said,” is your natural inclination. Love who you like, and hate who you don’t. That’s as natural as heat in summer. I won’t say it’s the easy way, because neither of these emotions is easy. Between the two, hate may be the easier. Easy because it is based on self-centered selfishness, which comes naturally. Hate requires no self-sacrifice. Hate thrives on grudge-holding. Just be plain hard-hearted. No open heart surgery necessary.

Hate is deadly. Spiritually, hate places a barrier between your spirit and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Emotionally, it keeps hormones out of sync, fluctuating between rage and depression. Physically, hate is a strong contributor to keep the body from healing itself.

Love is neither natural nor easy. Recovery from The Great Surgeon’s open-heart surgery results in true love. Once you succumb to more of Jesus and less of you, the door opens to The Great Transformer. He fills you with love. You cannot manufacture it on our own. You open the door, Jesus fills you up.

The effects of love in your life spiritually, emotionally, and physically, are 180 degrees from the effects of hate.

PRAYER

Loving God, I don’t want to live the easy way. I want to live the loving way. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                             

Christ always loves—He will teach me!

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The Great Hope

APRIL 7

MATTHEW 5:32_But I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife…

You wouldn’t want to have open heart surgery without some kind of anesthetic. Even with an anesthetic, the entire process will not be easy—expect pain—it will come.

Pain is an inevitable part of the heart transformation process. Even if you choose to opt-out of Jesus’ heart surgery—pain is a part of the life. If you expect a pain free, drama free, heart-break free, struggle free, or easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy-mac’n-cheesy (learned that from my niece, Mary) life—face reality!

If someone offers you something for nothing—beware! The good things don’t come easy. When you receive the results of your surgery, or the payment for your hard labor, or whatever you have suffered your way through to succeed—the pain is not something you dwell on. It was simply a means to an end. 

The Holy Spirit will help you focus on the facts. The fact you have a hard heart. The fact The Great Surgeon can transform your heart to love. The fact heart surgery transforms self-centeredness to self-sacrifice.   

All of life is all about decisions. The ultimate decision is to make the main thing (Jesus) the main thing. Make that decision first and you greatly lessen your chances of feeling compelled to put away your spouse.

Nobody enters a marriage expecting it to end in divorce. Sometimes things happen—don’t give up.

The Great Surgeon is also known as—The Great Hope!

PRAYER

God of Hope, Help me never lose hope that You can change any situation I bring to You for a cure.  In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                             

Christ wants to give me hope—I will accept it!