even our enemies.  Gulp.  That means enjoy everyone, just as they are.  Gulp.  Satan wants us to feel superior to others, especially our enemies, and the disgusting.  Satan wants us critical-judgmental, feeling superior.  Proud.  Gulp. A humble believer loves/accepts/enjoys everyone, just as they are, even political opponents.  Gulp. –ProudDave, taking baby steps in more-loving directions,…

until He has brought healing to the wound on my soul that gives inordinate power to the idols I unconsciously use to prove myself worthy, distracting me from Jesus-dependency.  Jesus will make the kind of difference in my life that will attract others when I don’t care about the things I’ve cared way too much…

Enjoying Jesus, enjoying others, enjoying myself, enjoying my circumstances, just as they are.   What if I’m irritated with myself for struggling to live this way, for being such a loser as a follower of Jesus?   That’s not humility, that’s pride.  Self-contempt.  Satan loves us wishing we were different, unaccepting of where we are in the…

What would that even look like?  Arguing with respect, admiration, enjoyment, of the opposition, rather than vilifying them?  Is humility the missing ingredient today in politics, as well as in the Church, business, education, sports, and the media?  And in Dave? God opposes the proud/strong/confident, but his heart goes out to the humble/weak/meek.  True also,…

Grace flows downhill to the lowly/needy who know they are needy: sinners/failures/losers who know they are sinners/failures/losers.  Not uphill to the strong/confident/superior.  But this grace is impossible for us mortals to orchestrate. So how can I get more grace?  Ask Him, and if it helps you believe, claim the promise of Luke 11, that if…

I have this curiosity and expectancy about what He will do in the next minutes, hours — in me, in others, in my circumstances.   And I’m surprisingly thankful about everything, including the hard.  And whatever I face is not my problem, not my job to fix: Jesus’ problem and Jesus’ job.  Ahhh, tis so sweet…

is being intense/agendified about anything.  My will be done.   I know what’s best for me and those I love.  God bless my agenda.  This created-dependent knows: confident/willful/proud/evil/wicked/presumptuous.  Only the presumptuous judge others around us, as to worthiness or unworthiness, winner or loser or mediocre.  Why?  To feel superior to losers and worship winnners.  The humble enjoy everyone. –IndependentDave, needing prayer for fresh conviction…

with the values of this world: feeling good about myself through strength, good taste, achievement, efficiency, savvy, reputation, superiority, somebodiness, great decisions.   For a cherished, adopted child of the Most High God to be so enamored with such meaningless values in the eyes of Solomon, is pathetic.   But that’s what I am in my less-sane…

and avoiding the hard ones, is my passion when I’m ShepherdDave, wise in my own eyes, leaning on my own understanding, confident I know what’s best for me and those I love.   But easy never grows me more Jesus-dependent, more DumbSheepDave.  Only the hard.   So why do I obsess over engineering easy, and not embrace…

I cannot live w/o them.  I become tense and frustrated until I can return to them to get some relief from my pain — my suppressed feelings of worthlessness.  How do I know they’re suppressed?  Because I want to forget/deny/erase my feelings of worthlessness, by doing something to feel good about myself in one or…