Blessed are the poor in spirit — the self-aware, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.  A human cannot be poor in spirit, unless he is self-aware, no-longer deceived into believing he’s a wonderful human being, no-longer self-deceived about how impoverished he his in terms of holiness, righteousness, goodness, loving God and loving others.  Only…

Even love their enemies.  The proud are conditional lovers, and never love their enemies, only the like-minded, and even the like-minded are loved conditionally, when they perform up to expectations.  The proud are competitors, rejectors, critics, judges, while the humble are enjoyers of others, just as they are.  What’s missing in the USA today, including…

independency is essential to understanding human behavior in both nonbelievers and believers.  Even though we are all created-dependents, we all function as independents, wise in our own eyes, leaning on our own understanding.  Dependency is impossible, since the Fall, and only the work of Jesus’ Spirit in a believer, enables momentary dependency/humility/cluelessness-I-know-what’s-best.  The bliss of…

Jesus, I will not humble myself and ask for His help.  And I will live in denial of my independence/evil/wickedness.  I will dumb down obedience, dumb down sin/idolatry/addiction, so I feel somewhat successful at following Him.  Whyzat?  Because humans were made to feel good about ourselves, either through our own righteousness, or an alien righteousness. …

Love self, unconditionally, love others, unconditionally.  Enemies too.  Humility is impossible.  Only the Spirit of Jesus can make a believer humble.  And it’s short-lived.  Believers can act humble, but the litmus-paper test, is what happens when all our worthiness is taken away?  Position, power, wealth, health, freedom?  A humble believer doesn’t mind at all, losing…

is the opportunity it provides me to treat myself like Jesus treats me: with unconditional love.  Historically, I’m much harsher with myself than my earthly dad ever was with me.  That’s typical of adult children who were not loved perfectly.  Unconditionally. So what faith/repentance looks like for ShepherdDave, is being convicted by the Spirit of…

Of course, but much differently than a shepherd-believer.  How so?  Well, a shepherd-believer is confident they know what’s best for self and others, so they analyze, strategize, and then ask Jesus to bless their strategy, and then work intensely, hurriedly, stressfully, to make it happen.  Agendafied.  Don’t get in my way.  Favorite prayer is, “Jesus,…

come for the healthy, together, but for us sicko’s who claim to follow You, but are actually willful, agendafied, wanting You to bless our agendas, competitive, prideful, relishing feeling superior to others, judging the cars they drive, clothes they wear, how they behave, write, talk, obey.  Thank You that grace is for sinners, that we…

The Upside-down Kingdom of Jesus is very different than the right-side-up kingdom of this world, where winner-loser is the paradigm that matters most.  A follower of Jesus has the imputed winnerness/worthiness of Jesus, and that frees the believer from needing to invest the rest of his life proving himself a winner, not a loser.  Following…