or other politicians, or other believers, or other humans, I’ve always been confident-I-knew-what-was-best.  Impossible to judge, unless I’m confident-I-know-what’s-best.  ShepherdDave.  Analyzer, critic of all.  Leaning on my own understanding, wise in my own eyes.  Clear-sighted about the weaknesses/sins of Trump, but blind to ways I’m just like Trump, down deep on a root level.  Humility…

Thank You, Jesus, that we ended the year with $69.71 more than we spent! Dave McCarty Exec. Dir

and conclude, “this is impossible,” I have missed something bigtime.  I don’t just need a Savior to get me INTO the Christian life, but I need a Savior to rescue me every second of every day of my life, from myself and my independence/confidence-I-know-what’s-best/agenda/prayerlessness/willfulness/worldliness.  Sin is not something I do now and then.  Sin is…

the sovereignty of Jesus, is THANKing Him for everything in my day, especially the harrrd.  Lotsa opportunities.  He’s been retraining me to be a thank-er.  It’s weird, being a thank-er for the harrrd.  Other-worldly.  Amazing how helpful it is, to see the suffering I face as coming from the hand of a loving SovereignShepherd to…

for ShepherdDave to read, because a self-deceived believer imagines himself way-better than he actually is.  If the Holy Spirit is not convicting ShepherdDave of his sin as he reads the Bible, he becomes a monster — clear-sighted about the sins/weaknesses of others, but blind to his own sin.  Loves feeling superior.  Just like the Pharisees,…

over everything and everyone.  So helpful when You give me grace to believe Your sovereignty afresh, because if You are not, it’s UP TO ME.  I don’t like the pressure of UP TO ME.  Independency is scary, stressful, makes me hurry, intense, failure-avoidant, pain-avoidant, suffering-avoidant, orphanlike, so I’ve got to succeed, with the weight of…

These days before Christmas, when I’m all alone in my car with the radio off, I find myself paying attention to my thoughts and feelings, my response to different situations I encounter while driving.  Jesus is using my car to retrain me in a better way of living – less confident-I-know-what’s-best-for-me.  This is the most-sanctifying…

to not know what to do.  Dependency, feels WRONG.  Adultlike feels normal, right, proper, responsible.  Childlike, dependent, clueless, feels WRONG.  In the right-side-up kingdom of this world. But in the Upside-down Kingdom of Jesus, childlike/dependent/lowly/clueless-about-what’s-best is the core value.  Sadly, it’s impossible to be Jesus-dependent/humble.  Unless the Spirit freshly convicts me of my independence, confidence-I-know-what’s-best. …

seeing others fail, stumble, struggle.  I must love feeling superior to others, and when they fail, I must feel better about myself.  What an awful thing to discover about one’s self.  No wonder I’ve been suppressing it all my life.  I must have a deep, open, festering wound on my soul, that makes me need…

or is Jesus a servant of me?  Does He direct me, or do I try to I direct Him?  When I pray, do I ask Him what He wants me to do, or do I ask Him to bless my plans, deliver what I think will be best for me and those I love?  Am…