an alien power, kinda like that possessed by Superman — uncharacteristic for normal humans. Bystanders are wowed. When you operate with Jesus-power, you are a channel of grace into the lives of others, both Christian and nonChristian, adult and child — even your OWN child — especially your own child. Sadly, using your own puny…

Thank You, Lord, for the work of Your Spirit in our lives, convicting us at times, of our pursuit of meaningful, rewarding living apart from You, exposing to ourselves, our foolishness, stupidity, idolatry. Thank You that no matter how much our flesh has tried, over and over and over, it has never EVER found any…

more than any other, is my health — feeling good physiologically. Pert-near impossible to be content when you feel lousy. All the glasses that seemed half-full, suddenly seem half-empty, though nothing has changed. Easily overwhelmed by the challenges of the day. Life is really harrrrd. Still, what helps me MOST when I feel lousy, is…

For a follower of Jesus, contentment is a litmus-paper test for Jesus-dependency. Why do I wannabe Jesus-dependent? Because I know it’s right, and I wannabe a good follower of Jesus. Why do I wannabe a good follower of Jesus? Because I wanna feel good about myself. Jesus and His imputed worthiness are not ENOUGH for…

are the freshly humble — the freshly Jesus-dependent — the freshly dead to self. Impossible to experience contentment without the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, opening our eyes to see how DIScontent we are, with who we are, how we are, what we do, where we live, what we drive, what we can afford,…

you can either wallow in self-pity, or you can live in denial of the suffering with a positive mental attitude, focusing on the positives, ignoring the negatives. OR. You can THANK Jesus for the extreme suffering. My flesh likes either self-pity or denial, but my flesh knows NOTHing about delivering happiness to Dave. Jesus uses…

I feel ENTITLED to easier when I have fresh suffering on top of extended suffering. Unless. I’m freshly convicted by Jesus’ Spirit of being confident-I-know-what’s-best, wise in my own eyes, leaning on my own understanding. Then, it’s, “Give me whatever is best, Jesus. Don’t give me the easy my flesh demands. I believe a little…

And when we take our eyes off Him, and look at the waves, we momentarily lose two huge benefits of Jesus in this life — joy and peace. He lovingly controls the waves of our lives — the circumstances we face each day, in such a way that we sometimes get fearful, or frustrated, or…

but only for humble Christians — those experiencing sovereignty-awareness, thankful for everything just as it is, including the suffering of pain, believing that suffering produces perseverance, then character, then hope/faith/dependency. Jesus USES pain to woo us back to Himself from functioning as atheists. Impossible to be thankful for suffering unless freshly convicted of being wise…

in Toronto, the best thing? For the Sixers team and owners? For Philly fans? For Dave? I dunno. But the Sixers know, and Philly fans know, and Dave’sFlesh knows. In professional sports, and in life, winning is everything. But what’s the BEST thing? Depends on what Jesus’ genius plan is, for the team, the fans,…