dumb sheep dave

Promoting Jesus Dependency

  • Enamored with the excellence of others

    and my own.  Worldliness.  Enamored with Jesus.  Sanity. What helps me be enamored with Jesus?  Reading the Gospels, or listening to the NIV Dramatised @ biblegateway.com, while comparing Him to humans with whom I’m enamored.  No comparison.  Holy ground.  Serenity.  Ahhh. –DumbSheepDave, enamored with his other-worldly Shepherd, whenever the Spirit freshly convicts him of the…

    ·

  • I have a deep need to feel superior

    to everyone.  How do I know?  Because I get so much life from being the critic of everyone and every human creation, the self-appointed judge of all.  Excellent, poor, mediocre.  Of course, many who don’t know me well think I’m a humble man, and me thinks of me as a humble man, but that’s part…

    ·

  • When I’m worldly

    I’m always in awe of human excellence – others’ and my own, outside the Church, and inside, and I’m always bored by Jesus and His excellence imputed to me.  Unsatisfying.  So when I’m worldly/insane, I’m always circumstance-dependent for my joy and peace.  Pressure to perform.  Horrible way to live.  The only hope for this worldly…

    ·

  • I worship efficiency.

    Am obsessive about the shortest-quickest route, the shortest-quickest lane, getting things done in the shortest-quickest way.  Why?  Good stewardship is one reason.  But there’s also a dark side, sinful side, idolatrous side, to my motivation for efficiency.  I feel worthy when I’m efficient, and if you get in the way of my efficiency, you’ll not…

    ·

  • When a hyper-competitive believer,

    is transformed/overhauled by Jesus, what does that look like?  He begins to enjoy others, rather than compete with them.  His envy/competitiveness/proving-addiction begins to dissipate.  He actually begins to enjoy the competition, in sports, politics, work, church, neighborhood, family, other nations, other religions, other values,  whatever.  Enjoys their victories more and more.  Enjoys their failures/mistakes, less…

    ·

  • ShepherdDave is always wowed by

    extraordinary human accomplishment, competence, excellence, somebodiness, outside the Church and inside the Church.  But human-wow fuels addiction/idolatry in ShepherdDave.  DumbSheepDave, however, is only wowed by his ShepherdJesus.  And Jesus-wow brings a.m.a.z.i.n.g peace.  Ahhh. ShepherdDave is always hyper-competitive, always looking for ways to feel superior to others at their expense, especially opponents/enemies/losers/stupids.  Amazingly, DumbSheepDave is thankful…

    ·

  • The more I’m awed by Jesus,

    the easier it is to unconditionally love the hard to love, including myself, and the easier it is to not fear failure — not fear the lowly place of a nobody/loser.  Live and love with reckless abandon.  Ahhh. The more I’m awed by human accomplishment, competence, excellence, somebodiness, the easier it is to feel others-contempt…

    ·

  • Humility/faith is not something I practice,

    not something I will into existence, work on, but something done to me from Above. I get zero credit for any humility/faith that shows up in my life. I am powerless to make myself humble, loving, grateful, Jesus-like. The nicest, sweetest, kindest thing He ever does for me, is fresh conviction of sin, especially the…

    ·

  • How do I enjoy the naive?

    I see political progressives, conservatives, libertarians, being naive about different things.  And also pre-believers and believers, about Jesus things.  ShepherdDave, my flesh, my arrogance, wants to set them all straight, so they are no longer naive.  But what would it look like, to enjoy them as DumbSheepDave, as naive as they are, without trying to…

    ·

  • Does my bride feel enjoyed by me,

    just as she is, or does she feel a subtle demand from me?  Does she enjoy my unsolicited attempts to disciple her, point her to Jesus, fix her, judge her in need of something more, especially when she’s struggling?  Do I enjoy myself, just as I am, or do I feel a subtle demand from…

    ·