dumb sheep dave

Promoting Jesus Dependency

  • The happiest believers are the most humble,

    most self-aware, most self-accepting.  The unhappiest believers are the proudest, least self-aware, least self-accepting.  Self-awareness without self-acceptance is depressing.  Self-awareness without the good news of Jesus’ imputed worthiness, leaves believers very proud/independent, and feeling worthless, depressed.  Self-acceptance without self-awareness makes for mean-spirited, unloving, willful, proud Pharisees, who accomplish at lot, but all by human power,…

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  • I love feeling important.

    Whyzat?  I must have a deep need in my soul to feel important.  Whyzat?  I must be suppressing a feeling of unimportance, of being a loser, a nobody.  Whyzat?  Must be childhood pain from not being loved unconditionally, growing up with a need to prove myself worthy of being loved, cherished, worthy in the eyes…

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  • Whenever I’m joyless, peaceless,

    it’s always — without exception, because I’m confident I know what’s best for me and those I love.  IndependentDave/ShepherdDave, wise in my own eyes, leaning on my own understanding, knowing what’s thankable and what’s not, agendafied, intense, and if praying at all, am asking Jesus to bless my agenda, definitely needing the Spirit to freshly…

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  • It’s okay to be a loser.

    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…

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  • Independents are always self-deceived.

    Whenever I’m functioning as ShepherdDave/IndependentDave, I am self-deceived about my faulty wisdom, faulty understanding, my need to be rescued from myself by my ShepherdJesus.  I think I know good from bad choices so I don’t ask Him, and I think I know what’s thankable and what’s not, so I don’t thank him, for the harrrd. …

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  • Candy’s story.

    I could never have foreseen Jesus engineering me into mentoring Christian leaders, especially a good number of CEOs of nonprofit ministries.  I enjoy it because of the leverage: I mentor one who influences many others.  Pete Hileman is one such leader, and his life is inspirational, not because of Pete, but because of Jesus.  I…

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  • Who are the upright?

    Not the sinless.  Not the strong.  Not those with their acts together.  The upright are those freshly convicted of their sin, freshly contrite, undone in an Isaiah-6-sorta way, freshly dead to their own righteousness/worthiness, willing to be pitied, seen as losers/nobodies, freshly humble enough to welcome undeserved grace, freshly humble enough to feel comfortable as…

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  • The genius of Your plan!

    Thank You, Jesus, for the genius of Your plan for us, that includes suffering.    🙂 http://www.charismanews.com/world/41096-persecuted-pastor-saeed-abedini-leads-30-to-christ-in-iran-prison

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  • When it is well with my soul,

    my idols have no power over my life.  My soul is a bottomless pit of need, and what it wants, is unconditional love from Jesus, and from myself to myself.  When I’ve been freshly convicted of my sin of dissatisfaction with Jesus, dissatisfaction with His perfect plan for my day, week, month, life, and my…

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  • Enjoying my work, life,

    is a gift from Jesus, not something I can engineer on my own.  In fact, He frequently thwarts my plans to control my life.  Jesus is in the business of retraining me in a better way to live.  Dependently on Him.  And He uses suffering to that end.  Suffering comes from His loving hand and…

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