Verse of the Day: John 15:5,8 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Memory of the Month: Psalm 33:4
4 For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
Today's reading: DANIEL 11-12 JUDE 1
The Pursuit of Self
Seeking God is foremost in the Bible.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
All the law-all the old testament writings depend on two things:Loving God and loving neighbor as much as self.
Learning to love God with everything we have and are is a lifelong journey. As we progress in this journey, we learn to love ourselves as God loves us and learn more and more how to love what God has done in us. But this leads us to love those in our world as much as we love ourselves. The pursuit of God evolves into knowing who we are in humility and in this we learn to see humanity the way God sees humanity. We view lost humanity with God's compassion. We find joy and peace in loving God's redeemed family.
What is the opposite of this life? The opposite is the pursuit of self where all of man's focus is on success of self. But the world does not see this as wrong. Professionals justify their own self interests by classifying some as 'narcissistic' which comes from a world of intellect and education-we hillbillies say this is the 'pot calling the kettle black'.
The pursuit of self is, then, in this writer's opinion, narcissism shared worldwide. Mankind may call it many things-wise motivation-success oriented lifestyle-clean living, etc. The enemy has many ways to disguise the worship of self but it is all the same thing-sin-if it is not of faith, it is sin.
Mankind has come up with a world of rejecting God. Religions that have diluted the Word of God to the point that the reality of God has been removed reducing the power of God to icons and liturgy that glorify the works of man. Religions that reject the real God altogether and worship breathless idols and ideas. Lifestyles are worshiped with open sin covered in 'the glory of society' or government control. All of this is expensive paint covering death.
Psalm 36:2
2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.
Worship of God in Christ reveals the truth because it is truth. It removes all the paint and pomp and there is the naked ruler-self.
Time and again we read in the Old Testament of judgment for those who worship worthless idols. Self without God is idol worship.
In Christ we are reminded daily by the Holy Spirit that self must be kept from the throne of our lives and this is a battle for nominal Christians who still try to live with one leg in the world of self and one leg in Christ. This is an exhausting life of heartbreak.
"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14
1 John 1:6
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
Loving self leaves the heart wide open to hate and blindness.
1 John 2:9, 11
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
Life in Christ is eyes wide open. 1 John 2
10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.
The Bible says that everything in the world-everything...
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2
All good things...come from God-not the world.
James 1:17 ►Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God's love removes the wrong.
Proverbs 10:12
12 Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.
The opposite of loving self is knowing real love.
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
All of this is God's common knowledge-His common sense. To the world, this is nonsense. The world is lost. We must call it what it is but do what Jesus wants us to do.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
We seek, Jesus saves. We cannot do this with anything but love for the lost-His real love.
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven,
Forgive me for judging the lost. Let me see them with Your eyes and give me the desire to reach them with Your power.
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