Hey everyone, so this Thought From The Paster is just going to be a good read. Or a read, anyway.
But first, take some time to watch the video message on this topic (posted below) if you have not watched it already. It is sooooo, soooo vital that we understand these deeper truths of God's word.
I need to point out how vital understanding this is in our walk with Jesus Christ and our discipleship and spiritual maturity in Him.
I am going to encourage you to do three things in this post.
First, take some time and listen to the message if you still need to and go over the model.
Secondly, tame time to prayerfully consider what you are self-protecting and what you are self-promoting. Remember, we all do both, though if you look at the model and place a scale underneath it, you will likely fall toward one side or the other a little more. We will likely fall towards self-protection and display insecurity more or self-promotion and display pride and even arrogance more. We all do both, but we also all have a go-to response we are more likely to move towards as we interact with our environment, truth and in our interactions with people. At our deeper levels of desire, we all self-promote and self-protect as we aim to understand and purposely develop, protect, and promote our own self-identities. So, take some time to consider this personally.
Thirdly, consider how you can more consistently recognize when you are self-protecting or self-promoting and what you need to do in those situations to stop yourself. In those moments of realization, run to Jesus Christ in repentance. Note those situations where you find yourself most needing to let go of your systems and go to Jesus Christ and His Word and reset your patterns of thinking towards resting in who Jesus Christ is, as your Saviour and protector and who He is as your Lord and the one who is worthy of promotion, elevation and praise in this life.
Where are you at in this? Note that what we are aiming to do, as we reject that idea of self-protection and hiding, covering up, justifying our sin and darkness and running to Jesus in repentance and letting Him help us and wash away our guilt, shame and fear, we are moving towards finding our self-identity in Jesus Christ. As we run to Jesus Christ, again in repentance, when we realize our pride and ego have driven us to self-promotion, we are setting our eyes, thoughts, and attention towards surrendering our somewhat fabricated and self-inflated identities to Him as the true Lord of our lives.
Lord of our lives in all areas, meaning I'm not so sharp; no, Jesus is my brilliance. I am not so wise; no, Jesus is my wisdom. I am not so strong; no, Jesus is my strength. I am not all-knowing and never wrong; no, Jesus is all-knowing and truth. I am not all beautiful; no, Jesus is my beauty in purity. I am not all righteous; noo, Jesus is my righteousness and sanctifies me as I surrender to His will and way by His Spirit, Word and Truth. More and more, as I walk with Jesus, I grow and learn it's not about who I am or who I want people to see me as; no, it's about Him. Like John the Baptist said in John 3:26-36 and specifically in verse 30.
John 3:26-36
26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man (they are talking about Jesus to John here) who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To t,his John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.(this is talking about John but also about each of us) 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[b] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Amen. So we must recognize fully what it means to walk in Jesus Christ daily. Recognize that we need Him daily, and we need to turn to Him in those moments when we want to self-protect or self-promote. Turn to Him when we want to ignore and not listen to the truth He is aiming to show us through His Holy Spirit, His Holy Word or His holy people. When we don't want to listen, we often find ourselves fighting back, arguing and constantly doing what Adam and Eve did in the garden, covering up, justifying, running and hiding, or blaming others, rather than just turning to Jesus and asking for forgiveness and saying sorry to the people around us whom we have hurt. That's right; if there is sin, there is also brokenness and death and murder in some way. Sin brings death, and often our sin brings death to others. Maybe not literal death but relationship death and hurt and pain for others. So, in the end, our listening, just like Paul warned Timothy about (2 Tim 4:1-5), is connected to our deeper, often sinful, self-focused, and self-managed desires. And those desires that lead us to sin also lead to death and hurt. Hurt for ourselves and hurt and broken relationships with others.
Let us realize this and run to the Lord as we open our hearts and ears to His truth and walk in it. Amen.
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