Tag: ego

Scripture for Wednesday, July 26 (7/26)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, faith, Inspirational, judging, Scripture, truthLeave a comment

The scripture for today, July 26 (7/26), is John 7:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Medium“Here he [Jesus] is speaking publicly [in the temple], and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

These people standing around the temple refused to believe in Jesus because they chose to disregard a scripture that all Jews knew about. They said no one would know where the Christ (the Messiah) would come from. But they did know. It was in their own scriptures ~ Micah 5:2

“But you, Bethlehem…out of you will come for me the one who will be ruler over Israel.”

Are you sometimes like all those people standing around in the temple? Do you sometimes make up your mind about something religious; and even if the Bible says something different, you refuse to acknowledge it? Does your ego sometimes get in the way? Or are you afraid of pressure from your friends?

As you read the Word of God, open wide your heart and mind. Indeed, sometimes your friends and your stubborn will get in the way. Don’t let them come between you and God. Walk the beautiful path God has created for you.

.

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#FacingFacts, #beliefs, #prejudices, #ClosedMind, #ClosedHeart, #Truth, #Bible, #Scriptures, #prophecies, #stubbornness, #ego, #pressure

 

Scripture for Tuesday, April 4 (4/4)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, death, faith, forgiveness, governments, Inspirational, judging, persecution, power, prayer, Satan, truth, worshipLeave a comment

Update on our brother being threatened for his faith.  He received a phone call from the one who has been threatening him, this time demanding $50,000.  This happened to him four years ago when he was cornered in an alley and threatened with imprisonment for becoming a Christian if he did not pay $50,000.

He sent his family into hiding where they changed locations every night. (Kidnapping children and demanding $50,000 is common there among the Taliban, Al Quida, ISIS, etc. If you do not pay, they either kill the child or make them slaves the rest of their life.) He went to yet another province to hide and draw attention away from his family. He sold his house and they escaped to India. He could not find a job, so their only choice was to finish raising their children in a UN immigration camp or return home.  They returned to a different city and I think he paid them a periodic bribe after that.

He had only been a Christian a year at that time. This time he has been a Christian five years. When they called and demanded $50,000 yesterday, he refused to talk to them and hung up the phone.

Keep praying for this mighty warrior for the Lord.

BTW, his son has had to drop out of university and go into hiding with the rest of the family, so he has asked me for many Bible materials to study.  About a year ago when he was 19, he told his father, “I want to be a preacher some day. I know they will kill me, but that’s what I want to do.”

 

HS-COVER-KINDLE-GOLDThe scripture for today, April 4, is Psalm 4:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“In your anger do not sin.”

This seems like an impossibility. After all, when people get angry, don’t they lash out at other people? And yell and call them names? And show their temper? Maybe even throw a few things? After all, that’s the only way to get across to the other person that you are really angry.

Not so. If a child, for instance, does what s/he was just told not to do, we become angry. Angry at the dangerous consequence of their action. Angry at not doing something to make that child a better person.

We can choose to lash out at the child wildly so that our emotions mask our words. Or we can choose to talk calmly and explain the dangers that child was put in because of that action, or the missed opportunities. We can even punish a child without losing our temper. We can calmly but firmly tell them what their punishment is.

It is the same way with adults. If we lose our temper and shoot daggers with our eyes and rant and rave, all these things distract people from our words. Are we wanting to punish them or reconcile? Aren’t our words of explanation more important than the emotionalism and yelling? If we were hurt, just say so. If they hurt themselves, just say so.

While we’re at it, not all words help. Name calling does not help. Name calling is done when we choose not to explain how we feel.

Name calling locks the other person in and sets them up for future failures between us and them. Losing our temper during anger gets us off the issue and into sin.

Let us try to remain calm and then explain the problem in tones that the person who has angered us can truly listen to and learn from. If you have trouble doing this, practice when you’re alone. It will teach us to remain calm when we’re angry so we can explain how we feel, not how bad the other person is. When we are angry, we must not sin.

 

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#anger, #ire, #irrationality, #yelling, #shouting, #beating, #accusing, #scorning, #hating, #selfishsness, #ego, #patience, #feelings, #calm, #punishment, #hurt, #pain, #NameCalling, #failure, #temper, #sin, #consequences, #solution, #reconciliation

Scripture for Thursday, March 30 (3/30)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, church, Daily, death, good works, Inspirational, judging, power, truthLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 30, is John 3:30 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Medium“He must become greater; I must become less.”

This is John the Baptist speaking. He had a great following. People “were constantly coming to be baptized” by John (3:23). He had it made! But at the height of his popularity, he said, “I will be stepping down soon.”

Can you do this? Are you at the height of your popularity, perhaps at a club, an organization, church? Could you step down if someone more qualified than you came along? Or will you say, “I started this _______, and I was here first, so this is my project!” ?

Let us constantly look at our motives for doing good ~ whether selfish ambition or love for others. 1st Corinthians 13:1 says that, even if I offer my body to be burned and do not have love, it benefits me nothing.

Jesus warned, “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Father in heaven, help me look at myself the way You do.

 

 

#ego, #pride, #selfishness, #ambition, #credit, #acclaim, #power, #recognized, #praised, #applauded, #popular, #StepDown, #reward, #humility

Scripture for Friday, February 3 (2/3)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, Daily, good works, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, judging, Satan, ThanksgivingLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 3, is Philippians 2:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-cover-kindle-medium-new“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

This is probably among the top ten hardest-to-keep commands in the Bible. It’s right up there near loving our enemies.

One time Jesus said that, when we are invited to a banquet and can seat ourselves, we shouldn’t sit at the head table because that seat may be reserved for someone else. If so, someone would have to ask us to move and we would be humiliated. He suggested that instead, we sit at one of the back tables. Then, if someone goes to us and says, “Sit up here closer to the front,” we will feel honored. (See Luke 14:811)

Jesus was always a server, helping others to be better. The last time he ate with his apostles before his death, he put on an apron and went around washing their feet. Apparently, none of them felt they should stoop so low as to do it.

So the Son of God did it.

#Selfishness, #Vanity, #Ego, #Conceit, #Humility, #Servant, #Ambition

Scripture for Tuesday, December 20 (12/20

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, forgiveness, good works, healing, Inspirational, judgingLeave a comment

The scripture for today, December 20, is 2nd Corinthians 12:20b as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-cover-kindle-new-medium“…. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.”

It can happen among well-meaning people trying to accomplish the same good work but from a different angle. Do we insist our way is the best way, and people will be lost if the committee/congregation doesn’t do things our way? Do we then get hurt and think (or say) everyone else doesn’t love the lost like we do? Then are we tempted to just drop out?

A good test when personalities clash is to ask ourselves, “Would this congregation survive without me?” Of course, it would. It did before we came and would after.

A good solution: If our heart is set on a certain good work, but no one else’s heart is, do what we can alone. We don’t need a committee to follow our heart.

Let us prefer one another, honor one another, and love one another. We are family ~ God’s family.

#Quarrels, #Jealousy, #Ego, #Temper, #Heart, #GoodWorks

Scripture for Saturday, December 3 (12/3)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Inspirational, judging, persecutionLeave a comment

The scripture for today, December 3, is Romans 12:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-michel-cover-kindle-medium“For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”

The context of this verse is members of a congregation getting along with each other. He explains that each person is given certain gifts such as serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing and so on (12:6-8). 

Many disagreements come about because one person has an idea about a good work, and someone else has a different idea about it, and still someone else says some other good work should be done ~ and they all believe their way is the best way. 

Perhaps the best way to judge whether we are thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought, is to ask ourselves this: If I moved away or if I died, would this congregation survive without me? Of course, it would.  

And if our hearts are set on a certain good work, we can always do it alone; we do not need a committee of people to do it with us.

May our prayer be, “Lord, help me see myself as others do.”

#Ego, #GoodWorks, #Judging, #Mirror, #Committees

Scripture for Monday, October 24 (10/24)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, October 25, is 1st Corinthians 10:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

FunWithBibleNumbers-Cover-Kindle“Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”

The context of this verse is that some of the members of the church in Corinth were expressing opinions or doing things that were offensive to some of the other members. God did not condemn these things, but they hurt the consciences of some of the weaker members.

Today, do we do anything during the public worship that is offensive to some people? Do we do them as an example of how “holy” we are? Do we even try to get God on our side and say that any Christian could do those things if they had as much faith as we do? Can we control our ego in this?

What about committee meetings? Do we suggest something that the others just aren’t excited about? Do we allow our egos to eventually seep in and begin to feel slighted or challenged because our idea wasn’t accepted? Do we even try to get God on our side and say he will be glorified if the other committee members accept our plan? Can we control our ego in this?

One way to look at things objectively is to ask ourselves, “Would our congregation survive without me?” What if I were killed in an auto accident and suddenly taken from them tomorrow? Would they continue to worship? Would they continue to do good works? Would they continue to meet as a congregation? Ninety-nine percent of the time our congregation would survive without us.

So, let us try (struggle, if necessary) to lay aside our egos that get hurt or feel challenged, and seek the comfort and welfare and good of our fellow members.

#ego, #humility, #committees, #congregation, #church

Scripture for Wednesday, May 25 (5/25)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational2 Comments

The scripture for today, May 25, is Galatians 5:25f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

HS-COVER-KINDLE-GOLD“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

When someone is better than us in doing something, do we pick fights with them as punishment, or spread gossip about them in order to get others to quit respecting them?
Perhaps we don’t do this all the time. But what about times when there is something we feel we are really good at, but another person not as talented gets the honor?

That’s when it’s hard to “keep in step with the Spirit.”

Whenever we envy someone, deep down we consider that person our enemy. Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45a).

To many, loving our enemy is the most difficult command in the Bible. Perhaps one way to love our “enemy” is to realize that Jesus loved his enemies. Every time we sin, we become one of his enemies. But Jesus keeps right on loving us, even when we don’t want to stop doing whatever we shouldn’t.

Jesus demonstrates the love of the Son of God. And here he says, if we love our enemies, we are demonstrating what the sons of God do. And that is far more important than honor that goes to those we envy. Leaving behind conceit makes it much easier to love everyone.

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, December 3, is Romans 12:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

CHANGES IN WORSHIP-COVER-KINDLE“For by the race given me I say to everyone of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”

The context of this verse is members of a congregation getting along with each other. He explains that each person is given certain gifts such as serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing and so on (12:6-8).

Many disagreements come about because one person has an idea about a good work, and someone else has a different idea about it, and still someone else says some other good work should be done ~ and they all believe their way is the best way.

Perhaps the best way to judge whether we are thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought, is to ask ourselves this: If I moved away or if I died, would this congregation survive without me? Of course it would.

And if our hearts are set on a certain good work, we can always do it alone; we do not need a committee of people to do it with us.

May our prayer be, “Lord, help me see myself as others do.”

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, October 24 (10/24), is 1st Corinthians 10:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Cover-Bible Women-Createspace“Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”

The context of this verse is that some of the members of the church in Corinth were expressing opinions or doing things that were offensive to some of the other members. God did not condemn these things, but they hurt the consciences of some of the weaker members.

Today, do we do anything during the public worship that is offensive to some people? Do we do them as an example of how “holy” we are? Do we even try to get God on our side and say that any Christian could do those things if they had as much faith as we do? Can we control our ego in this?

What about committee meetings? Do we suggest something that the others just aren’t excited about? Do we allow our egos to eventually seep in and begin to feel slighted or challenged because our idea wasn’t accepted? Do we even try to get God on our side and say he will be glorified if the other committee members accept our plan? Can we control our ego in this?

One way to look at things objectively is to ask ourselves, “Would our congregation survive without me?” What if I were killed in an auto accident and suddenly taken from them tomorrow? Would they continue to worship? Would they continue to do good works? Would they continue to meet as a congregation? 99.99% of the time our congregation would survive without us.

So, let us try (struggle, if necessary) to lay aside our egos that get hurt or feel challenged, and seek the comfort and welfare and good of our fellow members.