Its not about you or me; EVER.

I've said this for a while now and today it rang true more than it ever has. We HAVE to come to the place where we realize its not now nor has our lives and living them out EVER been about us. Think about it. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and the second commandment is just as great, to love your neighbor as yourself (Mk 12:30-31). We're not commanded to love ourselves; we do that without being told. But we are to love God and also love others. Ultimately our lives are for the glory of God. Everything we do must demonstrate Him. Sure we're not perfect but we must strive to display who He is by who we claim to be.

Why did my statement ring true? I experienced some stuff this morning and could have easily allowed it to consume me and my day; to take it to heart and make it personal and get defensive. I realized though its not about me. I went to work later on and had a conversation with a co-worker and realized that they are going through some stuff of their own. If I had been so caught up with me I wouldn't have been able to lend an ear and some words of encouragement to them. I was thankful to God, thankful to the Holy Spirit, thankful to the Living Word which is Christ for having done a work IN me so that there could be a work done THROUGH me.

I'm no better than the next person; I'm just being real. Remember that our lives are for Hid glory. Remember that we share in His sufferings. Remember that as we humble ourselves and follow Christ's example of humility, God himself exalts us in His time :)

Blessings til next time!
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Sheep

Most people probably look at sheep as dumb and weak. Cartoons and other shows tend to portray them as such. But are they really like that? My devotions this morning spoke to being a sheep. Psalm 100 says that we are the sheep of His pasture. Does that mean we're stupid or weak? Of course not! Far from it. But it does mean we should be more simple in our approach to life. We have a tendency (and I am DEFINITELY speaking for myself) to overthink and complicate A LOT of things in our lives; particularly our walk with God, which in fact should be our entire lives. In the devotion the author explained that sheep spend all their time with their shepherd, so much so that even if they are amongst another flock they know their shepherd's voice different from any other shepherd. They follow his lead and trust him for their food and protection without asking questions. They just simply do, taking it day by day.

I determined today to be a sheep with Christ as my shepherd. I want that we all be sheep; one flock under one shepherd going where he leads us, knowing his voice and trusting him without question. Thinking about it this morning made me realize even more how much there is to who I am which in turn made me realize how much there is to God. Think about it. He is the shepherd: I am the sheep. But it doesn't stop there. He is the healer: I am healed. He is the king: I am royalty. He is the high priest: I am in the priesthood. He is the redeemer: I am redeemed. He is holy: I am holy. I am a reflection of him and he is the "I AM" and he has no limit. Awesomeness!

So be a sheep, but be a a royal, healed, redeemed, holy, sheep in the priesthood. Be a soldier in the army; be a servant and everything else that he is. Blessings til next time!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®