The Christian life is all about

Jesus using suffering/harrrd to grow me more dependent on Himself.  Humble.  Instead of pseudo-humble – where I’m skilled at appearing humble to others and to myself, living in denial of my self-absorption/independence/pride.  If I’m not freshly undone, contrite, the Jesus in me will not be contagious to others, especially pre-believers.   I won’t be reproducing seed in fertile soil – dependent on Him and His power, but rather I’ll be dependent on me and my human power.  Sterile seed in barren soil.  Working hard for the outside of my cup to be sparkling clean.

This retraining process is not up to me, not my problem, not my job to manage/fix.  Jesus’ job.  Well then what’s MY job?  Curious, expectant, to see what He does NEXT, in me, others, circumstances.  And to ask Him and THANK Him about evathang, especially the harrrd – the pain of being retrained.  Jesus thwarting my plans/agenda is one of His most-effective strategies for retraining me.

And when I forget to do my job?  CONFESS.  Being bummed by my failure, and/or striving to do better next time, instead of confessing, is Satan’s delight.  If confession doesn’t precede doing, it’s a flesh work, looking impressive on the outside, but human-powered, non-reproducing, non-contagious.  Only Jesus-humility and Jesus-love are contagious.  But impossible.  Unless the Spirit freshly convicts me of the sin of confidence/independence.  And even then, it’s a temporary thing, because of the world, flesh, devil, snookering me back to independence, self-reliance, human power.

–PatheticallyInsecureImmatureNeuroticDeludedProverDave, A.K.A. ShepherdDave, needing fresh conviction, so he’s momentarily DumbSheepDave, enjoying the bliss of Jesus-dependency/humility/clueless-he-knows-what’s-best, so the pre-believers around him might experience Jesus

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