Tuesday, May 30th, 2023. 5:51 AM.
Today is the 150th day of the year 2023.
The Problem with Self-Centeredness
First, An Apology
“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” -1 Corinthians 8:2,3. ESV Study Bible.
The Problem with Self-Centeredness
Is This
To be self-centered is error – because the human self is not True God. And the Holy Scriptures tell us that we are all sinners; therefore, the state of mind of anyone who believes in himself is a sinful state of mind. Those who trust in themselves are not trusting in True God.
“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.”
“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.” -Psalm 118:8, 9. ESV Study Bible.
Psalm 118
Psalm 118 ESV – His Steadfast Love Endures Forever – Oh – Bible Gateway
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” -1 Corinthians 1:18-31. ESV Study Bible.
Romans 1-8
Romans 1-8 ESV – Greeting – Paul, a servant of Christ – Bible Gateway
Christ-centeredness is righteousness and holiness and peace.
1 Corinthians 1-4
1 Corinthians 1-4 ESV – Greeting – Paul, called by the will of – Bible Gateway
God IS Love and Light and Spirit
And only when we let God be at the center of us do we become free in Him — and in His Love and in His Light and in His Spirit.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” -1 John 1:5-10 ESV Study Bible.
1 John 1-5
1 John 1-5 ESV – The Word of Life – That which was from – Bible Gateway
And True God has provided the way for us to let Him be at our center . . .
The way is Jesus Christ – He is the way and the truth and the life.
So, by the grace of God through faith in his Son and by the help of the Holy Spirit we become born again into newness of life – where Christ Jesus is accepted as Lord and Savior and Redeemer. And He is at our center.
Jesus at the Center by DARLENE ZSCHECH
Jesus at the Center by DARLENE ZSCHECH – YouTube
Goodness Of God (Lyrics) ~ Bethel Music
Goodness Of God (Lyrics) ~ Bethel Music – YouTube
No Longer Slaves (Official Lyric Video) – Jonathan David and Melissa Helser | We Will Not Be Shaken
Rascal Flatts – I Won’t Let Go (Official Video)
Rascal Flatts – I Won’t Let Go (Official Video) – YouTube
Rascal Flatts -Won’t Let Go+Lyrics
Rascal Flatts -Won’t Let Go+Lyrics – YouTube
I WON’T LET GO – THE ASIDORS 2022 COVERS | Christian Worship Songs
I WON’T LET GO – THE ASIDORS 2022 COVERS | Christian Worship Songs – YouTube
Love Changes Everything (lyrics) Michael Ball & II Divo
Love Changes Everything (lyrics) Michael Ball & II Divo – YouTube
Agnus Dei by michael w. smith.wmv/video transition editing with lyrics on que created by keyedlife
Sweet Beulah Land – Squire Parsons
Sweet Beulah Land – Squire Parsons – YouTube
“God’s Simple Plan of Salvation”
61244c_bdbf26f0ab65413c97b45aaf14c86c6f.pdf (godssimpleplan.org)
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” -Romans 6:1-4 ESV Study Bible.
“Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that we may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” -Romans 7:4-6 ESV Study Bible.
Romans 6-8
Romans 6-8 ESV – Dead to Sin, Alive to God – What shall – Bible Gateway
Jesus At The Center (Decade Version) – Israel Houghton & New Breed (with lyrics) HD
Jesus At The Center (Decade Version) – Israel Houghton & New Breed (with lyrics) HD – YouTube
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” -Jesus. Revelation 22:12, 13. ESV Study Bible.
Revelation 21-22
Revelation 21-22 ESV – The New Heaven and the New Earth – Then – Bible Gateway
Your Presence is Heaven with Lyrics
Your Presence is Heaven with Lyrics – YouTube
Psalms 66-68
Psalm 66-68 ESV – How Awesome Are Your Deeds – To the – Bible Gateway
Psalms 23-28
Psalm 23-28 ESV – The LORD Is My Shepherd – A Psalm of – Bible Gateway
A beechnut may only sprout after its shell breaks open.
A chick may only come out after she breaks her shell.
A human heart may only love after it breaks open.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” -Psalm 51:17 ESV Study Bible.
Psalm 51
Psalm 51 ESV – Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God – To – Bible Gateway
By the Helper, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth and understanding – we are enabled to see that even the hurtful things that happen to us help our hearts to open and cry out to the LORD for His mercy and salvation – if we listen to and obey His Word; and repent and believe in the gospel — and thus receive the faith of Jesus Christ; and He sends His Holy Spirit into our broken-open heart.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” -Jesus. John 14:15-17. ESV Study Bible.
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” -Jesus. John 15:26, 27. ESV Study Bible.
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” -Jesus. John 16:7-11. ESV Study Bible.
John 14-20
John 14-20 ESV – I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the – Bible Gateway
Romans 8
Romans 8 ESV – Life in the Spirit – There is therefore – Bible Gateway
Romans 12
Romans 12 ESV – A Living Sacrifice – I appeal to you – Bible Gateway
Vinesong – Holy Spirit Move Me Now (NEW Lyric Video)
Vinesong – Holy Spirit Move Me Now (NEW Lyric Video) – YouTube
A Letter From God
Isaiah 11, 12
Isaiah 11-12 ESV – The Righteous Reign of the Branch – Bible Gateway
Mark's Imaginings 