Selflessness

Selflessness

I have recently been pondering how we as believers are so often obsessed with being selfless. Let me be perfectly blunt: every one of us came to Christ for completely selfish reasons. We didn’t want to face hell in the future, we were convicted of our rottenness because of sin, and wanted to be restored to God in right relationship. Our reasons were all for self. Has anyone ever come to Christ for His sake? Yet, Jesus has met us in our totally self-centered condition and accepted us there.

We are created in the image and likeness of God, but we are also distorted because of sin. God’s desire is to be the center of all things but not for the same reasons that we are self-centered. It’s not for His gain; He desires to be the center of all things for OUR good. He is not like us! (See Psalm 50:21) In our fallen distorted condition, we also desire to be the center of all things – for our own benefit, not for the benefit of another.

The life of Christ is selfless, but in my flesh I am selfish. When I set out to be selfless, I end up being even more selfish because it is ME in the flesh trying to be something. The only reasons I have for being selfless when I walk in the flesh are to promote my own agenda, my own reputation, my own kingdom, my own glory, and my own righteousness. I love others in order to gain acceptance, significance, recognition and approval of men, and to be loved in return. In other words, when I attempt to be selfless in the power of the flesh, I am nothing but pure pride and am more selfish than ever. I am not thinking of my self less (often); I am thinking more about me!

So how do we overcome this? Who can save me from this body of death? Thanks be to God for Christ Jesus His Son. Christ’s life is selfless. If I will walk in Him as I have received Him – for selfish reasons -- turning to Him to meet all my selfish needs and desires, He will fill me up. His life will begin to flow out of me and I will become more characterized by selflessness. But it will not be me doing it; HE will be doing it through me. The reality is, the more obsessed I become with Him, and the more I turn to Him to meet my own needs, the more open I become to Him. I live with my heart open and my ear tuned to Him. When He speaks, leads and prompts, I respond to His leading because I cannot help but do so. However, I am so wrapped up in my life with Him that I am strangely unaware of how selfless I am becoming, and the excellence is of God, not us. I’m just an old earthen vessel – an old cracked pot – but I am full of rich treasure. I am speaking of a great mystery, that is, “Christ in you, the hope of Glory.” (See Colossians 1:27)

John 5:44 CJB How can you trust? You’re busy collecting praise from each other, instead of seeking praise from God only.

I John 4:19 CJB We ourselves love now because He first loved us.

1 Thessalonians 3:12 And as for you, may the Lord make you increase and overflow in love toward each other, indeed toward everyone, just as we do toward you…

Galatians 5:25 Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day.

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The Anchor

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…" (Hebrews 6:19a)

Having Jesus as our anchor is such a blessing. No matter what we are facing we can have confidence that He keeps us held fast and sure.

Christian songwriter Ray Boltz sings a song that says even though our ship has been battered and the sails are torn, the anchor holds, in spite of the storm.

Have you ever thought about what is holding you?

Desire?

Desire?

After preaching a sermon on a Sunday morning, a woman asked me a question about our nature in Christ. She wanted to know why we have desires that go against Christ’s nature; If Christ’s life is now my life and He is my very nature, then why the struggle?

We often believe that temptations and desires are the same thing. As a result we buy a lie and live in struggle and defeat, wondering what is wrong with us. If temptation is the same as desire, then Jesus Christ must have been the most wicked man who ever walked the face of the earth; He was tempted in ALL ways! Yet we know He was not the most wicked man because He is the Son of God and He knew NO sin.

Temptation is simply something attempting to lure me into unbelief and self-effort. No matter what it looks like, the result of choosing this route is sin – either un-righteousness or self-righteousness. As believers, a desire is what flows from the very heart of God. Christ is my deepest heart’s desire, and anything that would be His desire is also the desire of a believer’s heart. A believer may not act according to his or her desire, or even be aware of his or her true desires, but that does not change the reality. Jesus is in the process of moving us toward greater and greater belief, teaching us that His desires are our desires and our desires are His desires. In fact, when we act contrary to our God-given desires, it is because of our unbelief on this very issue.

I sensed chains breaking as the Lord ministered to this sister in Christ. Tears welled up in her eyes and there was an overwhelming sense of wonder and joy evident on her face.


“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

“Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.” Hebrews 13:18

“Here is a statement you can trust, one that fully deserves to be accepted (indeed, it is for this that we toil and strive): we have our hope set on a living God who is the deliverer of all humanity, especially of those who trust. 1 Timothy 4:10

“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and save them.” Psalm 145:18, 19

Flesh, Failure, & Success

These past few days have been a real struggle, and as a result I fell into depression and anger in very real and tangible ways. I know that a major factor has been physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, but never-the-less there is no excuse for a believer walking in the flesh.

Yesterday the Lord reached out an took my eyes off of myself just for a few minutes, and it was such a blessing to realize His joy and peace again. Today I am thankful for Him letting me fall in to the flesh - the contrast truly shows a revelation of His life within! He truly DOES cause all things to work together for the good of those who love Him!

"And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power would be of God, and not us." (See Corinthians 4)

How has He been revealing Himself to you through your failures????