WE SEE WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

MANY TIMES WE HAVE A MIND-SET ABOUT WHAT WE WANT TO SEE WHEN WE LOOK. IF WE ARE THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO SEES EVIL IN EVERYTHING, WE WILL FIND IT; ON THE OTHER HAND, IF WE ARE LOOKING FOR GOOD, WE WILL FIND IT. OUR GAS TANK CAN BE HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY.

IF WE FEEL INSECURE AROUND PEOPLE, WHEN WE ARE WITH MORE THAN ONE, WE FEEL INTIMIDATED, THAT THEY ARE TOGETHER AGAINST US EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT. WE CAN SAY TO OURSELVES, “THEY ARE FRIENDS, BUT THEY DON’T LIKE ME,” OR WE COULD TELL OURSELVES, “I DON’T LIKE THEM, THEY ARE ALWAYS TOGETHER.

THESE FEELINGS USUSALLY COME FROM A BAD PAST EXPERIENCE, OR THEY COME FROM A COMPETITIVE NATURE YOU HAVE DEVELOPED BY WANTING TO BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION.

THIS TYPE OF PERSON IS MISERABLE AND DOESN’T EVEN LIKE BEING AROUND THEMSELVES. THIS KIND OF THINKING USUALLY COMES FROM CHILDHOOD, WHERE WE WERE AT ONE POINT, THE CENTER OF ATTENTION; AND WHEN SOMEONE ELSE STEPPED INTO THE SPOTLIGHT, WE FELT LEFT OUT. I CALL THESE PEOPLE “CENTER-STAGE” PEOPLE. THEY ARE MISERABLE WITHIN AND WE DON’T LIKE BEING IN THEIR COMPANY, BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THEY ARE GOING TO “POUT”; OR IF THEY ARE GOING TO TRY TO TARE DOWN THAT PERSON THEY FEEL COMPETITIVE WITH. OR MAYBE THEY WILL EVEN CAUSE A SCENE JUST TO GET YOUR ATTENTION.

SOMETIMES THAY WILL JUST AVOID YOU SO YOU WILL SEEK THEM OUT TO FIND OUT WHAT’S WRONG. THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU OR THEM.

I HEARD A PASTOR SAY ON TV TODAY, THAT AFTER HE WAS BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, HE LOST THAT FEELING OF HAVING TO BE RECOGNIZED.

WHEN THIS TYPE OF ATTITUDE IS DEVELOPED IN US, IT IS HARD TO BREAK. MOST OF THE TIME, THE WAY YOU SEE IT, IS THE PROBLEM. THIS MUST HAVE BEEN OF CONCERN ALSO IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES.

PHILIPPIANS 2:4 – LOOK NOT EVERY MAN ON HIS OWN THINGS, BUT EVERY MAN ALSO ON THE THINGS OF OTHERS. THE WAY THE WORLD IS——“PUSH YOURSELF FORWARD. BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION.” BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT JESUS TAUGHT, NOR LIVED. VERSES 5-8 – LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU WHICH WAS ALSO IN CHRIST JESUS: WHO BEING IN THE FORM OF GOD, THOUGHT IT NOT ROBBERY TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD: BUT MADE HIMSELF OF NO REPUTATION AND TOOK UPON HIM THE FORM OF A SERVANT, AND WAS MADE IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN: AND BEING FOUND IN FASHION AS A MAN, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF…

PAUL POINTS OUT HERE THE CAUSES OF DIVISIONS WHICH EXISTS AMONG CHRISTIANS, ONE OF WHICH IS VAIN GLORY: PERSONAL VANITY; THE DESIRE TO BE NOTICED, AND THE HATRED OF OWNING-UP TO BEING WRONG. WE CALL THIS SELFISHNESS OR SELF-CENTEREDNESS. A SELF-CENTERED PERSON IS THE WORSE OF THE TWO. A SELFISH PERSON IS ONE WHO WANT EVERYTHING FOR HIMSELF: BUT A SELF-CENTERED PERSON THINKS OF NO ONE BUT HIMSELF; AND THINKS THE WORLD SHOULD REVOLVE AROUND HIM. 

SELF-CENTEREDNESS MANIFESTS ITSELF IN THOUGHT, FEELINGS, AND ACTIONS.

ALL OF US ARE A LITTLE SELFISH BY NATURE. WE ARE THE ONE THAT LIVES IN OUR BODY. IT’S INTERESTING TO ME, THOUGH, THAT WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES IN, HE BEGINS TO REVEAL TO US ALL TRUTH ABOUT OURSELVES AND OUR MOTIVES: IN ALL WE SAY AND DO.

WHY NOT ALLOW SOMEONE ELSE TO BE RIGHT FOR A CHANGE?

WHY DO WE ALWAYS HAVE TO BE RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING?

IT’S BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO BE COUNTED WRONG. THERE IS A SAYING THAT BARES REPEATING: “I COULD BE WRONG, BUT I THINK I’M RIGHT.”

THIS WOULD STOP A LOT OF BICKERING BACK AND FORTH IN THE BODY OF CHRIST. WHO KNOWS? IN SOME THINGS THEY COULD BE RIGHT!

THE REASON WE HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM OF LOOKING ON THE THINGS OF OTHERS MORE THAN OUR OWN, IS BECAUSE WE WERE BORN WITH A SIN-NATURE. WE HAVE TO ALLOW GOD TO CHANGE US. WE NEED THE MIND OF CHRIST TO PUT-ON TRUE CHRISTIANITY. THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

IT’S EASY FOR US AS MORE MATURE CHRISTIANS TO DEVELOPE A DISLIKE AND DISTRUST FOR A CERTAIN PERSON; AND WHEN THEY COME INTO THE ROOM WHERE WE ARE, WE FREEZE-UP ON THEM, SOMETIMES WE JUST MOVE TO ANOTHER AREA BECAUSE WE JUST CAN’T STAND BEING AROUND THEM. 

I FIND THIS MORE IN SPIRITUALLY SENSITIVE PEOPLE, WHO DISCERN DEMONIC OPERATION IN THAT PERSON.

THEY JUDGE THE PERSON, AND NEVER PRAY FOR THEM OR TRY TO FIND SOME GOOD IN THEM.

IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR US TO ASK GOD FOR WHAT IS IN OPERATION THERE AND GO OUR KNEES IN PRAYER AND BIND UP THAT SPIRIT INSTEAD OF GOING TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO WILL LISTEN TO WHAT WE HAVE FOUND OUT, —– OR THINK WE SUSPICIOUSLY KNOW ABOUT THEM.

WE SHOULD GO TO OUR KNEES AND BIND UP THAT SPIRIT SO THAT PERSON CAN BE FREE.

THEN, WE NEED TO CHECK OURSELVES WITH THE BOOK OF JAMES TO SEE IF THERE IS SOMETHING IN US WE NEED TO BE FREED FROM.

PAUL GAVE GREST ADVICE IN PHILLIPPIANS 2:2, WHERE HE SAYS, —-THEN MAKE ME TRUELY HAPPY BY LOVING EACH OTHER, WORKING TOGETHER, WITH ONE HEART, ONE MIND, ONE PURPOSE.

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PURPOSE AND WAITING

THERE IS A PURPOSE FOR ALL GOD HAS DONE, IS DOING, AND WILL DO IN YOUR LIFE.

WE ARE ALL BORN WITH INTO THIS WORLD WITH A DESTINY OF GOD’S PURPOSE.

SOME OF US HAVE GONE OUR OWN WAY SO LONG, IT IS HARD FOR US TO IMAGINE GOD HAS A BEAUTIFUL PLAN IN MIND FOR US.  

GOD USES PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES; AS WELL AS MINISTERING SPIRITS, WHICH HE ALSO CREATED FOR A CERTAIN PURPOSE.

WE ARE HIS CREATION AND WE BELONG TO HIM.

IN ECCLESIASTES 3:1 WE READ –    TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON, AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN:

SO BY THIS SCRIPTURE, WE SEE THERE IS A SEASON AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE; SO THIS MUST MEAN THERE IS A TIME FOR US TO BE BORN AND A PURPOSE IN THE MIND OF GOD FOR US TO BE BORN AT THAT APPOINTED TIME.

PURPOSE IS DEFINED AS: END OR AIM DESIRED; DESIGN; SETTLED INTENTION.

GOD CHOSE THE FAMILY INTO WHICH YOU WERE BORN.

YOU WERE NEVER A MISTAKE.

HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR PURPOSE?

ARE YOU STILL FLOUNDERING AROUND WITH THE CALL OF GOD ON YOUR LIFE?

HAVE YOU, AS YET, NOT FOUND YOUR PLACE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST?

MANY HAVE FELT THE CALL OF GOD ON THEIR LIFE, AND HAVE NOT FOUND THEIR PLACE AS YET; BUT THAT DOESN’T STOP THEM FROM “BLOOMING” WHERE THEY ARE PLANTED NOW, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN PLANTED BY NO CHOICE OF THEIR OWN.

THEY DO THE WAITING GAME. THEY WAIT ON GOD TO LEAD, AND THEY JUST FOLLOW, KNOWING THAT HE HAS THE RIGHT ROUTE FOR THEM TO TAKE AHEAD OF THEM. 

HE KNOWS WHEN IT IS THE RIGHT TIMING, AND THE THE RIGHT CROSSROAD WHEN WE CROSS OVER INTO THE BEAUTIFUL PLAN TAILORMADE JUST FOR YOU.

SO HOW DO WE KNOW IT IS THE RIGHT PLAN WHEN WE ENTER IT?

WE ARE TO SEEK GOD FOR IT, TO RECOGNIZE IT WHEN IT ARRIVES.

MATTHEW 6:33 –  SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU

WE ARE COUNSELED TO ASK, SEEK, AND KNOCK THROUGH PRAYER.

I HAVE FOUND, BY EXPERIENCE, THAT WAITING IS PART OF THE CALLING.

MANY DON’T LAST THROUGH THE WAITING PERIOD, THEY PROCEED AHEAD IN THEIR OWN WILL, AND I AM SORRY TO SAY, SOME FALL BY THE WAYSIDE. THEY REFUSED THE WAITING PERIOD OF THEIR CALLING OR APPOINTMENT.. 

I HAVE FOUND THE BEST THING TO DO WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW, IS TO REST AND WAIT.

ALSO, THERE ARE  THOSE AROUND YOU WHO NEED YOU. FAMILY. MINISTER TO THEM WHILE YOU ARE WAITING. 

BUT THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH; THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES; THEY SHALL RUN AND NOT BE WEARY; AND THEY SHALL WALK AND NOT FAINT.  ISAIAH 40:31

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