Tag Archive for self-centeredness

Psalm 73

2020-04-29 Hymns No comments

This setting of Psalm 73 brings out
the wonderful truth that
God Himself is
our light,
our rightness,
our constant companion, and
our glorious destiny.
The tune is warm and familiar.

Recording
Printed Music

Your goodness floods the world with light
Until my focus drifts to me.
Then fear and envy fill my sight.
My heart has wandered from the right,
For self is all I see.

So Lord, I look to You alone,
My sun, my source, my glorious goal!
I taste in You a peace unknown,
A light that streams from heaven’s throne
And bathes my heart and soul.

As tears and troubles come and go,
You breathe the life that I pursue.
Your nearness brings an inner glow,
A smile that all Your children know.
O Lord, my joy is You!

by Ken Bible, © 2018 LNWhymns.com.

Pray for Those You Pass

2016-12-13 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Pray for each other (James 5:16, NIV).

My daily walks are my prayer time. It’s a wonderful, beautiful time alone with the Lord.

But even then, foolish, selfish daydreams invade my thoughts. I don’t want my mind or my time spent that way, so I asked the Lord to help me.

He answered my prayer. He challenged me to look into the faces of the people I pass and pray for them.

When I do, I find that my thoughts are turned away from myself and toward those around me. The love of Christ is stirred in me.

Prayer is a wonderful privilege. It is there throughout the day, always available to realign our hearts and minds with Christ and His love. Make prayer a constant part of your life.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Ever Standing in Your Presence
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Empty Glory

2015-11-01 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV)

The original word translated above as “vain conceit” literally means “empty glory.” It contrasts with God’s glory, which is the glow of His presence – God showing himself in all of His beauty, power, and goodness. The Scriptures teach that we share in His glory through His Spirit in us.

We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV)

This is our true glory: Christ living in us, showing the glow of His presence, His beauty, power, and goodness through us.

But Satan will tempt us to settle for “empty glory.” According to the Greek lexicon, it is “empty” in the sense of being “without content, without basis, without truth; without profit; foolish, senseless.” That’s an accurate description of the self-centered glory we tend to seek. It’s an accurate description of selfish pride.

Pride comes in a variety of styles and colors; you can find one to fit your own personality. My personal choice is humble pride. It is soft-spoken, tastefully adorned in understatement. It does not boast or even posture. It just meditates on self. It dreams about self. Like all forms of pride, the inner vision that drives it is not God or truth, but self-glorification.

Selfish pride is like lust: in the dark privacy of our hearts, it can stimulate and energize. But when it is brought to the light and exposed in public, it is easily seen as a ridiculous lie. What had puffed us up now makes us hide and choke in shame. Its glory is empty glory – without content, without basis in truth, foolish, senseless.

When Satan tempts you to savor this empty glory, see it as the cheap imitation it is. Turn away from it and embrace your true glory, the presence of God himself with you and in you.

When I turn away from myself and look to God, it’s as if someone has opened the windows of my mind and heart. Now the sun is shining, and the air is fresh. Other people float into my heart on the breeze. I pray for them and love them, and in the process I love and worship Christ all the more.

Prayer and praise shed the light of truth on who we are. They keep life in perspective. They liberate us from the smallness of pride into the wide-open wonder of God’s love.

He is with you now and always. Don’t let Satan distract you from Him. Discover and enjoy the wonder of the Living Christ.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: O Living God
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Ambition

2013-07-18 Devotional No comments

None of us lives to himself alone and
none of us dies to himself alone.
If we live, we live to the Lord; and
if we die, we die to the Lord.
So, whether we live or die,
we belong to the Lord.
(Romans 14:7-8, NIV)

Lord, even as Your servant,
my ambitions are more ego-centered than I like to admit.
I catch myself developing a personal agenda without even realizing it.
When that agenda is fulfilled, I’m happy.
When it is not, I get discouraged.

Wash away all my personal ambitions, Lord.
In the long run, they are only satisfying
to the extent that they truly serve Your purposes.
When they don’t, they prove disappointing.
Even their fulfillment is empty and
mocks my shallowness.

And, Lord, serving my ego is such a terrible burden.

Instead, give me a growing love for Your people, and
let that be the driving force of my life.
Is there anything You desire more than to bless Your people and
to draw them to yourself?
Then let that desire compel me, Lord.
Give me Your heart as I think and dream and work.

How can I help and bless Your children?
Make that my ambition and my joy.