2019 Diamonds part 2

Humility is thinking about ourselves less, not thinking less of ourselves.

A humble heart submits itself to God in prayer as a declaration of our dependence on Him, admitting our limitations. As we grow in Christ-likeness, we find that our understanding of Him brings us into greater reliance on Him, not less. God will warn us in order to save us before we fall too far.

--

Christ liberates us as He shines His light and love on those things we expose from our darkness that shame us.

--

When we live our lives from acceptance and not for acceptance, everything changes, i.e. we don’t need to seek acceptance in life, because God has fully accepted us already.

--

Our culture ties our identity into what we do, whereas the bible focusses on who we are.

If you focus on what God’s will is for your life, you will have less unanswered questions because God’s will for your life is wisdom and peace/contentment. Focussing outside of this is being unwise and foolish.

Per Romans 1, the worst thing that can happen to you when you are living outside of God’s will is you getting what you want, because then you move further and further away from God in your self-sufficiency.

It’s not about what you want; it’s about what you ought to be.

Be satisfied with where God has put you, rather than obsessing about what you don’t have or what others do have.

--

Prayer does not change things: prayer changes people such that we change things as a result of God’s work in us by the power of His Spirit changing us on the inside.

We are indwelled and equipped for God’s glory to play out in our lives and in what we do, being renewed from within, resulting in ongoing change in us, as Christ remains in us forever (not short-term).

Our inner being is transformed over time to reflect the One who dwells therein, as we want to reflect His character. We should aim to be like moons reflecting the brilliant light of the Son, not shining stars detracting from the brightness of the Son’s illumination.

The initiative is God and the response is ours.

--

Pray the bigger prayer that can take care of all the lesser things.

Don’t be either too easily satisfied or too easily dissatisfied: grow and lift the limits of your expectations

--

Apartness from God grows as we feel we are educated and informed enough to do things ourselves, and we even live apart from our true selves, not really acknowledging who we truly are, attempting to conform to certain societal norms so we can fit in with certain circles, thus also living apart from other people as we cluster into small ‘like’ groups holding a similar world view or of a similar culture or background.

We make ourselves the standard and we look down on others as a result.

--

‘In love’ is a feeling, ‘real love’ is a commitment to treat a person in a certain way. This covenant is a promise of future love, regardless of how the person makes you feel. Love is much more about how I make you feel than what I feel inside me. Covenant takes you the distance, not compatibility. You need to learn to love the stranger you first married as you get to know them over time.

--

A person cannot complete you; only God can, so don’t put undue pressure on your spouse.

--

We need each other in order to mature, because each of us has blind spots and is imperfect and unable to grow to the fullest extent alone.

--

God meets us in our messiness, walking us towards beauty, allowing us to grow from the lessons of life in order to help others, through the strength, patience and sympathy that is produced in us. He does not waste a moment of our suffering because we have a redemptive God who makes us wounded healers.

--

Make music according to the chords He has created so this makes it melodic, and not some random noise.