Quote from Forum Archives on July 26, 2005, 12:17 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Word for Today, Mon, 25 Jul 2005: SELF-CENTERED VS. GOD-CENTERED
Dear friends,

I pray that each one of you had a great weekend! Did you
remember to attend and participate in your local church? That is
REALLY important, and that is why I keep reminding this list
about church attendance and participation, over and over. Make
sure that the church you attend is one that regards the Holy
Bible as the authoritative and true Word of God and faithfully
reads it and preaches from it.

I often share the work of Neil Anderson. Here is one of his
recent messages about becoming God centered instead of remaining
self centered. I am working on this in my life, and it involves
a daily surrender to the will of God for my life instead of my
own, self-centered will.

Have you considered whether you operate mostly in a self-centered
universe or if you really give yourself over to God each day?
The honest truth is that we all start out being self-centered.
The question is, to what degree shall we *remain* self-centered?

Yours in Christ,
Brian 12:59 PM 07/25/05

___________________________

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ
SELF-CENTERED VS. GOD-CENTERED
You are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's
(Matthew 16:23).

The apostle Peter is a glaring example of the struggle between
self- and Christ-centered living. Only moments after Peter
confessed the fundamental truth that Jesus Christ is the Messiah,
the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-16), he found himself in
league with the powers of darkness. Having just blessed Peter for
his noble confession, Jesus announced to him and the other
disciples the suffering and death which awaited Him at Jerusalem.
"And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God
forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You'" (verse 22).

Jesus responded: "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block
to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but
man's" (verse 23).

Jesus' memorable rebuke seems mercilessly severe. But the fact
that He identified Satan as the source of Peter's words describes
precisely and appropriately the character of the advice Peter
tried to give: "Save yourself at all costs. Sacrifice duty to
self-interest, the cause of Christ to personal convenience."
Peter's advice was satanic in principle, for Satan's primary aim
is to promote self-interest as the chief end of man. Satan is
called the "prince of this world" because self-interest rules the
secular world. He is called the "accuser of the brethren" because
he does not believe that even a child of God has a higher motive
than self-service. You can almost hear him hissing, "All men are
selfish at heart and have their price. Some may hold out longer
than others, but in the end every man will prefer his own things
to the things of God."

That's Satan's creed, and unfortunately the lives of all too many
Christians validate his claims. Satan has deceived them into
thinking they are serving themselves when in fact they are
serving the world, the flesh, and the devil. But the Christian
worldview has a different center. Jesus confronts our humanistic,
self-serving grids and offers the view from the cross. Only from
this center can you escape the bondage of the one whose sole
intent is "to steal, and kill, and destroy" (John 10:10).

Loving Father, help me forsake self-centered attitudes and
actions in order to take up my cross daily and serve You.

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
www.ficm.org

-----------

--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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