self respect – MarinaMorrison(aka)EdenStillwater'sInspirations

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 65, and I think this is one of my favorite psalms. I just love it every time I read it. Verse 1 tells us that Praise is due to Him; and our vows to Him shall be performed…in Zion. That tells me I can go up and praise Him on His Holy mountain! And that’s in verse 2: “O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.” Remember where John went in the Spirit?

Here’s what we have when we do come before Him; thanks to Jesus! This is verse 3: “When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.” Jesus did that for once and for all time on Calvary! Now, we can overcome the darkness in this world, and be in Heaven *both eternally and here on Earth, in our living. That’s where verse 4 comes in: “Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!” We can dwell in His courts, and his house can be our house.

There are a couple of things to take away from the holiness of His temple. First, It takes me to the Commandment: “Worship the LORD your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4:8) (Deut. 6:13) I also think about being the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. In light of that, we must respect ourselves, and others when we can. A wise person once told me that if you can’t respect someone, you can still be respectful toward them. It also tells me that we should do nothing to debase, defile, degrade, demean, and destroy another’s dignity and self respect. *Notice, those words all begin with the first letter of the word “devil.”

Verse 5 tell us that God answers us by awesome deeds and with righteousness. That makes me think of when I’ve heard kids talking about how awesome someone’s parents are. God’s love is awesomely empowering, calming; inspiring love, courage, . In and through it, we are empowered to realize, accept, and respect our own authority over our lives. That reminds me of what Jesus said. “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

The rest of the psalm outlines God’s working in the world we live in; in His creation. It gives us a picture of the effects and results of His steadfast loving-kindness toward His creation.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to ask ourselves whether we are serving God, or serving money/riches. Mammon, it is called in the Bible.

As I read the message, I recalled a conversation I had recently, about someone being refused a meal because they wouldn’t give up their personal information and register. They were told the reason was that if they didn’t register, the church couldn’t get paid for the meal by the government. Jesus tells us, in Matt. 6:24, that we cannot serve both God and money. Either we will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. This is very true. We prove it. I don’t think there’s a Christian that hasn’t experienced this conflict in one way or another. And, the love of money will definitely cause conflict in your life. With it comes debt, deceit, stress, all kinds of stumbling blocks.

Some of us who have held down two, and sometimes three jobs, just to make ends meet, know what a cruel Lord money can be. Work, work, work; and there’s still nothing left over, and still no chance of getting ahead. Some of us have fallen into the prestige and power trap. We sold ourselves to the “up and coming crowd;” the “Haves.” Some of us got caught up in the money trap because we tried to replace our self respect and/or dignity with stuff, stuff, and more stuff. We have to be very careful with our attitudes about money/mammon, because mammon is a very sneaky adversary. I say that, because the spirit behind it and the world’s ideas of wealth, are at work for the powers, principalities, and hosts of spiritual wickedness in the heavens. In reality, it is only sidewalk. It’s what the streets in Heaven are paved with.

Solomon said that money answers everything. It does. It pays the rent, puts food on the table, fills the car with gas, etc. But, money is to serve us; not vice versa. Keeping our attitudes about it in line with God’s Word, and practicing good stewardship/management, are the keys to staying free of bondage to it. There’s also that checklist of things like pride, fear, greed, and the like, to reckon with. We can easily fall into the money trap by way of these.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Tag: self respect

Praise Is Due To Him, Indeed

You Cannot Serve Both