I spent some time driving the past couple of days and I always want my time in the car to be fun. I mean if you don't make it fun, useful, or both then you've just mindlessly driven three hours and will be not excited to do it again anytime soon. Wednesday night I decided to download some new podcasts and take those along for my trip.... JOHN PIPER ROCKED MY WORLD! I spent the 6 hours in the car listening and then listening on repeat to three of his sermons. I knew my time would be good because from the moment the podcast started he ushered me in to three hours of fabulous prayer!
"History belongs to you, its all about you. So don't let us think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, make us lowly as people. Make us humble, make us servants, forgive our presumptions, our swagger, our cockiness, our self centeredness, our self protection, oh that we might be a more lavishly generous people, may we be a more zealous people, more cheerful people, may everything we do have a kind of lavish letting go about it. We should be the free-est, humblest, boldest people on planet earth because our future is so absolutely secure. No matter what help me be faithful to this powerful word under apostle Paul under the inspiration of your Holy Spirit may the same spirit inspire these words illuminate our minds, convict our hearts and transform us into the image of Christ for the sake of the world to see our good deeds and give glory to our God in heaven."
Well you can clearly see what struck out to me in this prayer, if you missed it it is in bold. The ladies and I have been struggling healing from insecurity. We have tackled an enormous giant this year and I must admit most days I feel like pride and insecurity just keep slapping me in my face. Mostly it comes back to me wanting others to know how great I am... but I can't stop there I then want them to AGREE that I'm great.
The Pipester, aka John Piper (yes we are close enough for nicknames already), left me with this final statement and I will leave you to digest it as well:
"The opposite of pride is not mainly self condemnation, it is that but if you stop there you are dead, the opposite of pride or thinking too highly of yourself is thinking VERY highly of Christ. Self assessment = Christ assessment. If you are more in your eyes than Christ is less. If Christ is more in your eyes than you are more to God. If Christ is less in your eyes than you are less. The measure of your worth rises and the measure of your worth falls to the degree you measure Christ highly. If He is much you are much if He is little than you are little. Your valuing Him is YOUR VALUE. That is the meaning of Christian humility. It is a kind of self forgetfulness . Self condemnation is paralyzing.... and Christian humility is liberating and empowering. The glory of the freedom of the Christian life is being so ravished by something so beautiful... in the moment of worship we aren't even aware of ourselves." Pipester
Ladies, men if you even read this I don't know how you feel about this, but for me it is all about security, pursuit, and being desired. John Piper's prayer has become my mantra/prayer.
May I confess that I have self-protected because You are the ultimate protector and may I accurately see my value because I only value You. Why because my future is so ABSOLUTELY SECURE!!!
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