Good morning to all on this wonderful Tuesday! The B. Waine Kong household is on the final countdown for the graduation of Dr. Aleron Kong on Saturday. Keep us in your prayers as we have family and friends traveling from near and far. Keep Waine and I in your prayers as we are both traveling today. I had a great time with Kai and his family this weekend. He got used to the ocean and other than a temperature on Sunday and yesterday, he was a trouper. Keep Freddie and his family in your prayers as they get ready for Hailie and a new job that he is starting on May 17th.
I continuing my journey in Matthew 18 today, verses 1-9; "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And He said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell." Amen and amen!
I guess it is human nature to want to be the "favorite"; the "best"; the "most loved" and I am sure the disciples wrestled with this immaturity as well. These twelve men had a serious "hole" in their emotional bucket and always looked for outward affirmation of their importance to Jesus. At this time of their spiritual walk, they did not have the Holy Spirit to enlighten them so were immature. We don't have that excuse, because the Holy Spirit is among us. A lot of us have "holes" in our spiritual and emotional buckets and our behavior is the evidence that this "hole" exists. This "hole" behavior can be manifest in many ways and at the ROOT is NARCISSISM, i.e. an OVER the top emphasis on ME, ME, ME. In our society and others, you see this played on with folk that sell drugs and folk that buy drugs; folk that steal and folk that purchase stolen goods; folk that produce pornography and folk that buy pornography; folk that entice folk to participate in adulterous behavior and folk that participate; folk that lie and folk that participate in lies; folk that kill to get what they want and folk that help them. Societies with these hallmarks are not societies that prosper. I tell you the truth, I think the only reason that the United States continues to prosper is that we had founding fathers that gave lip service to "One nation under God" and we have folk that continue to Kingdom build in the US. That being said, I do believe that the time is drawing nigh when we will be caught up to meet Him and the times of Tribulations will be upon us. It is thus incumbent now to ensure that others see the Master in our lives--we are to be obedient children who trust the Father and trust and obey His commandments so that others can come to know Him. We are instructed in these verses to not think ourselves more highly than the Master and not to think we know better how to build our lives on the solid foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. Had Adam and Eve not been consumed by narcissism we would all be still living in paradise and knowing what true happiness it.
It is always a good day to obey Christ and to do the right thing despite what our narcissistic self tells us to do. To know Him is to love Him; to love Him is to serve Him. To know Him is to love Him; to love Him is to serve you. I love you in Jesus Christ and pray for your success today, in Jesus name amen, and amen!
Stephanie
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