As You Wish

It's been an interesting couple of weeks at our house. We were still catching up with laundry and unpacking from a week at camp (2 of us) and youth mission trip (3 of us) when a thunderstorm led David to look for the source of dripping water in our kitchen. He ripped out roof and ceiling. Counter tops were rearranged. A tarp went up. Flies came in. Laundry, camp and mission trip items were replaced with Vacation Bible School preparation. Two of the girls' bedrooms were emptied and painted.
And this week, as each day fell and choices demanded decisions, the phrase, "As you wish," rolled through my mind, over and over.  "Lord, as You wish." And He has been faithful. Things I didn't want to do have gotten done. Things I have wanted have gotten done. And I can take no credit for the priorities or completion, because I realize they were not done simply by my say-so. God gave the desire, the time, the ability, the resources. He made it happen; He brought it about. He, my faithful, loving God is able to "will and work in me for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).
As I prayed another, "As you wish," last night, it finally clicked. The Princess Bride! In that classic movie, Wesley, the farm boy, responds, "As you wish," every time the young maiden, Buttercup, gives him a  task. Over time she realizes that, "As you wish," really means, "I love you." Thus begins a wonderful love/adventure story.
As today begins--and ends--may that be the prayer of our hearts. "As You wish."

^"Roll your works upon the Lord ... so shall your plans be established and succeed." (Proverbs 16:3 Amplified Bible)

"Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him...." (Psalm 37:5-7 Amplified Bible)

 

"...that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life...." (Philippians 2:10-16 NKJV)

 

10 Reasons Why a Competitive Spirit is Destructive

Summer brings wonderful opportunities to enjoy the outdoors with friends, taking in a plethora of games and physical activities. This post could cost me precious friendships--including my own. All aboard who're ready to ride.

10 Reasons Why a Competitive Spirit is Destructive:

1. Winning for the sake of winning benefits no one but the winner(s).

What God’s Word says:  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God... and they are full of greed. (Eph. 4:15-19)

2. If winning is the goal, either outcome (win/loss) leads to sinful thoughts, attitudes and behaviors.

What God’s Word says:  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Cor. 10:31)

3. A competitive spirit stirs up sinful thoughts, attitudes and behaviors in others.

What God’s Word says:  By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (1 John 3:16 NKJV)

4. A competitive spirit breeds pride, contempt and criticism.

What God’s Word says:  Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens.

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God, Until He has mercy on us.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud. (Psalm 123 NKJV)

5. Making "my best" top priority means my focus, time, effort and resources are self-centered.

What God’s Word says:  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus... (Phil 2:3-5 NASB)

6. A competitive spirit hurts others.

What God’s Word says:  What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures (James 4:1-3 NASB).

7. A competitive spirit is demanding.

What God’s Word says: O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me.

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. (Psalm 131:1-2  NASB)

8. A competitive spirit is more focused on results than people.

What God’s Word says: Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers... The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  (John 10:7-11 NIV)

9. A person full of the desire to win, be the best or be right does not truly love others.

What God’s Word says: ...knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. (1 Cor. 8:1-3)

10. Preening a competitive spirit leads to confusion of priorities, foolish choices and loss of reward.

What God’s Word says: But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. (James 3:14-16 NIV)

But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. (1 Cor. 3:10-13 NIV)

 God help us! We are a people driven by pride, self-seeking, boastful in and of ourselves. How grateful we should be that God is different--and that He is committed to changing us!

The Sliver and the Mote...One and the Same

Have you found it interesting that both a sliver and log are made of the same material? Of course. How obvious. And when Jesus commanded that we remove the plank from our own eye, it is probably the same offense that got under our skin to begin with.

Perhaps someone you know monopolizes conversations or one-ups everyone elses' story or manipulates others. Knowing myself the way I do, the things that bother me are the very things I'm guilty of. Ugh. How did Jesus know?

So in daily life, as I consider the ways others have sinned against or offended or hurt or failed to prefer me, Jesus calls me to sit down alone, look into the mirror of God's Word and examine my own tendencies. It's just that simple. It's just that hard.

From the side of resolved conflict, let me testify that the joy of shared conviction is greater than the shame, greater than the shadow of neglect, sweeter than simply "getting along." For Jesus' sake, let's get it right and love one another--as He has loved us.

" And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:3-5

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector." Matthew 18:15-17

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.  By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 1 John 4:7-21