Thursday, September 13, 2012

From Center of Attention to Christ Centered

A child young and beautiful praising the Lord, hands in the air waving and swaying to the beat of the music, her voice raised for all to hear.  A painting of innocence, a wondrous moment of pure delight in life.

Is it possible to taint such a moment. Sadly, the answer to that is Yes.  As the child grows up she notices she is being watched and smiled upon by others oowing and awing over her faith. To the point, in fact, that she starts noticing when others are not watching her when she is worshiping. This was my moment last Sunday at worship service.  I stopped smiling at my daughter as she worshiped and I entered in to God's presents myself, eyes closed. There was a tap on my shoulder to get my attention, to get my eyes back on her arms raised and this time little dancing jig before the Lord. We were in the front row at church and that was not embarrassing, or what frustrated me and asked her to settle down. No, it was the fact that her innocent worship had turned from telling God "I love you!", to "look at me I know how to worship God." 

I love my daughter so very much and I am seeing myself in her when I was her age more and more. She is very needy in the way that she must have approval of her actions and words and when she fails to please others she is devastated.

One of my prayers for her is for God to help her to learn to be Christ centered and not the Center of Attention. How does this process take place? How can I help my daughter grow in Christ and not in the desire to please others?

I looked inside myself and I asked God to show me my journey and how I have come to place him as my Center instead of being self centered and desiring the crowds of attention?  Then I found myself asking another question. Does that little girl dancing and doing the right things for all to see and admire still exist inside of me? Has she ever grown up, or is she still seeking out attention, to be heard and seen?

I think as adults we have to be in constant pursuit of God's will for our life. That we need to keep ourselves and motives in check by making sure it is our daddy's attention we are seeking not the world around us. But as I say this I realize that even this can be a state of stagnate growth.

Let me explain in child like terms. Picture a child always seeking attention from her momma. She pouts in the corner, interrupts carelessly because her every need is more important than phone calls or anyone you might be talking to. She cries whether she is hurt or not at even the possible need of a band-aid.  Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with this. Children will be children; they are growing and learning. Children have parents because they need them. However picturing these moment with my kids, their attempts to get my attention, I realize in those moments their actions do not prompt my desire to stop everything and pay complete attention to them. A pouting winy child is hard to love and adore. Why? Because life is all about them, their needs and their wants, and all about them getting what they want. As adults we know that is not what life is all about, at least I hope we know.

I think as we grow spiritually, as we draw close to our daddy Jesus, we can fall into this child like behavior.  We talk to him and tell him things and He listens, but when he speaks and it is not what we want to hear we ignore him. We decide to just keep pouting and wining over not getting our own way and complaining about how miserable our life is and asking him to change it. 

The only way for us to change is for us let God grow in our center. For God and his will to be our center. For God, his love, and will for us to be more real than anything the world has to offer, including relationships. When we give our life to Christ it is no longer our own to live. It can no longer be about whether we are comfortable, heard or seen but rather about how God's love can be spread, his word be heard, and His death on the cross to save us lost, be received.

1 Corinthians 14:20 Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
 1 Corinthians 3:1-3  Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly, mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

So how do we go from mere infants in Christ, to living a Christ Centered life? How do we go from always tugging at our daddy's pant leg for attention or desiring the attention of those around us in order to feel good about ourselves and gain a false self worth, to living our lives for the benefit of others and God's glory not our own?

This is the journey I am on through the bible and prayer. Not that I have gone from total infant to adult in the Lord spiritually. I do not believe I have arrived. I think I still say things just to make people laugh, to have a feel good moment, a self pat on the back. Is that wrong?  Heart motives are behind everything we say and do. We are all growing and have not arrived to our full potential. I feel like this journey from here to there and remembering the steps in between I have already taken will help me to know the ones up a head I know I still need to take. Perhaps this is a journey Christ is asking you to take as well. If so pray and ask him to show you through his word and life experiences how you can grow and make him more the Center of  your life.

Lord let us be less and you more. Lord let you be the Center of our lives. Grow in us from the inside out and help us learn to grow from the stage of needy children to servants of others, being your hands and feet humbly, unselfishly out of our love for the lost, not for an empty pat on the back or smile of approval. Bring understanding of your word and help us keep our dates with you to listen to you speak as we read your word and chat together about it.

Praise you Jesus for teaching us how wonderful it feels to serve you unselfishly with out thought of reward.  Praise you Jesus for giving moms and dad's the love their children need even in their most difficult to love moments. Praise you Jesus for being our perfect example of unselfish serving love, and life lived to the fullest for us. Grow me and others on this Journey from Center of Attention to Christ Centered.

Amen in Jesus Name

26 comments:

  1. Why didn't God stop the government from passing a law that is used to persecute complimenters of women?

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  2. Mohammed Ali loves demons.September 7, 2015 at 6:58 PM

    Why has God loved seeing people murder and steal from people for over what seems like a thousand centuries now? Why did He show his powerlessness in the Garden by not even telling Adam about Lucifer and controlling him so Adam would not listen to demonic spirits?

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  3. God loves Satan that's why hasn't sent him to hell for eternal suffering but God loves sending innocent peoples souls to hell. Why is that? God cannot even destroy demons He is so powerless.

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    1. He has the power to do that but He has just chosen not to send them to hell yet which will also happen to us if we do not start repenting of our sins and calling on His name.

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  4. Big breasts to erect your one eyed willySeptember 7, 2015 at 7:08 PM

    Why do Christians love the devils so much that they cant even keep the states, towns, cities, oceans, seas, beaches, lakes clean from their messes of ships, bottles, plastic bags, clothes, etc.? Christians are anti-environment.

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    1. I do not think they all are against keeping the environment clean. In Japan they have done a wonderful job of cleaning up their countries ground pollution and of showing a lot of self-control by not having as much crime as us.

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  5. Michelle Marsh could sexually arouse me while asleep now results in a few erections the final erection causes the shot of cum on the stomach, thus becoming a dream where I am wet.September 7, 2015 at 7:18 PM

    All Christians live an evil spirit centered life. That new guy who is working for Bray Wyatt looks like he belongs in unholy Hollywood as a actor.

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    1. This is a sin against God that he can forgive. No matter how bad the comments and names look God in His mercy can forgive even if it is on the internet.

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    2. Michelle Marsh is a Christian despite what she does for a living. She can become a born again Christian.

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  6. Sexual harassment law was my idea says Satan and his homeboys the devils that God simply cant destroy.September 7, 2015 at 7:26 PM

    God was never able to destroy and defeat the Devil since prehistoric times. In our world we may as well call Belial, the Devil almighty because the demons do seem all powerful since God simply cannot erase them from existence.

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  7. Too bad Moonlightin4u retired along with pervfantasy. What a shame.September 7, 2015 at 7:29 PM

    Its a shame that certain web cam girls are no longer workin it behind the video screen on the internet naked doing webcam shows.

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    1. This was a stupid thing to say. Don't know what anyone could be thinking to say this. Not everyone misses them. What they are doing is a sin in Gods eyes.

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    2. They all have to repent and turn from their sins someday as we all do even when we like to use rules and regulations that Satan and demons tell us to do to control peoples freedom of speech. Only God can save us and not what people say on the internet.

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  8. Femeanists are Lucifers spawn that he has used to successfully deceive the American people into treating men who compliment big busts and deep cleavage as malefactors. They used Isaiah 29:21 as an excuse to impose this view and lie on everyone through the government and legalism and satanic political "correctness".September 7, 2015 at 7:36 PM

    Oh its true, its damn true. Michelle has lovely breasts and face. What Muslim, Christian or Jew could sleep tonight without shooting the semen out of their erect penises onto their stomachs and maybe chests or even shooting the semen on their beds by laying on their erections because cant take that sexual arousal anymore?

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  9. Too bad so many brides and grooms look very gaudy and materialistic when the grooms wear ties and the brides are twofaced when they wear immodest dresses that show their breasts cleavages. That is evil when they do that in church.September 7, 2015 at 7:54 PM

    Too bad no one on the internet question why they would want to dress like lawyers and high paid wall street business executive while sitting on the pews at church and preaching dressed like a rich materialistic business man, a lawyer or judge who wants to build a case.

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  10. A crying shame churches put penises on their church building called obelisks. Because thats what a steeple represents even when it is placed on a congregational church. They might as well say, lets piss on the world God created by dirtying it, keeping it filthy and destroy for over a hundred dollars and forty five cents.September 8, 2015 at 10:38 AM

    Christians love the world and other religions if they didn't then they wouldn't ring bell, celebrate a druid holidays like Easter and Christmas and un Halloween.

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  11. What atrocities that God in the Old Testament was being so wicked that he wanted Goliath dead and in hell instead of David praying for his salvation.September 8, 2015 at 6:20 PM

    This is an atrocity. God wants people free and liberated all forms of governments want peoples freedom and rights stolen innocent slain and happiness destroyed.

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  12. Someone on blogging Satan probably a young lady will be in eternal pain in hell for making fun of church by calling it a socalled death cult.September 8, 2015 at 11:05 PM

    That was not very nice of her to say or him if it was a young man. Either way God will send anyone to hell who speaks such irreverent words about the church of God unless they repent of this.

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  13. No matter how many times comments here can be erased that is just as many times as the person who does it can be forgiven by Gods love and mercy. Its true because we all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone listens to the devils and sins against God.

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  14. No matter what sins people commit even infringing somebody's right to their name, image, property or whatever else it is under law though this is a crime in mans eyes God can forgive them even if they have listed to Satan and the devils including sexual sins and any other sin a person can think of. God can even forgive people for kicking families members out of their homes against their will.

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  15. My bad. I meant to say listen to Satan. Yahweh can forgive people even when they say and do sinful stuff on the internet.

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  16. Maybe God cannot kill the devils but they will be tormented forever in the lake of fire just as it speaks of that in the New Testament. I think if that is not the case it would be the bottomless pit.

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  17. What they never talk about even on television is that two men that were malefactors were slain when our Lord sacrificed His life for us. No matter what crime people commit even if it is stealing something God can always forgive those who listen to the devils and Belial when they do that. Whatever the crime is tax evasion, etcetera God will forgive that if anyone calls on His name in faith and accepts Him as their personal savior. God is no respecter of persons like the bible says.

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  18. I have read here by looking at some of the pictures of Christian people here about their policy when it comes to commenting. I think that is perhaps both right and wrong if they erase peoples comments. But it can also look like censorship because they do not want people to express their point of view. This would have been a better thing to do if they made it much easier for people to erase their own comments.

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  19. This would have been a more Christian blog than what it is right now if people could freely say what they want like elsewhere on the internet where people talk about their personal lives, call people names and typically say other truths without censoring themselves without their right to free speech being violated because of someone being a critic just because they said something they did not like. If people have not been reading their bibles lately no one will ever hear anywhere in the bible about a comment someone made being erased unlike unfortunately what happens on the internet.

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  20. There would be no reason to report violations if free speech was normal here like it is elsewhere. That includes if people did not put what they call copyright on their names, likenesses, work and whatever they need it for even though I have heard that this does not take into consideration the first amendment about freedom of speech. And anyone here can do that as his or her own prerogative to erase comments by way of removing those comments. Probably not what I would have done. But that is just my humble opinion. Sorry if I sinned against anyone here by doing childish name calling.

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