{"id":54,"date":"2006-02-17T19:31:00","date_gmt":"2006-02-17T19:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brianmashburn.net\/?p=54"},"modified":"2006-02-17T19:31:00","modified_gmt":"2006-02-17T19:31:00","slug":"i-have-identified-your-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/?p=54","title":{"rendered":"I have identified your problem…"},"content":{"rendered":"
“For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” – St. Paul<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/font><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n
It will seem like I’m leaving the theme of my last email concerning how we need to approach the Bible, but I’m not really.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/font><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n
It all comes back to this. Every time. Without exception. Every problem you are having, every bit of suffering you embrace, every complaint you have, every issue that you have with any other person or circumstance, it is present simply because you are looking out for your own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/font><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n
Test it. See if it is true.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/font><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n
When you think it is okay to attack someone in any way…see if it is true.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
When you are feeling pity for yourself because of some unfair circumstance…see if it is true.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
When you are feeling oppressed by your financial challenges…see if it is true.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
When your marriage is rocky…see if it is true.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
When your kids\/parents don’t satisfy you…see if it is true.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/font><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n
It is true. And everyone does it. Everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. This one thing is the source of any suffering you do.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/font><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n
When I am looking out for Jesus Christ’s interests, I am glad to peacefully withhold attacking someone even when I have the “right” to.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
When I am looking out for Jesus Christ’s interests, I joyfully accept all “unfair” circumstances as God’s way of making me more like Him.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
When I am looking out for Jesus Christ’s interests, I know “financial challenges” to be God’s invitation to trust Him more practically, and not just theoretically.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
When I am looking out for Jesus Christ’s interests, I love to suffer for my spouse, and the more unfair my spouse is, the more I get to love her like Christ loved me.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
When I am looking out for Jesus Christ’s interests, I know that my kids and parents don’t need to change one thing to be the perfect teachers that God intends them to be in the shaping of my character and priorities.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/font><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n
Only when I am looking out for my interests do problems arise in my life.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/font><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n
And only when I approach the Bible looking out for my own interests (my salvation), rather than Jesus Christ’s interests (God’s glory), do I make it something that it is not supposed to be. Approach the Bible in order to become a reflection of God’s glory, and you will find your salvation, both of which are Jesus. Approach the Bible strictly for your own interest at being saved, and you will find a bunch of rules telling you how to be saved, and even if you follow those rules to the letter externally, you might miss Jesus.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” – St. Paul   It will seem like I’m leaving the theme of my last email concerning how we need to approach the Bible, but I’m not really.   It all comes back to this. Every time. Without exception. Every problem you are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pO6nf-S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}