Philippians 2: 3 - 4 NKJV
I was in a discussion with a friend this week about the downfall of society when I mentioned to him my perspective on where things went south. See, I believe that we as a society began to change the day we started seeing ourselves as more important than others. Once this happened, a lot of what we once knew began to change. Those around us became competition instead of brethren. Keeping up with the Jones' became a lifestyle embraced by many. Whatever my neighbor can do, I can do better. I see this attitude embraced day after day in the minds of our younger generations. The idea that if something does not go our way, then the game is somehow rigged. Needless to say, we've been warned countless times about the gifts of being humble, but for many people it does not compute. To those among us, living a life of self importance is a high form of flattery and self gratification. But this is a slippery slope. For once we get it into our head that we are our own distinct and separate being, we ignore what the Lord has created for us. Here we are faced with two choices, either we are the Lords creation created in His image, or we are His creation and our own separate self independent from God. When we embrace the latter, we began to see God not in a close personal relationship, but in a world where we ourselves are left to our own devices. God is only there to watch what is going on while we are in charge of our own destiny. It is we who make the entire dynamic work as well as it does. Forget that it is the Lords creation in which we prosper each and every day. Forget that all we will ever have will have the Lords fingerprints upon it. All which we hold dear, the environment, ecology or even the current buzzword of racial equality all are uniquely God. In fact, there is nowhere which we can go that the Fathers influence has not touched. I believe that to ignore this truth is the ultimate in selfishness. Who am I to think myself separate of He who created me? It is my opinion that this kind of thinking is a fools errand...and we are nothing but.
They became tricked into the false concept of seeing themselves as independent selves, even as their false father Satan was deceived into thinking he was an independent self.
Norman P. Grubb ~ No Independent Self
How many times is it mentioned in scripture that we are not to see ourselves as being greater than we are? Well, there's a reason for that. There is also a reason by which we never see Jesus advertising that He is the best game in town. Now, we do see Him staking claim that He is the Son of God, but in this He is telling the truth. I mentioned that we cannot ignore that we are formed and created by God in His image {Genesis 1:27}. Was it Gods intent to create us and then set us free to be our own self? Never. That idea where we see ourselves as independent is a lie born of Satan. This is illustrated by Norman Grubb in his book "No independent self." It is Satan who bought into the lie that he could be separate from God {Isaiah 14:14}. It is also Satan who instilled his lie into the Lords creation in the garden {Genesis 3:4-5}. As I've mentioned, there is nowhere we can go where we cannot see evidence of God in His creation. Knowing this, can we still remain foolish enough to believe that we are indeed our own self? Sadly, some do. The apostle Paul was not counted among that crowd. Paul knew that he could not be his own, separate self because he had the realization that Christ lived through him {Galatians 2:20}. In fact, the most powerful evidence that we cannot be independent from God comes from Paul's realization that he...was dead. So it is with us. We can never be separate from God when God dwells in us. It is through Him that the lie of the enemy has been defeated. Jesus, the living example of humility, is now one with us {John 17:21}.
~Scott~
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