Who is the center of your world? Sadly, for many an honest answer would be, “I am”.

Do you know anyone who requires continual admiration because they consider themselves better than everyone else? These individuals, at the slightest provocation or criticism lose it. This a clinical description of someone with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). You may have NPD if:

1. You have an over inflated sense of self-importance

2. You live in a world that confirms this sense of grandeur

3. Your ego needs to be constantly stroked

4. You live with a sense of entitlement

5. You manipulate others with guilt or shame

6. You intimidate, harass, or put others down

Such “magnetic and charming” individuals know how to “sell” themselves. They can worm their way into any organization or relationship. Once their incompetence starts to show, they bully all into submission and the environment becomes toxic.

So, what is the cure for NPD? Christ is! It is imperative that all place God at the center of their universe. God is not just one factor of who we are in our story. No, this is “His story” and we are just one small insignificant detail in that story.

A couple came into my office recently with severe marital discord. Both professed to be agnostic. Not only is this probably why they have so much conflict, but it also makes the path back almost impossible.

Here are a few corrective scriptures to meditate on and to live by:

• Matthew 6:33 ESV But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

• Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

• Romans 12:2 ESV Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

• Psalm 28:7 ESV The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

• 1 Corinthians 11:1-2 ESV Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

• Galatians 2:20 ESV I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Father, God – you have taught me that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Help me to be a gift to Your creation today that will bring glory to Your Kingdom.

When we think of the past of our people, the ancient Israelites, their idolatry is one of the first things that come to mind. Our comments about them in Bible classes usually pertain to how foolish they were for abandoning their God who made them and who rescued them out of Egypt. Instead, they worshiped these pieces of wood and stone, rather than the almighty, living God. We often stand in a place of judgment, having the privilege of being able to see their mistakes with the advantage of having hindsight. However, we ought to be thinking more about our similarities with our ancient brethren. First, they rarely, if ever, abandoned the worship of Yahweh. Their sin was in worshiping other gods alongside Yahweh. How often are we guilty of doing the same? We may go to church every Sunday, read our Bibles, and pray to Yahweh, but we also may worship other gods alongside him. Our political parties, our entertainment, our jobs, even our families may be exalted too highly to where they become an object of our worship. How do we know if they have reached the status of “god” in our hearts? One way to know is by examining if we could completely give these things up if God told us to do so.

In conclusion, I leave you with the last line of 1 John, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (5:21; ESV). We need to do this by any means necessary.

Have you ever been described as “stubborn” or “hard to get through”? You know that I certainly have!

As a kid I was called “stubborn” because I wanted to do things myself and I did not listen very well. As an adult, I find that I am “hard to get through” because I’m pretty sure that I am always right!

The real danger in security of one’s self is that at some point it boils over into your spiritual life and repeated resistance to God could produce an inability to respond to Him in the future, or what the Bible describes as a hardened heart. Spiritual hardening typically begins with self-sufficiency and self-satisfaction, but leads to refusing to listen to God, which leads to a loss of spiritual hearing, and failing to respond, which means you listen to God with no intention of obeying.

To prevent having a spiritual hardening of the heart, be aware of the deceitfulness of self-sufficiency, stay in fellowship with other believers and encourage each other with love and concern.

Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT) “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

God promised to restore Israel not only physically, but spiritually. To accomplish this, He would give them a new heart for following Him and put His Spirit within them to transform them and empower them to do His will.

God gave us His Son and offers us a fresh start. You too can receive a new heart for God and have His Spirit within you if you accept and take Christ on in baptism.

I had a friend recently ask me if we were having in person services. When I confirmed that we are meeting, but safely, he said: “I have just come from the funeral of a good friend who died because of COVID. He caught it at services from the preacher.”

Ouch! Is it not strange how fear has caused people to lose their rational thoughts & perspective?

God has called us to abound in ever increasing selfless love while discerning gathered & verifiable facts. Only then would we be able to prove what is excellent so that we can be presented pure and blameless when Christ returns and live till then to the glory and praise of our God (Phil.1:9-11).

But, yes, as a Christian I would love to expose you to something much more contagious than a virus that could bring sickness, mental illness, and possibly even death. What I offer you is Luke chapter eight’s SEED OF GOD: “The seed is the word of God” (Lk.8:11). It is my prayer that it would fall on good soil.

Friend may you, upon “hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (Lk.8:15).

In continuation from last week’s article on the Greatest Command (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:30), we will be looking at what it means to love God with your soul. As modern westerners, we think of “soul” as the part of us that exists after death apart from the body. However, it is highly unlikely that Moses meant this. The word for soul in Hebrew (nephesh) did not just talk about a person’s spiritual essence, but rather that person’s entire being or, more simply, a person’s life.  This latter definition can be seen in 1 Kings 19:10 where Elijah is feeling alone in his walk with the Lord and king Ahab’s men are seeking to kill him, “…I am left alone and they seek my nephesh, to take it away.” Elijah is not saying that he fears these men taking his immortal soul away from him. Rather, he fears these people are trying to take his life.

Loving the Lord with all of your “soul” then means to love him with your entire life, including the physical aspects. The applications for this are almost limitless. We can love God by using our lives to serve others. We can love him by praising him with our being (Psalm 103:1). Ultimately, we must love God by surrendering our lives to his service. In everything that you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)!

Every day of our lives as Christians we face giants.  Giants come in many different forms.  They could come in the form of your job, relationships, or financial security. We are all facing the Corona Virus giant.  James describes Satan as a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour.  Satan tempted Jesus after he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.  The first thing he tempted Jesus with was “food”.  When we are at our lowest point, that’s when he hits us the hardest.

David, a young boy who watched over his father’s sheep, went to the creek every morning but this time he picked up 5 smooth stones.  Jesse asked David to take some food and to check up on his brothers.  David shows up and hears the giant, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel!  Give me a man and let us fight.”  No Hebrew had volunteered until…Today!  David faced his “giant” head on.  Goliath, stood over 9 feet tall, his armor weighing more than David.  I have an image of Goliath with barbed wire tattoos on both arms and a chip on his shoulder.  You can even call Goliath a bully.  David doesn’t see a giant but only a man, an uncircumcised Philistine that is defying the army of the living God. David shows up proclaiming God.  That’s how you face a giant.  David had faith that the God that delivered him from a lion and the paw of a bear would deliver him from this giant.  David sees Goliath but he sees an even bigger God. 

When is the last time you saw or trusted that your God is bigger than your problem?  Do you run away from your giants or do you run towards the challenge?  Our giants are everywhere.  If you look around you, they are near, maybe it is the bills you can’t pay, the grades you can’t make, the people you can’t please, the drugs or alcohol you can’t resist, pornography you can’t refuse, or a past you can’t escape.  Maybe it’s pride or lack of confidence.  I see huge giants in every one of these offenses.  Like David we can’t face our giants alone.

Brothers and Sisters, we all face giants. Satan knows when we are at our weakest point.  Take the Christian stand and say that Satan is not welcome in your marriage, your family or your life.  Tell him, “You will not conquer me, God and I will take you down.”  We all face giants, but don’t face them alone.  You have your Church family to lean on.  The Elders would love to pray with you.  You will always have Jesus, never will he leave you and never will he forsake you.

Focus on your giants and you will stumble.

Focus on the living God and your giants will tumble.

The God who delivered David is ready to make you the next……….giant slayer.

Christ’s Apostles were united, even though they were diverse and lived in a divided world. Much like our world today division surfaced from gender, education, geography, status (slave or free, Roman or Barbarian, socio-economic class) and occupation.

However, Jesus Christ knew the world needed to see a united group of people when He prayed: ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me (John 17:21–23, ESV).

And this is still what the world needs to see. Friend, are you able to set aside your differences? I believe a united church in a divided world shines like stars in a dark night (Phil.2:15).

What I am really asking is that we always continue to set aside our differences when it comes to prejudices, preferences, and politics.

• Prejudices: Is the Church of Christ made up of a diverse group of individuals who don’t all look or talk the same?

• Preferences: Do we make wearing or not wearing masks an issue?

• Politics? Do we lean towards one political party or another?

Friend tell the world that a united group of people exists – and they are called the Church of Christ. This is exactly what our world needs right now.

I Peter 4:8-9 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.  Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

The Apostle Peter, who served as an Elder in the 1^st century church, commanded Christians to be hospitable.  Peter suggests that this is how we show love to one another and serve one another.

Showing hospitality is an expectation of Biblical leaders.  The Apostle Paul, writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, lists it as one of the qualifications of holding the office of an Elder (I Tim 3:2, Titus 1:8).  Preacher Glen Colley likes to point out the qualifications of Elders are the same characteristics, save for the husband of one wife, to which all Christians should aspire.  So, we should all be hospitable.

I like the definition of hospitality as being the practice of opening your life to other people.  It is the idea of inviting people to share in things you are already doing.  It is not entertaining but sharing your life with others. Even socially distanced, if necessary. True hospitality wages war against the perfectly curated life and allows people to experience your actual life.  Your actual life is much more interesting than your perfectly curated life anyway.

The Apostle Paul also commands us to give preference to one another in Romans 12:10, ‘be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.’ And Paul wrote to put others first in Philippians 2:3-4, ‘do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.’

There is no better way to think of others, give preference to others than to invite them into your life to share in things that you are already doing.  Love one another and show hospitality.