SCRIPTURE:
"They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest." (Mark 9:33-34)

OBSERVATIONS:
I asked myself what did Jesus question the disciples about?
He asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?"

OBSERVATIONS:
I asked myself what do I learn about the disciples?
The disciples kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself the significance of the disciples actions?
When I think about the interaction that Jesus previously had with the disciples sharing with them 3 things:
1. The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.
2. They will kill him.
3. After 3 days, He will rise, 

the disciples interaction becomes that much more significance because instead of discussing about what Jesus meant when He said those 3 things, they had argued about who was the greatest, displaying their egotistical behavior instead of being concerned about what Jesus shared with them. This just shows when we become self-absorbed within ourselves, we become so self-focused and egotistic.  At least, they knew what they did was wrong when Jesus questioned them because they kept quiet.

IMPLICATIONS:
I saw important implications for my own life here. Jesus does not want me to be egotistic.

HOW GOSPEL GIVES ME TESTIMONY REGARDING E.G.O.T.I.S.T.I.C:
Today, I also learned from Proverbs 27: 'Don't praise yourself, let others do it'. Sadly, when it comes to my Christian walk, I have not always been humble. On the contrary, I have been very egotistic many times. This created a lot of tension among those I worked with in the past. It is being egotistic that hurt multiple relationships. Jesus did not want the disciples to have that attitude so He questioned them when they got home and made them realize they were wrong. The disciples kept quiet because the Word of God spoken through Jesus judged their hearts and attitude.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, NIV)

Jesus questions me too in the actions I have taken through the lens of His Word. When I see myself scrutinized from the Word of God, I see how many times I have been egotistic and hurt people but more than that I also hurt teams I worked with.

Years ago, it was my ego whether I admitted it or not at the time that pulled me away from leadership with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship after 7 years. Anytime we want to put ourselves above others as I wanted to do and as the disciples did even though they spent so much time with Jesus, we hurt ourselves and others in the process. No argument ever makes both sides happy because people's ego want to make them win. The disciples were not happy after arguing who was the greatest. I definitely was not happy with the outcome caused by my egotistic attitude and I made others sad and hurt them too.  The sad thing about all this is I did not live as Christ wanted me to live. Jesus did not want me to be egotistic but I was. Especially in ministry, having an egotistic attitude can be the worst thing. I had hurt Paul, Chloe, and Oliver at the time but God in His grace and mercy showed me how wrong I was and also restored my relationship with them years later.

There are consequences for being egotistic and most consequences hurt us and those around us. I paid those consequences but the Lord Jesus also showered upon me His mercy His way and the calling He gave me never went away.

It is because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its power to save lives spiritually that even through my thickest sin, Jesus Christ brought me out as I took the medicine of His Word and digested it.

He revealed my weaknesses to me and made me realize that I cannot overcome those weaknesses on my own. I need His grace to work in me to sanctify me daily so I do not go that same path. When I hold on to the Word of God, He reveals my weaknesses so clearly to help me see them and correct them as I depend on Him. You too can!

The key is holding on to Jesus and we will be holding on to hope. That means I need to let the Word of God guide me and lead me through the power of the Holy Spirit otherwise I will commit the same mistakes again because I will go my own path. Sadly there were many times that I hurt my pastor with my actions.

It just shows how powerful an egotistic attitude can be when it is not always checked at the cross of Christ. When I take my mind of Christ's attitude and develop my own attitude, there is nothing but heartache and pain because there is no good in me apart from the Spirit of Christ working in me and through me.

"Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh!" (Galatians)

 Because of my own actions, caused by my own attitude, not allowing God's Word to medicate me, I went my own way and resigned from a leadership position that I never should have. What is done is done but I am so glad for the power of God's Word to remind me using His disciples as an example of how wrong it is to have an egotistic attitude.

Things could have been worse in my life but God in His infinite grace and mercy never let the calling He gave me to go away that of doing student ministry and engaging the lives of students with the life-changing and life-giving power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ showering Christ's love in their lives. Jesus has made that happen allowing me to use http://www.pittsburghstandard.com, http://www.facebook.com, and Market Central Dining as a means to ministry towards students. In His timing, I know He will open the doors He wants to open for me regarding student ministry whether it is the same doors that were opened in the past that I closed them or new doors. I need to wait on the Lord and not rush as King Saul did when he was supposed to wait for Samuel to give a burnt offering. I should take what the Lord has provided for me and use it for His honor and glory as I wait. One of my favorite songs is 'While I am Waiting' by John Waller (sp?)

Right now and everyday I need God's Word to direct me and lead me so His Word working in me and medicating me can put an end to my egotistic attitude. You too can.

It starts with allowing Jesus Christ to work in us and through us realizing what wretched sinners we are who cannot live a life of righteousness on our own for all our good works are seen as filthy rags by the Lord. On the contrary, when we allow Jesus Christ into our lives, He will cover us with His precious cleansing blood that He shed on the cross of Calvary to ransom us from the bondage of sin and death. Now when God sees us, He sees the righteousness of Christ's imputed to us as we are purified by the blood of the lamb. Once we belong to Jesus, no matter how egotistic we have become when we go our own way, He will always bring us back to where He wants us to be. This has happened in my life. Jesus has used my mommy, Pastor Hugo, Edwin, and Marie to help me in my own weaknesses and struggles. He can do that for you too because Jesus died for your sins to restore you to a relationship with Him when you turn your life over to Him. Jesus did that by His grace when He came back on the 3rd day to save.

I ask you now dear friend, what has an egotistic attitude done to you?
Dear friend, I don't know about you but I shared what an egotistic attitude had done to me and we also learned how the disciples responded to Jesus' question regarding their attitude. Friend, when you have an egotistic attitude, it will not be beneficial to you or to others. On the contrary, people don't usually like who portray themselves as favorites but there is a lot of cheering that goes on for the underdog. My point being is that when we have an egotistic attitude, we put ourselves out there as the favorite making many people uncomfortable. That's probably what happened to the disciples when they argued among themselves who is the greatest of them after Jesus shared about betrayal, death, and resurrection. It is not our job to pump ourselves up and if we think we deserve accolades then we do not. Anything mentioned in Scripture has a reason for it and I found it so divinely appointed that a Proverb from chapter 27 so appropriately addressed the issue of egotistic: "Don't praise yourself, let others do it!"

Friend, an egotistic attitude will hurt you and those around you in the long run when it creeps us. In the process there will be pain for everyone. Jesus does not want that for you and I do not want that for you and me.

Whatever may have happened because of your egotistic attitude, you probably cannot change the outcome anymore but what you can be confident about is that when you confess and repent of your wrongdoings, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is more than willing to forgive and restore you in His timing. The restoration may not come the way you want it or it may but you can know whatever path the Lord Jesus takes you, He has a reason for it that you and I cannot even imagine. Rest in Him and be content in the Lord waiting on Him. This is what I need to do too. Thank you Jesus!

May you always remember that being egotistic  gives out totally inappropriate signs today involving conceit!

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,  in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:3-11, NIV)

Philippians 2: "How do you match Jesus' A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E in life?" (July 30, 09, 3:48 p.m.)

"Egotistic Gives Out Totally Inappropriate Signs Today Involving Conceit!" (E.G.O.T.I.S.T.I.C)/"What has an E.G.O.T.I.S.T.I.C attitude done to you?"

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for opening Your Word and speaking to me from Proverbs 17 and also helping me learn from your interaction with your disciples. Oh Lord you made them see how wrong it was to argue about who is the greatest. Forgive me Lord for the times I have had an egotistic attitude and hurt others. I need your help to overcome this attitude and any attitude that does not bring you glory. Help us Oh Lord for the glory and honor of Your Name. Learning from your Word if not applied becomes like a man who looks at himself in the mirror and when he is gone forgets how he looks like. I don't want that for any of us so help us please Jesus. Thank you for dying for our sin, shedding your precious blood on the cross to purify us, and coming back to life to save. We love you Lord and wait on you. Help us Oh Lord for the glory and honor of Your Name. Thank you Jesus for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

Lord Jesus, You are my all in all. You are my Prince of Peace, Rock, Savior, and Friend. You are my Holy Father guiding me through to live a life of righteousness, holy righteousness. Oh God, I need you more than ever. I need to feel your hands around me holding me tight. I need your love to surround me so that you can glow in my life. Help me please Jesus. I desire in your presence. Thank you for guiding me to live a life of righteousness. Oh God you love me more than ever. You hear my voice when I cry out to you. When I seek your face, you fill me up. You are my all in all. Thank you Jesus so much for your help no matter what I face, your grace is available and you take my case. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN! (Most of the prayer is from a vineyard song called “All in All”)

You don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and give you peace to LIVE out your actions.

How do you look at GODISNOWHERE?

One of my pastors, Pastor Hugo SHARED this example one Sunday at the RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:

If you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no peace.

But  as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.

Yes, friend God is aLIVE and wants to bring a transformation in your life through the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and LIVE with us.

Yes, friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE & LIVING GRACE.

When we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive us and RESTORE us to Him and we will find peace in Him.

^"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)

Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.

"For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)

Come to Jesus as you are and pray this prayer to accept Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior. He will transform your life around! Praise the Lord! You don't have to have all the answers! You can come as you are!

If you want to be a soldier in the Lord's army, you can become it right now. Now is the time of Salvation! You do not have to wait but can pray this prayer and give your life to Christ to serve Him daily! There is no draft but coming to Christ is voluntary. He loves you so much and wants you to come to Him! He will take care of you, guiding you and leading you!

PRAYER:
Dear Jesus, I love you. Thank you for loving me so much and thank you for choosing the cross to die for me. You became the Son of Man and lived here on earth. Then you humbled yourself and became obedient to death-even death on the cross. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. You died on the cross so that I can be covered in your blood and cleansed by your blood as I acknowledge that I need you and cannot enter Heaven without you being my pathway. So, Jesus I confess all my sins to you and all the ways I have tried to get into Heaven when you already provided the means and the Way. Thank you for all that you have done for me. "The cross is the place, a wonderful place where accused and condemned find mercy and grace. Thank you Jesus, it is at the cross where the wrongs we have done and the wrongs done to us were nailed at the cross. Thank you Jesus, at the cross you died for our sins and at the cross you gave your life for us." I thank you for that and thank you for coming back to life to save us. Thank you Jesus for being there for me! Thank you for loving me. I love you Jesus! Please take me as I am and make my life into something that you will be proud of. I surrender my life to you and need your help to live for you. I am forever grateful for what you have done for me and I can never repay you. I want to live for you and need your help. Help me Jesus please. I thank you Jesus for saving me! Thank you for hearing my prayer and answering me. Whatever your will give me the willingness and strength to bear it. Thank you Jesus! I acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior! In Your Name I Pray precious Jesus! Amen!