Hearing the Divine

Though I have always known that prayer is a conversation, early in my Christian walk prayer was a one way conversation--usually in which I demanded God to give me things I wanted! This was the model prayer I grew up around. People would come together to pray for an extended period of time, but once they were done, they simply got up and left as if they did not expect God to speak back to them. There was no waiting to hear God. But how do you hear God?

Often people look for signs from God. When they see a ‘sign’, they then try to make sense of it. They even suggest some of them--"God if you want me to date her, have her say hi to me." Or, we use an existing circumstances to read God’s voice into them--"Wow, she said hi to me. I think that means God wants me to date her." Of course I do not deny these methods, but God has no trouble simply talking to us! The problem is that we don’t understand how He speaks to us; and we don’t know how to listen to Him.

The Bible says that God is Spirit [John 4:24]. Spirit is not physical flesh and blood. So God does not ordinarily talk to us in a physical way, as in an audible voice. Of course, God can and does speak to us in audible manner, but these instances are rare and few. It’s just not his usual method in communicating with us. His usual method is spiritual!

Some people rely on their feelings to hear God. That too is physical. Some people determine God’s voice through a feeling of electric charge, a tingling sensation, a strange burning feeling, a pain in the back...etc. Those are all physical. Of course God can give us a tingly feeling if He so chooses, but often these are psychological reaction to something God is  doing that is spiritual. You’d have same kind of feelings at a rock concert or when someone asks, “Will you marry me?” That’s you - your response to what God is doing. Emotion is you reacting to what God is doing spiritually, but that is not God. You can hunger for God so much that you can actually fabricate these reactions. Did you know you can conjure up feelings of happiness, sadness, joy and rage? That’s why as important as emotions are, we’re not to trust them completely when it comes to God. Emotions simply are too unreliable, even though they are very important to our walk with Jesus. Therefore, having a group of loving people, such as our growth group, to pray along to confirm God’s voice is important!

At this point I want to be clear. I am not saying God does not speak to us in audible or emotional way. He does! Some more than others. But that is not his usual method. We are physical but we also have a spiritual component. Remember, our spirit is not made of flesh and blood. But it’s part of us which interacts most with God. Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit to remind us and share God's thoughts with us. This is the part where we find what the Bible calls ‘the heart’ -- not the blood-pumping organ but the center of our spirit. The heart is who we are. It’s the part God sees when He looks at us. It’s what he listens to when we pray. It’s also the part of us He talks to. It’s our spiritual ear; so use your heart! God pays attention to our heart not necessarily to our words - even though words can be our heart’s expressions. So people often shout and yell when they pray and others are so desperate, like Hanna in the book of Samuel, who could not utter words but mutely expressed her hunger and desire for the Lord.

When the words we speak and heart do not match, it’s what is referred to as double-mindedness. And God does not answer such prayers. When God speaks back He usually speaks to our heart. Now the hard part is that we listen not through our physical ears but with our hearts. And by the way, when God speaks to our hearts, he does not necessarily speak to us in English. Or whatever our first language is. He speaks in raw, powerful ideas. But when we understand and want to communicate God’s message to others, we have to put it in terms we can understand. That involves a bit of interpretation on our part. That is why each Bible writer sounds unique; yet at the same time, they all sound like God. God’s message filters through their own personality and uniqueness. 

If you are a visual person, God’s messages to you are more likely to evoke visions and prophetic dreams; or perhaps you are going to notice things others don’t. If you are the words-type, you get words, poetry, and vocal messages. If you are musical, you will produce music. If you are artistic, you produce art - abstract or otherwise. If you are emotionally sensitive person, you will be moved emotionally. Everyone produces different result when God downloads into them.

Now it’s totally possible that you have been talking to God but had never realized what you were producing were the results of speaking to God and Him speaking to you. You never realized that He’s been speaking to you all of your life, even before you were a follower of Jesus... and you thought you were the one coming up with all these brilliant ideas! Interacting with God will rub off on you. He talks to us all the time, far more than we realize.

Have you had this happen to you? You are about to do something and then all of sudden something deep inside reminds you, “I should not do this; it’s wrong.” And you start to argue with this voice, trying to rationalize what you are about to do. You are thinking, but that’s me. If it’s you, why bother arguing with yourself, just do it. But no, it’s God. The Holy Spirit is speaking to your spirit, leading you towards Jesus, and trying to direct you towards God! Many people can’t hear His voice anymore because they have rejected him repeatedly. The place to start for them is to repent and turn towards God. They must sensitize their hearts again to the Lord’s voice by spending time with him, i.e. Quiet Time.

God speaks to us all the time. One by one, you have to learn to recognize which promptings are of God. We have to learn to stop confusing them with out own internal voice. That takes time and effort. But the more we practice differentiating between God’s voice and our own, the better we get at it! 

So, how do you know you’ve heard from God, or whether you are just hearing things? Here are some suggestions:

Compare what you think is God’s voice with the Bible. The bible is what we know God’s said in the past, and since God’s character does not change, it’ll be consistent between the bible and today! Do you want to know what God is like and how He sounds? Read the Bible. Read everything Jesus said. Read the Old Testament and New Testament! 

Have your growth group* members and pray together to confirm what you perceive to be God’s voice. Seek out other Christians who hear God. Namely those gifted in the prophetic. Find out which prophets have a good track record of conveying God’s messages correctly and accurately. Whenever you hear God’s voice, share what you think you heard with them. Permit them to teach and encourage through God’s message. 

Once you determine it really is God, there is only one thing left to do... OBEY! When God talks to you, He doesn’t do it to give us a warm fuzzy feelings. He gives you messages for a reason... to build the Kingdom of God. He wants us in. He’s looking for obedient disciples. If we act on His messages, and demonstrate our usefulness, He’ll give us more messages and strengthen our hearts so we can hear him clearer and better then ever before. The key is intimacy! The more intimate you are with the Lord, the more he will share. Spend time with Him this week and listen for his voice--the sweet soft voice whispering into your heart. Blessings.

Pray Without Ceasing

Talk to a Christian and most of them will tell you that you need to pray more. Take  a walk through a Christian bookstore and you'll realize that there is a flood of books written about prayer - subject range from fasting prayer to meditative breathing prayers. Prayer books are everywhere. Why is that? It’s probably because most Christians do not pray enough. And perhaps that is true, but these books do something to us that, perhaps, was not intentional by the authors. These books intentionally or unintentionally, make Christians think they do not pray enough. Again, this may be true but I also notice people pray for 15 minutes and beat themselves up for not praying for an hour a day! Or even longer!

I remember taking about 300 teenagers to a summer retreat where the theme centered around prayer. And at the end of the last worship service, the speaker challenged these students, who rarely prayed, to commit to two hour prayer a day! What? Really? Why do we get this sense that prayer should consist of lengthy conversation with God? I mean how long is a satisfactory time to spend time talking to God? How long does He want us to talk to Him? When we read the Bible, prayers don’t seem to be all that long!

When we talk about the length of prayer, we tend to go straight to 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which says ‘pray without ceasing’ or as the New Living Translation says ‘Never stop praying.’

Wait a minute! Never stop? You mean never ever stop praying? How do we do that? Don’t we need to sleep? I mean if you were to get a major surgery, don’t you want the doctor to pray at home and concentrate on the surgery rather than praying? Does that mean I have to join a group so we can pray every day, for 24 hours a day?

I get the sense that for most Christians, it doesn’t matter how much they pray, it’s simply not enough. How did intimacy with God, talking to God, become such a duty filled, agonizing activity? Is length what God meant by ‘pray without ceasing’?

Let’s take a look at the original word from which we get the phrase ‘never stop’, which we normally associate or interpret the word as never ending prayer - 24/7 prayer!

When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he wrote to the followers of Jesus who were ‘obsessed’ with the end times. They were fixated on the idea of the end times; so they neglected to do the things followers of Jesus ought to do. They were not caring for the needy. They were not obeying God’s clear commands. And they were not keeping up on the prayer times.

The Greek word ‘adialeiptos’ [ἀδιαλείπτως] means without a break, without intermission; hence the translation, ‘without ceasing’. But Paul can’t possibly mean we should pray without a break! Paul used this term again in 2 Timothy 1:3 when he prayed for his spiritual son Timothy - “unceasing remembrance of Timothy”. But this does not mean that in every waking moment Paul remembered Timothy! In fact, Jesus did not pray every waking moment. So in light of the context of the book of Thessalonians, we can surmise “without ceasing” to mean, not to take a break from prayer! In other words, don’t skip prayer. Don’t slack off on prayer. Don’t quit your regular practice of prayer! This takes into consideration two necessary categories of prayer: habitual, routine prayer at certain times as well as spontaneous prayer at other times. Often your prayer alertness leads to spontaneous prayer. 

So if you are not praying 10 times a day, relax... don’t fret! You are not expected to. It can be a nice habit to aim for, but first we have to get in the habit of praying once a day. Don’t go running in a triathlon when you can’t even run a 100 meter! And don’t feel guilty for not praying as much as the spiritual giants who prayed for 6-7 hours a day. Start with 15 minutes a day and increase your time as you begin to enjoy your time with the Lord. You can join our Upper Room on Friday nights to pray with your fellow brothers and sisters for an extended time. Get together with your growth group and pray together for that which concerns your heart. Come together five minutes before Sunday service and pray with those around you over our service.  Take a walk while talking to the Lord and making your concerns known to Him. Do some gardening early in the morning as you praise His wonderful provision over your life. Take a break from daily routine and spend some time thanking God for who He is and what He has done! Remember His thoughts over you are wonderful and beautiful. And the Bible says that God's thoughts over you are greater than all the sands in the world. That's a lot of wonderful thoughts from our Divine Father. Thank Him for that. Thank Him for your family, friends and co-workers. Make it a habit. Pray without ceasing! 

Laughter - God's Gift!

It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either. ~Wayne Dyer

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
~ Victor Hugo

Laughter is a very serious matter. We don’t realize how important laughter is in life! Our culture does not honor humor. We are so serious, we forgo the seriousness of laughter. To be an adult does not mean you have to be serious about everything. Young people know how to laugh and have some serious fun but once they get older and get married with kids, suddenly, everything is hyper serious and laughter seems to be a thing of the past. And such people become angry old gramps, while kids grow up to be unbalance and unhappy as their parents. Don’t we all enjoy a good laugh? I mean can you imagine a life without any laughter? 

When you watch kids, they laugh at anything and find things to laugh about in any situation. I remember reading same bedtime stories to my kids each night; but it never failed to make my kids laugh... over and over again! I read that children laugh over 300 times a day when adults laugh less than 15 times! 15? What happens to us when we grow up? Perhaps adults are too serious to have a sense of humor. 

Laughter has many levels. Some laughters are an inward smile you keep to yourself... it’s a private matter. A tender smile to a baby or your loved ones. Laughter can be polite too - to uplift someone. Remember the awful jokes your folks told? The one that made no sense at all... often brought awkward moments? Still you smiled anyways, because you did not want him to feel bad!

I heard recently that there are groups of people gathering together for the sole purpose of laughing out loud; and this activity is called laughing yoga! All of us ought to try it someday.

Here are some benefits of laughter:

• Lowers blood pressure
• Increase vascular blood flow and oxygenation of the blood
• Give a workout to the diaphragm and abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg and back muscles
• Reduce certain stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline
• Increase the response of tumor and disease killing cells
• Defend against respiratory infections
• Increase memory and learning; in a study at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, humor during instruction lead to increased test scores
• Improve alertness, creativity, and memory

[http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-health-benefits-of-laughter.html]

Remember life is meant to be enjoyed in Jesus, no matter what our circumstances are. If you are able to laugh at any situation, you’ll most likely do well in all situations. We should not take life too seriously. Hold it loosely, it belongs to God anyways. So enjoy! And one of the best way to enjoy the beauty of life is to laugh... a lot! So laugh! Laughter is one of the best ways to be present - to be in the moment at all times. So let us laugh! Tell a joke! Make someone laugh. Hear a funny story and laugh with someone! Try it today. And when you find yourself frustrated, angry, anxious...etc., this week, remember, Jesus loves you... so smile and laugh a bit! It’s God’s gift to you and I. Besides I bet you’ll feel a lot better when you smile and laugh! 

“Enjoy your life. No matter how hard it may seem, when life gives you a thousand reasons to cry, show the world you have a million reasons to smile!” ~ unknown

Don't Be a Crab

In our Wednesday DT 1 [disciple training], we shared about speaking words that edify, words that will encourage and lift others up with positive attitudes and determination.

People say that a picture is worth 1000 words but pictures never cause revolutions. But with a little over 100 words, Lincoln stirred up our nation to fight against slavery, which eventually led to emancipation! Martin Luther King Jr., with words, caused a nation to start a revolution against racism and unequal treatment towards minorities. Words are powerful. In fact how we use words will often speak greatly about the type of person we are. Words often determine the destiny of a person. So use good words, words that edify, words that build up and lift up... it’ll certainly make an impact in you!

But sometimes it’s not about you but it’s about those who surround you! Have you been surrounded by people who suck energy out of you? Negative people who kill all your dreams and pour water over your fire? People who are always thinking about all that could go wrong; those who always identify problems with your dream with no solutions to share... do you know anyone? Are you that person?

A while back ago, I remember a conference speaker saying, “If you want to be a turkey hang out with turkeys but if you want to be an eagle, you gotta hang out with eagles.” It’s humorous but true. In fact, those around us inevitably influence us to become like them. So I often suggest the Pareto principle which is often referred to as 80/20 rule. In the business world it’s often refer to mean 20% of people do the 80% of work. But in a relationship what you want to do is to spend 80% of your time with those who will lift you up, edify you, dream with you, run with you...etc. But with the remaining 20% of time, you minister to those who need extra grace! Why because you need the 80% to feed you so you can give the energy necessary to the people who need extra grace! 

Have you noticed how successful people often surround themselves with positive, enthusiastic, and other successful people? They surround themselves with high energy people who believe in them. And when you do the same, it’ll generate energy and creativity and the belief that anything is possible... and it is. You see, the people you surround yourself with does matter. Your friends reflect the type of person you are and it points to the kind of person you will become. And you will be limited by the attitudes and beliefs that are declared around you. They will hold you back. And YOU will eventually become like them!

Now you may say, "but I know people who are successful in light of those around them." That shows that this person has put tremendous effort on their part and these folks surrounding them will not think about their sweat and blood but rather they’ll say, “You struck it lucky.” They will try and bring you down... fast... it’s in their nature.

Next time you are at a local fish market check out the crab barrel. Owners never put a lid on it because if one crab tries to crawl out, the others will grab onto it and drag it down! That’s what negative attitude does to you and me... and the world is full of it. The question is are we the type of people who drag others down? Jesus said that we are to be light of the world and to treat others with kindness and goodness. "Think of others better than yourselves" says Apostle Paul. There is a tremendous call for  the followers of Jesus to lift others up so that they can become what God has envisioned them to become. There is hope in that. And hope gives us strength to cope with anything... in fact I realize that people can come out of anything if they have a strong support system around them. Paul says that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. All things? Yes, all things. That applies to me? Absolutely!

Someone once said to become the change you are looking for! May you add and infuse joy in others. May the words coming out of your beautiful mouth encourage and spur others up to pursue a life of passion in Christ Jesus. And as you stir others up for the glory of God, you will realize you are changing for the better as well. May our growth groups be filled with encouragement and edification regardless of the circumstances because we believe in the God who believes in us! DC you are the best. Blessings. ~ P. Sam

Honesty...

Have you noticed how many people stand on the stage of the American Idol reality TV show ? Do you see what I see? It’s interesting and sad to note that many of them are convinced they are the best singers in the world when everyone else knows that they can’t sing if their life depended on it! The tragedy of modern people is that they do not have people in their lives who love them enough to tell them the truth; to be frank and open with them; to be honest with them. Everyone is aware of what needs to be said but no one has the courage or enough love to share with them. So year after year, they go on without anyone sharing what needs to be told. The Bible says to speak the truth in love [Ephesians 4:15]. An honest answer is the sign of a true friendship. That’s fellowship. In the end, people appreciate honesty over flattery. Healthy relationships are built on honesty rather than false pretense.

Do you have someone who will tell you that you have a blind spot? I mean do you have someone who loves you and cares for you enough to point out what everyone else can see but you can’t? If you want to grow spiritually, you definitely need someone like that in your life. You won’t grow without them. Why? Because healthy relationships allow expressions of frustrations, bitterness, anger and all sorts of closed up emotional baggage that lives within us.

Some may say, “We don’t want any anger in our group. We want it to be nice.” If this happens, you’ll never get to the real issues because no one is willing to express deep felt feeling and sometimes that feeling is anger. Other times, it’s guilt. As your pastor, I wish I can only share nice things with you, but as I had to last week, we had to deal with some stuff. Why because my love for you demands that I am honest with you and be able to share things that may be difficult to hear at times. And as your pastor, I am saying it’s okay to express anger in your group. It’s the only way we are going to grow together. In fact, conflict is your friend in growing deeper relationships. There is no such thing as intimacy without going through the door of frustration and conflict. When you go through the conflict door, everything in your body will say “don’t do it! Go around it!” Bit if you want to leave fake, tireless accolades behind to find real deep Christ Centered relationships, you must enter this door. When you take real issues of life into a fake and shallow community, people get upset. And people start to cover things up to remedy the issues not by dealing with them but by sweeping them under the carpet. And the group will remain fake and phony. But if you’ll stay in it and go through it with love and gentleness, this door of conflict is where the relationships are built!

Bible says that iron sharpens iron [Proverbs 27:17]. There are sparks flying when an iron hits another iron as it tries to mold and shape each other. There is no growing and molding when those sparks are absent. Likewise, there is no deep relationships without conflict because we are human beings who all have our own opinions. And when we care deeply about something we are going to butt heads; if not, that means we are not really sharing anything deeply rooted in us. People are scared to death by conflict so we try to avoid it so nothing ever gets resolved, nobody grows, and we just are...

Loving honestly is an evidence of care. If you don’t care, you don’t say anything. Proverbs 27:5 | 5 Better to correct someone openly than to let him think you don't care for him at all.

This is why getting together in growth groups is so important. Remember few weeks ago we said that number one need in developing deep relationship is frequency. That is the first building block. Why? Because if you don’t spend enough time together you can’t build any trust. And if you don’t build trust, you can’t ever be honest with them. You can’t be honest with anyone you just see once a week or once a while. You can’t deal gut level issues when you are just acquaintance. You have to earn the right to be frank. And that happens over time!

THREE RULES FOR BEING HONEST WITH SOMEONE:

1. Praise Publicly but Correct Privately.I don’t care if it’s your kids, your wife or someone in your group. Compliment and praise in public, correct in private.
2. Correct when they are up and not when they are down.
   You don’t hit a person when they’re down, when they’re emotionally low. You don’t correct right after your husband/wife had a hard day. You don’t correct when your kids are just about to hit the sack. Ask God for wisdom so your timing is correct! Sometimes, in correcting, timing is everything.
   
3. Never offer correction until you’ve proven  you’re open to it yourself.
   I mean you have no right to correct anyone until you have proven that you are open to it yourself. That’s why humility, which we talked about before, comes before honesty! You’ve got to be open to it first.

”Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal.”  The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:1 “Brothers and sisters, if someone in your group says something wrong, you who are spiritual should go to that person and gently help them make it right again.”  

Mercy... Essential to a Christ-Centered Fellowship

“Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Let us remind ourselves that every fellowship, whether big or small, is made up of imperfect people; therefore, conflict is inevitable. Hurt will soon follow. The issue is how do you handle the hurts? How will you handle these inevitable conflicts that will erupt when they are least expected, as the growth groups grow and mature together? How you handle these conflicts will determine whether the growth groups will split up or stay together. How do you handle the life situations and conflicts of life? Give mercy!

Colossians 3:13 | Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

The motivation for mercy is God’s mercy over you and me. If you are a follower of Jesus, you HAVE to show mercy to people when they ask for forgiveness. 

“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. ~ Psalm 116:1-2 [NIV]

You are not called to trust them. In fact, it’ll take some time for the Holy Spirit to work in your life to trust someone who betrayed you; but trust and forgiveness are two different matters. Forgiveness must be immediate. Trust is built over a long period of time. When someone hurts you, they have repeatedly hurt you, you are commanded to forgive them instantly. But you are not commanded to trust them instantly. So you forgive them and then they must earn trust, that will take time, sometimes a very long time!

Colossians 3:12 | Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Just as God has commanded us to clothe in humility, again He shares with us to clothe ourselves “with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience!” Clothing is personal, close to us, and it covers us where ever we go. Characteristics mentioned in Colossians 3:12 must be present with us at all times through the power of the Holy Spirit. When you’ve been hurt deeply, you’ve got a choice. You can use your energy to get back at him, or you can use energy to reconcile. Here is the reality of forgiveness: You will never be asked to forgive anyone more than God has forgiven you! And every relationship and growth group requires overflow of forgiveness. There is no such thing as over dosing when it comes to forgiveness!

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to forgive people even before they ask. Why? Because we follow Jesus, who is love! And 1 Corinthians 13 says that love does not keep arecord of being wronged... “love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through EVERY circumstances!” [emphasis added]

How are you doing on mercy? How is your growth group showing mercy? How are you doing in the area of forgiveness? And here’s a personal question: who do I need to forgive? There is no genuine fellowship in marriage, in a family, in a growth group, in a church - no genuine fellowship is possible without forgiveness because you are going to be hurt and you are going to hurt someone! Disciple Church, may we become a merciful church, for without it, Christ-Centered deep relationships will elude us... But with mercy, as many of you already are experiencing, you and I will continue to journey together in meaningful and significant  Christ Centered relationships as a family of God! Blessings!

HUMILITY... ingredient to deeper relationships

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. ~ C. S. Lewis

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. ~ St. Augustine.

How do you develop Christ-Centered Relationships that are deep and significant? Like any great dish from your favorite restaurant, right ingredients are essential to bring the most flavor. But mix the ingredient in wrong proportions and you get a mess. Put in too much salt and the dish is inedible. Too little salt and you will think twice about coming to pay money for unseasoned food. 

Pride is one of those ingredients that destroys relationships quicker than anything I know. Bible says in 1 Peter 5:5 | “...all of you, serve each other in humility, for ‘God opposes the proud but favors the humble’ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” [NLT] NIV says to ‘clothes yourself with humility’. Make sure you put humility and don’t take it off. When you go to your growth group, when you are with a group of friends, when you are with your family, put on your favorite clothes called humility if you want a deep and down to earth, life changing relationship. It’s what makes relationships work and thrive.

Paul writes in Romans 12:16 | “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all.”

Friends, we are all ordinary people being used by an extraordinary God in an amazing way. We’re all ordinary people but by the grace of God, we’re able to serve Him and other in a wonderful way!

What exactly is humility? It’s about being honest about my weaknesses. We all have them. I don’t know everything. I don’t understand everything so let’s be honest about it.  Humility is being willing to admit it when I’ve made a mistake because we all do. Humility enables us to say the two most difficult words, “Forgive me”... three most difficult words, “I was wrong”... four most difficult words, “I need your help”...

James says that God opposes the proud but He gives grace to the humble. Don’t you want God’s grace in your life? I do! Bible says that it comes to the humble! It comes when I recognize I need God’s grace in my life all the time!

Now, in a growth group in relation to other people, who do you clothe yourself with humility?

1. Accept Weaknesses of Others.
   Are you perfect? I am not. Let’s stop acting like we are. Don’t expect people to be perfect. Let’s accept the fact that everyone has weaknesses like everyone else. Accepting each others weaknesses expresses humility towards them.
   
   
2. Give Credit to Others
   “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:” Philippians 2:3-5
   
   Romans 12:10 | “Love each other with genuine affection, and TAKE DELIGHT in HONORING each other.”
   
   Put the spotlight on other people. Everyone wants to feel like their life matters; everyone wants to be noticed. And when we put the spotlight on others instead of always putting it on us, you are giving room for humility to work its way to a deep relationship. Notice it says to honor EACH OTHER. If everyone is putting spotlight on each other, no one will go unnoticed at Disciple Church.
   
   Some of you may be coming to our church and you are thinking, man no one notices me. My growth group leaders doesn’t notice and my pastor doesn’t notice what God is doing through my life! Two things: 1. You have people in your growth group that you need to put the spotlight on. Help them to see the affirmation, the encouragement that you have. But for those  who are feeling unnoticed today, remember God notices you. God knows what you’re going through. Humility realizes that even if the spotlight isn’t on me, I can take joy in putting it on someone else. The spotlight on this earth doesn’t matter that much anyway. We are going to live in the light of His presence forever! That’s what the joy is. That’s what we are looking forward to!
   
   
3. Realize Your own Weaknesses
   Romans 12:3 | ... Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring your selves by the faith God has given us.
   
   We all have weaknesses - bunch of weaknesses, more than we want to admit. How do you demonstrate humility? You do it by humbly accepting suggestions and corrections from others.
   
   “He who listens to a life giving rebuke will be at home among the wise.” This one’s tough. I know. It’s a great idea theoretically. “I’d love to receive corrections,” we say... until we get it! Then it gets a bit tough doesn’t it?
   
   I still have old habits from my teenage years. One of them is leaving socks in a corner of my room until four or five socks stacks up before I put it in a laundry bin. I know, it’s childish. So once in awhile, my wife asks me in the most kind way... “Can you put your socks in the laundry bin. Don’t wait till it stacks up.” Again, she asks in most kind way... but you know what I am thinking... “How can she say that. You squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle...” Instead of receiving the correction I make excuses to accuse her of something.
   
   Now we have to break through this kind of thinking - “how could she/he say that about me?” We have to breakthrough that and listen. And more often than not, at least in my life, God uses most unlikely person to share life giving words. It’ll probably take place in your growth group, if it has not already. And when you listen to them, it’ll turn your relationships around, give you new heart and new directions.
   
   How would you rate yourself in this area? How is your group doing with humility? How are you doing in humility, which is directly related to acceptance. Rate yourself. 1 to 10, 10 being the strongest. If you have given yourself a “10”, you might want to read the questions real quickly again. What weaknesses do you find lacking in your life that’s hard to accept in others? You are not going to get close to anyone until you build the qualities we shared thus far into your life.