Not of myself
Disclaimer: To understand the Lord's spiritual truth, you must be born from above by his Holy Spirit. Be sure you've submitted yourself to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and receive this gift from the Lord, lest you add knowledge with no power and are held eternally accountable.
Introduction
Good evening, or こんばんは (ko-n-ba-n-wa), notice how it sounds similar to こんにちは (ko-n-ni-chi-wa), instead of "good day" it means "good evening." Today was interesting at my first job. We were told we wouldn't work Friday, then 2 hours before leaving, I was told we were; then an hour after that, I was told we weren't. Usually, working Friday isn't a big deal to me because, that's overtime pay! But, tomorrow I'm meeting up with the mechanic coworker to have him install a new A/C clutch on my van, and have him take a look at the power steering pump. I will update here how it runs! I plan on taking a short trip afterwards depending on the time, just to see if it holds together.
I worked my second job, and things went well there! Now I'm sitting in McDonald's using their Wi-Fi, and I ordered a hot chocolate for the first time in a long time. I had to take it up front though because the amount of room they gave at the top, and the fact it tasted like pure milk, was just, too much for the price. They ended up giving me a free one so, that was nice of them!
Not of myself
So, I found this cool in Scripture, the amount of times the Lord Jesus said he does the Father's will, "not of himself." See them listed below...
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.” (John 5:30-32, KJV)
“Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.” (John 7:28-29, KJV)
“Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” (John 8:28-29, KJV)
“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” (John 8:42, KJV)
“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” (John 12:49, KJV)
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:10, KJV)
There's probably some more you can find, but, if we have the Spirit of Christ, then we should walk as he walked.
“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” (1 John 2:6, KJV)
I was pondering how every true saint, is called to hear the word of God, obey the word of God, and preach the word of God. It's all God's glory what he does in our life, we're not our own.
“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1 Corinthians 6:20, KJV)
When we're born of the Spirit of Christ, rivers of living water come from us.
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” (John 7:38-39, KJV)
These living waters come not from our own flesh or self, but is God's established word.
“Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” (John 4:10, KJV)
So we speak and act as saints, not of our own selves, but according to the Lord's word, just as Jesus modeled, as we're born of his Spirit.
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, KJV)
“And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.” (John 12:50, KJV)
And we speak one truth, the same thing, because we're made to drink of the same Spirit of Christ.
“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13, KJV)
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10, KJV)
Outside of the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, is false spirits, doctrines of devils, and lies that will damn souls.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1, KJV)
If we're all born of the same Father, by the same Spirit of Christ, who is God over all, never changing, who was, is, and is to come, the Almighty, we'll hear the word of God, and speak the truth. We won't speak of ourselves, but we'll seek to glorify God in all things, his truth, his ways, just as Christ did. That's awesome, it's what I was pondering today.
“He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” (John 7:18, KJV)
Japanese Language Update
I read a brief article today about language learning, and important things to remember when broaching a daunting task like this. One point really stuck out to me that I'd like to share. Quantity over quality, especially early on. Focusing on the +1's rather than the +5's or +10's is vital. What does this mean? Instead of focusing on one thing until mastery of that one thing, focus on gaining bits and pieces from a lot of things, that build up into mastery.
Let's say I have 10 vocabulary words. I really want to master these 10 words, so I study only these 10 words for weeks until I master them. Okay great, I mastered them, I know them inside and out, but I just spent 2 months learning 10 words (+10). Was it really that much progress? What this article talked about, is gaining a little bit, then moving on, gaining a little bit, then moving on. Let's take that same list of 10 vocabulary words. These are important words to know, but instead of only focusing on these words, maybe I study them once a day, and move on to some grammar and see the words in context (+1). Maybe I learn 10 other words and see a connection with the pronunciation of one of the words (+1). After two months, gaining ~1 new understanding each day, you've built a massive +50 rather than just +10 trying to master a few things early on.
This is something I've noticed as a man with limited time, learning a complex language like Japanese, totally different from English. Early on (about a month ago), everything seemed foreign to me. I was like, "how in the world is this a way people speak?" But, as I stayed consistent (even just an hour a day), getting exposed to 500+ terms, learning the alphabet, seeing words in sentences, hearing native speakers talk using the words, those little bits and pieces begin to round out the understanding of the language. I'm faaaar further along than I would be hyper-focusing on deciphering the Kanji for the word "cat" (猫), or figuring out the all of the polite and causal nuances of the common phrase, よろしくお願いします (please be kind to me). Exposure to a lot of different sources helps the understanding of the little, as long as you gain a simple +1 brick of knowledge every time you study, it will build into a brick house over time. Keep on studying for God's glory!
Closing Reflections
Currently, I'm surrounded by high school students it seems. Looks to be a Halloween event. I plan on making a post on Halloween tomorrow with my thoughts on that. I keep saying this but it's a true saying, it's gonna be a chilly one tonight. Winter is on the horizon, but knowing Missouri, it could be 80 degrees next week, I just don't know. One day snow is falling, the next "spring is in the air!" I'll post some pictures of the snow, I know not everyone gets to see that, and it is a blessing, I like snow. Hold fast out there, Christ is coming back, are you in the one truth, one Spirit, one faith that God has ordained?
“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6, KJV)
Peace to those in the light.