you must have me confused with someone else...

nothing really exciting happened today, and i don't feel like i really learned anything either. i hate it when that happens, don't you?
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but as i sit and reflect back over the last 15 hours-or-so, i suppose i did learn something... or should i say, continued to learn something.
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i think most who call themselves "christian" can regurgitate that "it's not me who works, but God working through me". that said, oswald chambers put it best in yesterday's devotional: "the majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says." i think if we're truly honest with ourselves, we often forget it's God working through us... i do. and i may be special, but i'm not that special, so i know i'm not alone. and it's not even us taking credit for things we do, but we are also the main excuse for things we do not do...
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we see a thing we ought to do and many times make excuses for not doing it. if we DO go forward, it's many times because we felt capable. i wonder if God gets more glory when we do things we're capable of or when we do things we couldn't do without His help.
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that said, here's an excerpt from coaching life-changing small group leaders by bill donahue and greg bowman i read this morning: "God doesn't usually call people to easy jobs. try finding someone who ever felt competent for the service God demanded of him or her. moses trembled, mary was troubled, and paul was terrified! callings rattle cages and rock boats. callings shatter illusions of complacency, comfort, and ease. they sometimes startle and confuse; they provoke and prod. God often calls the overwhelmed, the reluctant, and the mystified. 'you've got to be kidding, God. you must have me confused with someone bigger, better, smarter, faster, and more spiritual!'" God usually confuses me with these types of people...
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for more thoughts on this, i liked ryan rodeman's blog entry on "from the whiteboard" (on the bottom right of this page) titled "why i NEED the bible: reason #7", which aided in my need to not be stagnant in spiritual growth.
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other than that, today was relatively inactive. work is slow right now due to the time of year. i took a break in my day to go to isaac's 2-month surgery follow-up (all is well). other than shooting the breeze with mark while he checked my tires and changed my oil, the only other thing that got my spirit pumping was talking with matthew and doug about bow hunting (i'm ben bates... it's been zero days since i've been sober... i can't stop thinking about hunting... sheesh).
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favorite bible verse read today: "but he said to me, 'my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'. therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (II cor. 12:9) challenge... find something in 2012 that you know would fail unless God stepped in. then pray about it. once it's completed, you won't be able to take the credit for it, because you knew going into it that YOU would fail... but He won't!
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no pictures taken today... think up a cool shot and pretend i took it...