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Chris Fabry
Married to Andrea since 1982. We have 9 children together and none apart. Our dog's name is Tebow.
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Where We Are Now

After finding and remediating mold twice in our Colorado home, we abandoned ship in October 2008. Because of the high levels of exposure, our entire family was affected. After months of seeing different specialists for all of the problems, we came to Arizona to begin comprehensive treatment to rid our bodies of the toxic buildup. In August 2009 we moved into a larger home, four bedrooms, south of Tucson, north of Mexico. I am doing my daily radio program/ writing from that location. Thanks for praying for us. We really feel it.

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Wednesday, September 8, 2010
We spent the program yesterday talking about marriage. Bob Moeller joined us and there were some heart-wrenching calls and emails from women (mostly) who were at the end of their proverbial ropes with their husbands. I know it’s not just women who are hurting. Many men have wayward wives as well.

I’d like to go back to verse 3 again and fit this into my relationships again. I think there’s something God wants to bore into our souls about this and I’m not ready to leave it.

This evening I had a disagreement with my wife and it stemmed from my lack of communication. The very thing we were talking about during the program. My wife wanted me to wait for her before going for a walk, or at least communicate where I was going. This happens to me a lot. I like to blame it on the fact that I’m preoccupied. I’m working on a book. My right brain is taking over. I'm busy.

It’s easy to WANT to do everything from pure motives, being considerate of others, and thinking not just about yourself but putting others’ needs before your own. It’s another thing to accomplish that.

Did you have any situations that came up yesterday where you had the opportunity to put Philippians 2:3 into practice?

How did you do? Did you fail, succeed, or was it a mixture?

Read Philippians 2:1-11 again. Focus again on verse three.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

What is the “selfish ambition” you struggle with the most? Some interpret this only as the person who wants to be “up front,” who has to have the lead part in the choir. But there are other ways selfish ambition rears its ugly head. More subtle ways. And they manifest themselves relationally.

What do you think would happen if everyone were able to follow these verses and actually put them into practice? What would happen to marriages? Families? Churches? Classrooms? How would politics be turned upside down?

I’m convinced God wants to transform our relationships, and he’s doing that in small, incremental ways. Give God your ambition today. Tell him what you think would fulfill your life and give you purpose.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Could this be the opposite of “selfish ambition?” Could delighting in God and what he desires (which will provide our ultimate fulfillment) be the antidote to our own selfish ambition? When we delight in Him, this changes our perspective not only on ourselves, but also on all the relationships around us.

Prayer: Ask God to reveal any selfish ambition in your life and supplant that with a delight in Him. Write this prayer out to God.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris,

How on time and convicting was the devotion for day 8 in our 40 day prayer journey! I failed miserably by reacting poorly to my husband’s comments last evening. This happened after praying that very morning for God to enable me to bring Him glory with my life! After falling asleep the Lord woke me up with Phil. 2:3. Ouch! My precious Holy Spirit gave me no rest and peace until I confessed to God, repented and asked my spouse for forgiveness. I can resonate with you when you said that you WANT to do everything from pure motives, being considerate of others, and thinking not just about yourself but putting others’ needs before your own. It certainly is another thing to accomplish that. But accomplish that we must and it’s more than comforting to know that we have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead residing in us and we must master sin. So it’s onward down the road to sanctification and upward toward our heavenly home. Keep on pressing!!

Mrs. Anonymous