Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me.
God of Peace, the thoughts that You think toward me, are thoughts of peace and not of evil. “There is no peace,” You say, “for the wicked.” In Christ Jesus I who once was far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is my peace. It pleased You, Father, that in Jesus all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Yourself, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Christ Jesus, whom You set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, demonstrated Your righteousness over the sins that were previously committed, that You might be just and the justifier of those of us who have faith in Jesus. If I confess my sins, You are faithful and just to forgive me my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I will trust in You, Lord, forever, for in You is everlasting strength.
Lord God, thanks to Your Son’s death on the cross, I know peace with You. I trust You for strength and forgiveness; I trust You with my life.
ISAIAH 27:5; JEREMIAH 29:11; ISAIAH 48:22; EPHESIANS 2:13–14; COLOSSIANS 1:19–20; ROMANS 3:24–26; 1 JOHN 1:9; ISAIAH 26:4 - Dr. David Jeremiah Life-Changing Moments with God
I have been at a sort of crossroads in recent weeks. In some ways it's been months. When I look back upon my life, I can see elements of both questions concerning my life's journey and my responses.
You, my Dear Reader, whether you see it clearly or not, are to be examining your life's choices through the lense of Scripture. Someone many years ago put words to the word Bible. "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth".
Scripture says of itself that it is for every facet of our lives.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB "All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work."
In my crossroads of life is at least for me a time of rebuilding. I, for the first time in my life, am going into a future with mostly people who do not know me in the slightest. They have no past to look at in order to have any preconceived ideas about me. With me, I have a clean slate in front of me to be able to be whatever for the most part.
I know why we are here, to learn to be in God's Will, our sanctification. What choices in this new life would be aligned with that? Are there still areas of my life that will be incompatible with what God wants me to be doing? Should there still be things that I need to reconsider keeping in my life?
A question for all is the last statement in that prayer, do you trust Jesus with your life?
When any came to Him to become a Disciple, they essentially said to Him: "I will follow you. I trust you with my life. Nothing will be in my life that you do not approve of. I will let go of what you say and keep what you say. Your teaching will be what's most important to me."
Is this true of your life in following Jesus? Or have you introduced questionable choices and decisions that had nothing to do with obedience to Jesus? I have no trouble looking back on my life and seeing choices and decisions that had nothing to do with obedience to God. I have no trouble seeing when I went right when the Spirit said to go left. I had placed my wants and desires ahead of what God was directing me to have in my life.
I mean look at what Jesus said of those who claimed to want to follow Him.
Matthew 10:37-39 NASB "The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And the one who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. The one who has found his life will lose it, and the one who has lost his life on My account will find it."
Worthy. Interesting word that is. Are your life choices showing worthy things in regards to being a follower of Christ?
Worthy is used a lot in the book of Revelation in describing Jesus in what He does and why He deserves what ought to be His.
Are you living a life worthy of the calling you have in Christ Jesus? Is your life fully on what you are being chosen by God to be doing? Do you trust yourself more than you trust God in how to live your life? Ouch.
I have no definition of who I am in my life in this present moment other than that I am striving to keep up with what God's doing in my life. There is no time for hobbies nor other things than what He's put before me to do. I am learning to just obey in that area of life. I may be giving up my hobbies entirely or will be learning to put them in a right perspective in their priority.
I am learning that God's got still greater things in store for me that the great things He's bestowed so far which have been mind-blowing. To do more means making better decisions and choices. To rest in what He's wanting to do with me as being what's best for me. We moved because of wanting to be in the Will of God. Before you sit there and find every reason to stay where you are in life, consider the possibility that where God truly wants you might not be wherever you are. You might be comfortable with your life as it is, but, realize we are not here for our own sake. We who are in Christ have a reason to be that part of the body of Christ that we are. We aren't here to go and do and live as we please. As part of the body of Christ we have a responsibility to learn what that is and to go and do. Regardless of age or infirmity. If you're putting anything in life ahead of obedience to Jesus's will for you, honestly your not obeying. So what if you've been where you are for so long. This world is not our home.
My crossroads will eventually be made clear. God isn't a God of confusion. It's on me to obey Him who I say I want to follow. As the hymn says "Where He leads me I will follow..."
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