by David Brenneman
I hadn't even the opportunity yet to read my Bible this morning when parts of a Steven Curtis Chapman song were repeating in my mind right after waking up. Often that's where a blog post comes from...and it's never been wrong.
The song is "Do Everything"
You're picking up toys on the living room floor for the fifteenth time today
Matching up socks, sweeping up lost Cheerios that got away
You put a baby on your hip, color on your lips and head out the door
While I may not know you, I bet I know you
Wonder sometimes, does it matter at all?
Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long
As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
'Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
Tell the story of grace with every move that you make
And every little thing you do
Maybe you're that guy with the suit and tie
Maybe your shirt says your name
You may be hooking up mergers, cooking up burgers
But at the end of the day
Little stuff, big stuff, in between stuff
God sees it all the same
While I may not know you, I bet I know you
Wonder sometimes, does it matter at all?
Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long
As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
'Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
Tell the story of grace with every move that you make
And everything you do
Maybe you're sitting in math class
Or maybe on a mission in the Congo
Or maybe you're working at the office
Singing along with the radio
Maybe you're dining at a five-star
Or feeding orphans in Myanmar
Anywhere and everywhere that you are
Whatever you do, it all matters
So do what you do, don't ever forget
To do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
'Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace
As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
'Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace with every move that you make
And every little thing you do
In every little thing you do
In every little thing you do
But to talk of doing everything it must include everything. Just like the Scriptures in other areas speak to all Scripture being God-breathed, it's including all of the written Scriptures of God found in the protected Word of God called our Bible.
Everything must include even our "me" time. It must include the drive to work. It must include the drive home. Must include every and all aspects of our lives.
Which, yes, DOES include supposed times of 'enterntainment'. It means everything. It means when we feel like it and when we don't. I'm certainly facing some things at work that I certainly do not feel like doing but I have to do my best regardless not because of my employer but because of to whom I really work for, which is Jesus.
We can easily create exceptions and stop doing that which we were called to do simply by following feelings and emotions rather than the calling by which we were called. Jonah tried to follow his feelings and emotions and tried to fashion excuses to keep on feeling the way he felt about those in Niniveah. Literally it didn't matter what the Lord wanted, Jonah wanted them all dead. To Jonah they were mortal enemies.
Often we can get ahead of God and end up in a life unintended and unexpected. That indeed happened to me in my early years. It would have to come up a few levels to qualify for distasterous.
We love coming up with exceptions to God's Word. We really do. Any given Sunday we can easily find all over social media exceptions to God's Word happening. Just watch anything related to Sports and we find Christian's making exceptions right along with the rest of the known world in regards to the treatment of other human beings, their employment status, their record with that team or playing against another team. Live in Columbus, Ohio long enough and you will know very shortly of how people throw their Christianity right out the window in regards to talking about Michigan. Honestly...God does NOT care about our excuses for disobeying His Word. Read in the book of Matthew Jesus refers a few times to THINKING against another human being and it's the same as committing that sin yourself. Eve tried excuses to get out of her first sin. Adam tried to get out of his first sin. It's interesting the serpant didn't try at all.
We often get hurt by others and decide to look for some other way to serve God rather than to follow through with what we've been called to do in Christ. We leave our first best destiny to pursue other avenues and it's not what God wanted of us. We might see evidence of God doing things in our lives but we will totally miss out on the full life that God intended for us. We aren't here to live out our vision for our lives but rather to do what we were called to do.
It's entirely possible to be asked of Jesus why we didn't do what He really wanted us to be doing. We didn't thwart His plans but we caused it to be taking a different route to get there.
Everything must include everything when it comes to being who we are to be in Christ. It is GOING to make us stand out from the world. It's SUPPOSED to.
It's GOING to make us look weird not 'going with the flow'. It's SUPPOSED to. It's GOING to change our thinking, our living, our existence while we're on this planet. it's SUPPOSED to. The original Church was persecuted much of the time because of teaching people to be DIFFERENT from the world.
Satan loves to take the word of God and twist it. To take the words of God and change their meaning in order to introduce deception in small levels that grows into larger deceptions. He's had a few thousand years to perfect it. The push for most of this world to know the English language certainly has helped him greatly. A great many false religions are here in the world today because of his twisting words to mean something different than what was originally intended in the Christian Church.
Satan never is going to be overt, neither will his minions be overt, in their introducing deception into your life. That would tip their hand and you, as a follower of Christ, will figure it out even with a child like faith. He wants to stir up the sin nature with us and let those thoughts go running on their own.
It's why it's important to have a consistant time with God daily. In His Word, in Prayer, just being alone with Him. It's why we're told to guard what we have learned. It's why the whold armor of God exists.
Have you run away from what God called you to do? Repent, ask for forgiveness, and ask Him to help you get back to what you were called to be doing. It may have taken a moment to leave your calling but it may take days, months, or even years to get back. Been there lived that.
Have you thought of your behavior? Are you honestly sounding like the world when you ought to be sounding like Jesus?
Have you considered how many excuses you have accepted as truth in order to 'enjoy' things of this world?
Are you actually deep in self deception and aren't even aware of it because of being so used to it?
Everything worth doing, we do ought to be for the glory of God. If it's not, get rid of it. Ask God to put something there in it's place that honors Him. We're called to be Holy as He is Holy. Is cutting down others on account of their performance in a game God honoring? Is disrespecting others on account of something the world calls entertainment worthy of being called a child of God yourself? Are you honoring God in what you are doing or are you trying to fit in with the world?
Jesus began with saying "I tell you that if you look..." then you could be guilty of a sin.
Jesus began with saying "I tell you that if you think..." then you could be guilty of a sin.
God is NOT playing around with sin. Sin cost God the Father His own Son to pay the price of it for all mankind.
God is NOT kidding around with sin. Sin cost God the Father more than we will ever have the ability, even with a glorified body and spirit, to ever know or understand.
God, the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, take the consequences of sin seriously. If you die without Christ, Hell is your next destination unti the Final Judgment of God, next stop being the Lake of Fire. No joking around seen there. No kidding around seen there.
Satan wants to make a mockery of life in order to keep people from considering just how serious sin is and how seriously it ought to be understood and dealt with. He wants people who claim to be Christian's NOT doing that which they were called to be doing because he wants to prolong the inevitable final judgment concerning himself. He cares not who goes to Hell as long as it's not him. He cares not who he thinks he's killing that are going to Heaven.
There's two plans in place for your life. Both of which Satan directly opposes and within limits set by God he tries to act upon.
The plan for you after coming to Christ is to become more like Christ. In Everything you think, say, or do.
The plan for you after coming to Christ is to be in the body of Christ as the Spirit sees fit. Not your idea of how you fit, not your thought on which direction your Spiritual life ought to go, but where the Spirit says. In Everything you think, say or do.
When we aren't doing our everything in the way God intended we actually put off the return of Christ. Ever think of that? By NOT doing your everything you post pone that last person who will be saved being saved so that Jesus can return. It's not on account of signs to be observed that Jesus returns. The date/time were set by the Father's own authority. Salvation began at the cross with the thief on the cross. There WILL be a 'last person' to be saved before Christ returns. Others will be saved during the 7 year Great Tribulation but indeed there will be one last person before Jesus knows to get up and come to get His Church.
When your life is reviewed and tested by Jesus will it show a life that was obedient in everything? I have much of my life that I admit I'm ashamed of. Of how I treated others at times. Of how I behaved. Of how I embraced sin rather than being repulsed by it and avoiding it.
Everything you do...must be done to the glory of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2 NASB
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