by David Brenneman
"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:12-16.
There's nothing we have or ever will experience, consider, desire, dream about, or any such thing, that our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ hasn't already been through. There's just nothing unique to our lives.
He is our God of complete understanding, full of all the wisdom and knowledge of everything, who can and does sympathize with our lives.
So why do we tend to believe the lie that we can't possibly pray about this or that?
There's no degree of uncertainty, of sorrow, of pain, of anything that Jesus can't relate to.
So why do we persist in believing that lie?
So many professing Believers are still stumbling through their lives all because of falling for that untruth.
Jesus is patiently waiting for us to just trust Him in these things.
How have we trusted Him with our eternal life and yet struggle to in our daily lives?
Think about that...hard.
Think about that when you're foolish enough to run to books or speakers or anything else before you simply come to the feet of Jesus and finally just pour out your heart to Him.
How can anyone claim to trust Jesus for eternal life yet live a life that even the world can see isn't one of obedience to God? "May that never be!" As Paul wrote.
We put up pretenses in front of those in our lives and quite often attempt to do so with our prayers or in many cases lack of prayers to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
He examines our hearts, Dear Reader. There's not a square inch of us that He's not intimately aware of and acquainted with.
Our motive should to live a life approved by Jesus Christ. Not a life of a mix of a slim amount of what He desires and heavy on what all we want.
We will never experience the righteous life that God desires for us until we present our everything to Him to do with as He sees fit.
Aside from our opening passage, we have this: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
We have a date, set by the Father’s own authority, to stand before Jesus to give an account of our lives before Him.
What will your life reveal of how much and how well you trusted in Jesus? How will your relationship with Jesus be seen? How obedient to your calling in Christ will your life display?
Take a good look at your heart and life. Should you not be making every effort to stand firm in the Lord as your Bible teaches you? Shouldn't you be looking forward to time with Jesus every morning, afternoon and evening?
"Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing." Psalms 37:4-8.
What is David saying here? When the desire of your heart is the Lord Jesus Christ you'll get more of Him because that's the desire of your heart. Not that you'll get all that you want in life.
Moving on..."But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34.
And upon these is this: "And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’" Matthew 22:37-39.
Without this as your firm foundation you're going to look for answers elsewhere.
You're going to fear bringing everything to Jesus in prayer.
You're going to try your way before His way. You're going to struggle through life.
Collecting possessions, accolades, certificates, diplomas, titles, outside the will of God for you in Christ Jesus will always turn to ashes.
Gaining them when you are living a life in Christ Jesus will mean something completely different. They will be yours but won't really matter in light of your real relationship with Jesus.
Jesus is waiting patiently for all to come to repentance. Waiting for those who have to lead lives in Christ that He approves.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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