Thursday, March 31, 2011

Who's Will?

So as I struggled through my horrible attitude the other day, and I do mean horrible! God whispered something so simple yet so profound I had to share it with everyone (well the two people who read my blog--my mom and my hubby!).  He asked me a very simple question Who's will do you want for your life? I stopped and very quickly responded "your's of course" in the best Southern Baptist voice I could muster...and then like a curtain closing,  conviction consumed my heart, and God asked again, Really Rachel, do you really want MY will?  Of course God knew the deep dark ugly truth to this answer. I ultimately want my will and even worse God revealed that I want my will to be orchestrated by Him and then I want an Almighty God to pretend that it was His will (Does that even make sense?).

In all honestly I don't want to have to think about how hard God's will may be. What sacrifices of the flesh I may have to make along the way. My selfish heart shutters at the inconveniences that may occur in my life to follow His plan. However, an important aspect of being a follower of Christ is the death to self, more specifically the death to one's own will.  In essence my life is not my own anymore. This is an essential part of being a Christian, and sometimes it gets glossed over when one is being witnessed to.  I guess it would not make for a popular track to hand to people.

God's Word though is very clear on this matter in Matthew 16:24-25:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
In John 12:24-25 "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Those who love their life will lose it, while those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

When we become part of the body of Christ we must be willing to put aside our own selfish ambitions and be part of the corporate plan of God.  We must be willing to die to the passions of the flesh that are of this world. We must be willing to live lives set apart from our current society.  Ultimately, we must hold loosely our earthly treasures so that one day we will have heavenly crowns. The beauty of the cross is that through Jesus's blood we are able to give up our lives in order to save them.  That old rugged cross allows us to  have communion with a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, and Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).  And it is for Calvary that I strive to die each day in order that I may truly live.

Friday, March 25, 2011

2 Corinthians 12:10

That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:10

This verse has been popping up everywhere today, and I mean everywhere.  I get in the car to go to Wally World and there it is on the radio, a dear friend mentions it, then I head to a birthday party and again it's on the radio. So I figure God is trying to speak to me (I may be dense!).  I come home and open my Bible and pray that God will help me understand what He wants me to learn...and boy does He show up!

The question God put on my heart was this: What do you delight in? WOW! Way to wake me up Lord. I don't delight in what you want me to, because according to Your Word I need to be delighting in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, AND in difficulties!  Honestly, that is completely opposite of what I want to delight in.  I want to delight in my successes, my ego and every once in a while a chocolate cake (just being honest).

He proceeds to go over the past couple weeks of when I have been weak, insulted by others,and walked through difficult circumstances.  He shows me the opportunities He has given me to delight in and missed out.  Then in His awesome grace He whispers softly the real reason He wants me to delight in these situations: Rachel, I love you and I want you to experience my strength.  I want you to know what true strength looks like. Holy smokes! You, the God of the universe, love me enough to want me to change my attitude toward these situations for my own good ultimately so that you may be made known through me to others. Now that is one AWESOME GOD!

Do you know Him? Do you have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords?  If you have not accepted Christ as your savior and would like to please consider so today. If you would like to receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ you can tell God in prayer: For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Romans 10:10, 13)
If you want to receive this gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, then pray to Him asking Him for this gift right now.
Here is a suggested prayer:
”Jesus Christ, I know that I am sinful and do not deserve eternal life. I believe that You died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in Heaven for me. Lord, come into my heart. Take control of my life. Forgive my sins. I confess them and now place my trust in You for salvation. I accept your free gift of eternal life, and thank You for it.”

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

"I Don't Want To"

"I don't want to"—unfortunately this phrase encompasses my Christian walk right now.
Lord, I don't want to rejoice in this situation, I don't want to be obedient to your commands, I don't want to put others before myself, and most of all I don't want to have to show love to people.  Don’t you know I am hurting and tired (listen to the pride and selfishness in my feelings)?  All of these feelings or thoughts pretty much equal an adult sized tantrum, and I fear I have been having a few to many of them lately.  But God in His ultimate wisdom leads me to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:
 
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5: 16-18)”

With this one verse I am reminded of the simple yet tough commands of Christ.  I am reminded of why Christ has challenged me to get my head out of the intense flowerbed debates (TULIPS VS ROSES etc) and back to Christian basics. To realize that until I have the basics down, the "deeper" theological truths just aren't as imperative.

So I decided to break this verse down with God.  It went something like this: God do you really mean I need to rejoice in everything, even when life is hard...YES everything, especially when life is hard, how else are you to be set apart from the world. God do you really want me to get serious about my prayer life (I mean praying without ceasing is pretty serious)...YES, I your God have already defeated this world but you are powerless without prayer.   God, isn’t rejoicing sometimes enough? I mean that’s a pretty tall order to fill…Nope, I want you to be thankful so that your heart will continue to rejoice. And that is when it hit me, God’s commands are not a laundry list of behaviorally conditions so that He will show me favor. They are loving instructions to keep me on the narrow path.  What it all boils down to is that God is a loving God.  He wants me to follow His ways because even though they are hard and uncomfortable they are better. They are for my good and for His Glory.  These three simply put commands: to rejoice always, pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks are ultimately God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. 

Monday, March 21, 2011

"Others"

So as I was mowing our yard today God brought up some words that a dear friend had said to me "they are just people."  In context she was reminding me to not be so critical of others.  You see I tend to hold "others" to a standard only Jesus Himself could meet.  So if you aren't healing the lame, multipling fish, or casting out deamons there is a good chance I have judged you. Let me just go a head and apologize for that.

My attitude towards "others"is something I don't like to deal with. It's a continuous struggle that keeps rearing its ugly head. I want so badly to paint a picture of Christ's unfailing love and mercy unfortnatly, I tend to us a brush dipped in judgement and a canvas covered in condemnation.

God has used my friends words not to condemn me but to refine me. To mold me into a person who freely doles grace, forgiveness and mercy out.  Also though to remind me that I am a new creation in His eyes and I no longer have to live this life as the world lives it.