|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| Romans 8:28 tells us "And we know that all things work together for the
good to them that love God." - The loyal soul believes that God
engineers circumstances. I want to purpose in my heart to believe this
- because I know that often times I treat things that happen as though
men have engineered them. If I claim to be loyal to the Lord, yet do
not believe He is in full control - I am making a mockery of my
relationship with Him because I simply do not know Him. Practically
speaking, if I react negatively to the circumstances that come my way,
I am slapping Him in the face because He has engineered that which
comes my way - even before I encounter it! I need to stop treating the
seemingly small things in life as though they are simply
"consequential" and realize that because I am a child of God, I am
promised that, "all things work together for the good in my life."
The test of loyalty comes through when I realize that my
worship of God is not based on my circumstances - but I do not cease to
worship Him during the trying circumstances...
***The idea is
not that I can do work for God, but that we are so loyal to Him that He
can do His work through us.*** God wants to use us as He used His own
Son!
| | |
| Time is off the essence.
It is all that we have. It is the currency through which we give of ourselves. How will we spend or invest it? Take a moment to do a little check: are you priorities in order? I realized this week that mine have not been ordered properly. They should look like this:
I. GOD
II. RELATIONSHIP/PARENTS/FAMILY
III. PHYSICAL HEALTH (Eating, Exercise...)
IV. JOB (I am no longer a student for this category!)
V. EVERYTHING ELSE (singing, tennis, other social interactions)
The recent graduation provides me with a sort of "check point" and an opportunity to take a segment of time to re-structure this backbone of my priorities once again. Why is it that I seem to start out here but then casually "drift" from this important foundation?
Furthermore, what does it look like (practically-speaking) for me to keep God first on this hierarchy?
I realized that in my mind I thought I had these
in the correct order, however, the way that I spent my time
practically did not reflect this. How much time and effort have I been investing in
each category? Does the way I spend my money reflect my priorities? I
would encourage you to do a self-examination here and then ask the Lord
to reveal to you how you can get things straightened out starting
today.
For me, this looks like one main change to start with:
Quiet times. If he really is first, I not only need to include him in all of the other items in the hierarchy, but I also need to devote some of my "undivided attention" to him. I need to give him time so that I can listen and obey. I am commanded to do so, "Be still and know that I am God."
* I thought this was an interesting quote pertaining to the item above as well:
"Modern civilization
is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. It
wears us out by multiplying distractions and beats us down by
destroying our solitude, where otherwise we might drink and renew our
strength before going out to face the world again." -excerpt from A.W.
Tozer's "Of God and Men."
Also, this was encouraging to me as well:
"Our pursuit of God is successful just because He is forever seeking to manifest Himself to us."
-A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God, 65.
Carpe Diem! :) | | |
| "Grace is your ability to let your light shine after your fuse is burnt out."
"Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee." St. Augustine
It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logical reasons can be found.
Perhaps it is good to have a beautiful mind, but it is even better to have a beautiful heart.
"A Beautiful Mind"
God impoverishes only to make rich , becoming in secret Himself the substitute for all that He takes away from the soul.
Jeane Guyon from Tozer's The Pursuit of God | | |
| "Yet
true religion with contentment is great wealth. After all, we didn't
bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly
cannot carry anything with us when we die. So if we have enough food
and clothing, let us be content.
But
people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many
foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
For
the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people,
craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with
many sorrows.
But you,
belong to God; so run from all these evil things, and follow what is
right and good. Pursue a godly life, along with faith, love,
perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for what we believe.
Hold tightly to the eternal life that God has given you, which you have
confessed so well before many witnesses. And I command you before God,
who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, that you obey his
commands with all purity. Then no one can find fault with you from now
until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
Tell
those who are rich in this world not to be proud, and not to trust in
their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the
living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell
them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works
and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to
share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will
be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so
that they may take hold of real life."
From
this set of verses, my heart travels through a journey of vastly
different experiences. Conviction, sorrow, hope, encouragement, and
joy. I will explain.
I become convicted,
when I read certain lines in these verses, as I feel that my heart is
not rightly aligned with the Lord's values and priorities. I desire for
my heart to "beat to the same rhythm" of Christ's - and I feel I have
such a long way to go in my thoughts, actions and attitudes towards
certain areas - some of them addressed in this passage. "Religion with
contentment is great wealth" - This reminds me that we (the world) do
not define success or wealth, even as we sometimes give ourselves
credit to. For the truth of Scripture states very clearly that wealth
as defined by God is religion plus contentment. Some translations say
godliness plus contentment. In other words: The Lord is enough if we will rest and be content in Him to meet our needs.
This section really gets to me because, working in the world, I have
found that my heart has sprouted strings of attachment to this world
and it's pleasures - mainly to the accumulation of wealth. I have been
consumed lately with storing up money in order that I may derive some
sick sort of security from a large bank account and pat myself on the
back for all of my "hard work." The Lord is not pleased by this in me.
I am convicted because it says here "so if we have enough food and
clothing, let us be content." Who in the world sets their standard for
contentment at the basal requirements of food and clothing?! However,
this is what we are instructed to do - be content if we have these
things. I have never been without food or clothing in my lifetime,
therefore I have no excuse not to be content. However, the more
possessions we acquire, and the nicer/more expensive they are, the more
we seem to become attached to this world. It only makes sense that if I
have more things, more of my attention will be required to manage them.
For me personally, this means my car - the most high-maintenance item
in my life. Thus, it has been wrecked twice (God must have a sense of
humor) and now I have come to hate the high maintenance aspect of
foreign cars. No matter how good they look or how smooth they drive -
they are not a wise investment of money. Too much money wasted on this
vehicle - money that is not mine, but that is God's. Money that could
have been used in missions or to further the Kingdom...but instead, was
thrown away to a selfish accessory of mine. Needless to say, I am
making some very necessary changes in that realm of my life.
I am filled with sorrow and repentance when I see the darkness and selfishness of my heart and the futile areas in which I have assigned value and priority.
Progressing through the passage, direction is given which provides hope and encouragement
to a wandering heart. The truth is stated so clearly - and it is such a
freeing truth. It outlines what will happen to us if we follow after
money - causing our desire for it to be squelched if we listen and
believe the truth. The hope comes next, because if we belong to God, we
are given the power and strength to flee/run from all these things and
pursue the things of God. If I am focused on pursuing a godly life,
faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness, there is no longer room for
the love of money! Godliness is not the absence of evil, but the presence of goodness in us (the fruit of the Spirit).
And when we are filled to overflowing with the goodness of our Lord,
there is no room for the presence of evil! How beautiful is our Lord!
Real
life (as stated in this passage) is giving to others, in essence:
storing up treasure as a good foundation for the future. It is the
opposite of the world's advice. the world tells us to be greedy and to
hoard up all we can for ourselves to give us security, luxuries and
happiness. However, the Lord's wisdom seems foolishness to this world,
as He tells us to do the exact opposite! To give away in order to gain
a solid foundation in our lives!
I am just going to take some
time here to pause and reflect. To try and soak up some of this wisdom
and get on my knees to pray before the Lord: asking Him to produce
actions that are consistent with what He has just revealed. I hope that
you will analyze your own life and do the same.
Be Encouraged!
Brittanie | | |
| http://brittaniepalumbo.blogspot.com
Please check it out. :) I may consider transitioning over since not too many people use this one anymore!
| | |
|
