As I think about Christ and what He left for me, I am amazed. He left a perfect home with no sickness, trials, temptations, or people that hated him or put Him down. Knowing He would encounter each one of those things while on earth, Christ went on to completing God's will for Him. The reason I write this is because many times I ask myself what is stopping me from doing all for Him. Christ lay aside His home, pleasures, comforts to focus on what really mattered - people for ETERNITY! What am I sacrificing for eternity? As I go about my daily activities, do I put eternity at the focus of everything I do or do people and my fleshly desires blur up my thoughts and actions.
If God is calling me to something such as the mission field, I must be willing to go knowing not even Christ had a true home while on earth (Luke 9:58,59) He just wants us to follow after Him and yet how hard it is to put everything aside and just fix our eyes on Him.
We must also be willing to surrender all to Him. In my Nelson study Bible it says that "true spiritual transformation starts in our mind and heart." If we do not surrender our all to Him, then we are half and half. One part of ourself is facing Christ and the other half is facing the world. Thus, we will be tossed back and forth never fulling ready to do what He wants for us. Yet, if we face completely towards Him, we can "STAND THE TESTS OF TIME." No, it is not easy even for me. I write all this because even I am struggling with this, but know I must lean completely on Him during the hard times I am going through in my life.
In the end, I must be willing in my surrender to give Him time in His Word to know what He wants me to do each day thus revealing what He wants me to do later on with my life.
I want to end with this quote my pastor gave last Sunday - "Someone that is not willing to sacrifice will disappear from the ministry." I know I do not want to be that person so I ask you to pray for me for the following:
1. That I know what God wants with my life
2. That if He wants me on the mission field, I am willing to go no matter the circumstances
3. That I fully trust in Him during this period of waiting on Him for direction in my life
I pray this encourages you to put eternity before you and not yourself!
Romans 8:26a ~ "the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought."
4 comments:
Wow! That is so true. I definitely needed that. I need to be willing to do all for Christ since He has done all for me. That was worded so well and was straight to the point. I will be praying for you and ask you to please pray for me also. Thanks for writing it. It is definitley influential.
Your friend,
Tori Hale
Thanks for the challenge. It is really neat to hear how God is working in your heart. I appreciated the prayer requests and will be praying specifically for those.
We sure do miss you here. Thanks for spending your whole break with us. You were a huge encouragement to each of us.
Love you - Christen
I confess I haven't been to your blog in a while. I'm glad to have a sister that is spiritually sensitive. Your thoughts were good for me as sometimes I come up short in my willingness to sacrifice - and I'm already on the mission field. May God help us as it is an unconditional process called sanctification. Good to hear from you - write more often!
Love you sis,
David
Love the new look of your blog....I would love to read something new too!!! :)
Hope you are doing well. Praying for you often.
Christen
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