Category Archives: Christian Life

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Not the Boss of Me

Really, now. . . not quite so fast.

–T’s in Our Lives–

In our spiritual lives we come to many T’s where we make choices. Some choices cost us and draw us in directions others don’t understand, agree with, or approve. Scripture validates that the choice for God is always the best choice.

A choice for God is a choice for what God loves, which is a choice to the good God is doing. God loves the world. He loves obedience. He loves the heart that seeks Him. He loves repentance. The humble, worshipful person is pleasing to the Lord.

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.‘” Good so far, right? Then comes this. “But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.'”*

What a contrast. What the Lord says versus how the people respond. When we are at a crossroads in our lives, do we ask, “Where is the good way? Am I walking in the good way?” We will “find rest for our souls,” when we do walk in the good way. Again, God is always the best choice.

This sounds like a no brainer. But it is not easy should our focus stray from following God’s way.

The choice to follow God is one of consequence. No longer are we our own boss. Early in Jesus’ ministry He said to a couple fishermen, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” What was remarkable, they did come, they did follow, and they did become fishers of men.

Jonah made a choice, too. He was angry at the spiritual directive, so he chose to turn away from God, to continue hating the ungodly–the undeserving of God’s mercy (according to his way of thinking), without compassion for the godless people of Nineveh. But God had a plan, and God loved the people in Ninevah. God offered them a chance to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Jonah was the messenger, though an unwilling one.

“On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: ‘Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!'”(Jonah 3:4)

From the king down, the people of Nineveh repented and turned to God, while Jonah sulked and waited for their demise with an unrepentant heart. He was a grudging follower pressed into service. After the fact, He was still nursing a grudge toward God. I don’t know if Jonah came to his senses, but I do know God used Jonah in spite of himself. In the New Testament there is a look back on that event. “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”**

[I read through the book of Jonah last week. Just wow. I’d like societies around the world to repent like the people of Nineveh did. Here’s a sobering thought. Would you do what God said if he told you to go to a godless country and tell them to repent?]

We can be like the fishermen, or we can be like Jonah, or we can be like the Ninevites. We come to T’s in the road when faced with a big decision. These decisions decide the direction we will take for our next steps. Like the pilgrims of last week it can be a major undertaking–think missionary– missions project– major endeavor–an ordinary thing–like how to support your friend or family–or dealing with your self-issues. No matter what it is, the choice that employs a servant’s heart and acts in obedience to God is the one that is pleasing to our Lord.

How we get this thing right is by consistently doing five things.

  1. Pray. Pray through all aspects of it.
  2. Wait. Wait until God shows you the right way.
  3. Trust. Trust God to supply what you need.
  4. Go. Go with God. Hard or easy, keep focused on God.
  5. Praise. Praise God for who He is, what He is doing, and for the journey

God completes what He starts. The wait is a time of active praying, seeking, and learning. The wait is not twiddling your thumbs and doing nothing. Choose the good way and walk in it. “But my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”***

Thank you, Father, for supplying all I need, according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

* * *

*(Jeremiah 6:16) **(Matthew 12:41) ***(Philippians 4:19)

Photo by Rosie Steggles, Unsplash

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Not Feeling It

Grace for Today

I think about the grace of God so often. The first time I actually comprehended the concept in real life was when I was in college. I was with my boyfriend in a borrowed car when he was stopped by a cop for speeding. He deserved a ticket. When the cop found out that he was a student at Western Baptist College, he was given a warning but let off the hook. It shook my boyfriend up a bit and his first words afterwards were, “That was grace!” He knew the cop could have given him a ticket.

And it was grace on the cop’s part. We later found out that the borrowed car’s speedometer wasn’t correct. He’d been speeding even more than he thought at the time! His exclamation, that it was grace, stuck with me. It made grace seem real to me. He deserved a ticket but received grace instead.

By the way, on a pleasanter note, he was the one person in my life that caused in me a desire to learn. He knew tons more than I did and was engaged in learning for learning’s sake. I loved that about him, and it impacted me then and forever after.

Every day we see evidence of God’s grace in the little and big. When I look for it, I see it everywhere, even in nature. When I don’t look, I am more apt to complain.

My maternal grandmother was a joy-filled person. She lived it. She walked it. She expressed it. It wasn’t because her life had been easy, though. She had had a lot of loss in her life, starting in childhood with the passing of her mother, yet I never heard her voice even one bitter word. That’s an amazing way to live. Her love for God flowed freely. She was a composer. The lyrics in her songs are full of God’s ministering Spirit.

Whenever my former pastor was preaching about God’s love, he opened his arms wide. He said that God’s love is for all people. I loved the visual. God’s love is that wide, and it’s a beautiful thing.

When I started knowing God through pure eyes–with no prior constraints, trying to not let my limitations color my view–His love flowed in me in a new way. His love became my love. His love for people is a love for their heart. My love for people became a love for their heart.

How I came to realize its presence in me was that my speech and thoughts were less about me and more about others. I had an intrinsic desire to see them come to Jesus for His healing grace. I wanted God for them, personally, not just for salvation and redemption, but for what He is and He gives.

I’ve always been very shy and insecure but the love of God trumps my fears and becomes a multiplied blessing. I love it when I see this grace of God in other people. This may sound weird, but I can read it in their expressions and hear it in their voices. They’ve fallen in love with the Savior, and He is a part of them. They are refined by His love. God is the Refiner.

Let Christ in. Let His wisdom flow in you. Give your fears and insecurities to Him. He will cleanse them and set you free. Like the song says, let the beauty of Jesus be seen in you.

A couple of suggestions.

  • Act when God makes a suggestion that could make a difference in somebody’s life.
  • Release yourself from your wounds and the bondage in your own life.
  • Ask God to help you do this.
  • Open your heart to God’s love. If this seems impossible, ask Him to help you to be willing to open your heart to His love.
  • Request His Spirit”s enabling in your life.
  • Praise Him for ministering in your spirit.

We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). These words still ring true. Read further and you come to these words, nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing. Nothing between us and our Savior.

God is bringing many sons and daughters to glory. You and I have a purpose in this life. As Christ followers, we are Christ to the confused, hurting world. Christ is abundant life. His life in us is abundant and free. We can let the freedom of Christ reign in us.

Not feeling it? I would have you to not despair. You may not feel God’s love but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there with you. He has said He will never leave us or forsake us. You are not alone. You are not abandoned. You are wanted. You are loved by God. Look to Him. I believe you will find what you seek when you are ready to receive it. That circles back to my suggestions above, open and request.

Am I serious? Yes. Very serious. Are you serious? When you get serious about your interior self, your soul-side, and your walk with God, change will work its way into you inner being. It may get worse before it gets better. It is like when you are working at improving your gut health. There is a die-back period, when the bad bacteria is dying, which causes headaches, achiness, and joint pain. This has to happen before the good bacteria can multiply and thrive to bring about healing. Then the aches depart and renewed health is experienced.

Grace for today? I’ll end this post with a comment from a friend. She says, “Some days our journey is harder than others. Lately every day seems hard. We just have to persevere. And we need to remember that we are in good hands: His hands. Keep praying. Keep trusting. Keep looking up. God is guiding us on this journey. Amen!”

God is in this.

. . .

Photo by Boris Misevic, Unsplash