How much of ourselves have we given to God in love? Do we conform to His will in all things, or only as much as we think it will take to please Him? Jesus was the most amazing and incredible man to have ever lived, and yet He subjected Himself in His entirety to God... He leads us in understanding the true nature of God’s expectation of us. He demonstrates what it means to be a loving Child of God.
Do you devote time and other things in your life to God? If you do, then are you giving these things to Him forever, or just until you need them again? Perhaps you don’t understand what devoting means when taken in this context. What I am referring to here are those things which you commit to God, or Jesus Christ. For many of us it probably begins with a morning time of prayer each day. Have you given Him 15 minutes? 30 minutes? An hour? Have you truly dedicated it to Him, or just loaned it to Him? If you have made this a promise, Have you lived up to that commitment or just prayed when it was convenient?
I have never done this before, but my devotional message yesterday contained a gem that our society today seems to have lost. I received a nice email from Lou, a wonderful friend, a wife, mother, woman that has worked a lifetime alongside her husband, and a lady in her 80s; I want to share it with you, along with my reply to her. Here is her email regarding my grandfather’s saying that I shared briefly in yesterday’s devotional “The Revelation of Answered Prayer.”
God answers my prayers! Do you believe that statement without reservation? So many people of faith say this, but then spend much of their time and effort making excuses for why they don’t see results. If this is you then I ask “where is the faith in that?” If you truly know God, then you know Him to be absolutely trustworthy and of rock solid character.
As Christians we claim that Jesus Christ is Lord, but so many of us continue to fret over the world as if it still reigns supreme in our lives... and when we do this, it does. Are you one of those who says he trusts in God, and then busily works at trying to solve the world’s problems for Him? Are national and world politics more than casual interests? Do you worry yourself sick about your health and dying despite knowing that you are already dead to this world, and are eternally secure in the next? Well let’s revisit our faith.
Are you in the habit of beginning each day in prayer, contemplation, and reading scripture? Do you offer this as a time dedicated to the Lord, and in which the two of you can be alone together? Do you rise early and go into your prayer closet where you call His name and wait upon Him? If so you already know how spiritually refreshing that time is, but if not, I would encourage you to do so... mornings are a special time with the Lord, and of new beginning.
You have professed your faith in God, and accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, but now you are asking yourself... “what is the Holy Spirit, will I receive it, and how will I know when I do?” Let’s explore the breath of Jesus and the Spirit He breathes onto us. Let’s ask our Lord to give us His comforter, and teacher to be with us as we journey, and to provided us through His Spirit those things we need along the way.
Today is the beginning of a brand new year, and as such, let’s contemplate the true source of our joy. Personally, I do not look to the world, but to my Lord Jesus for joy, because the world has failed me often, but My Redeemer, and Savior has never disappointed or abandoned me. The joy of Christ is steadfast, and unfailing... do you see this truth in your walk with Him? Are you prepared to be united with Him this coming year? If you are then you will find that His joy isn’t the only one you will receive.
Today is the last day of the year, and typically one in which we take stock of our accomplishments and failures over the past twelve months. This is also a time when we make plans for the coming year, and determine the condition of our present life. As you do so, do you have regrets that haunt you, and fears that give you tribulation as you look towards the coming new year? Well, fear not because our Lord uses what is past to prepare us for what lies ahead, and He helps us face today with a firm faith in His goodness and mercy.
When we come to know Jesus Christ, and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, something amazing begins to happen in, and to us. We are most certainly relieved of the sin which began in Adam, but the knowledge of good and evil remains... so what is God to do with that?
Has God called you to serve Him in a way that requires you to sacrifice something you own, or of yourself? Are you at a place in your faith that requires you to make a choice between believing and having faith in Him, and Jesus, or returning to where you once were in faithlessness? Well every believer comes through this fork in the road, and it separates the believers who go to the right, from the nonbelievers who turn back to the left.
Are you like a child before God, or are you walking in your own independent self-righteousness? Do you say “I believe” and yet act like you are in control of your life? Maybe you had trusted God with your life once, but have since taken those reins back from Him, and slowly, over time, found you were walking apart from Him. Do you see where you are? Are you uncertain how, and if, you can come home? Well you can.
Do you deny the sin within you? Do you say to me that you are a moral man, a good man, and that you harm no one? Do you argue that your morality makes you righteous? My response to you is that you have no idea what sin truly is... or else you are deceiving yourself. Let’s look at this further.
Are you worthy? Are you worthy of the sacrifice that God made by giving His only Son to die for your sins? Are you worthy of an audience with the creator of the universe? Are you worthy of forgiveness? There are so many questions like this that most of us would answer with a resounding “NO!”, but is that really true?
This morning we celebrate the moment in Time when God became man. On this day, so many years ago, Jesus Christ was born to a virgin in Bethlehem. I would say that this was the beginning of God’s plan to redeem mankind, but that plan was actually conceived at the very moment of creation, even before Adam and Eve had realized sin, and continues on today.