Monday, November 7, 2011 (7:19 a.m.)
Blessed Lord Jesus,
I’m still being a brat. Behaving badly. Thinking You instead of seeking You. Please help me here Lord. I love You. I know that. I need You. I know that too. What do I do next? Confess that I’m all caught up in my head.
I feel torn Lord. Really mixed up by the way I always thought things would be and the reality of how life truly is. Speak to me about this Lord Jesus. You are so good and I love You so very much.
Too often I get distracted doing things that don’t benefit Your Kingdom. Ooh. Ouch. The whiplash I just felt by that simple statement has stopped me dead in my tracks.
I keep trying to figure things out on my own. I want to alter our future by figuring out the mistakes of the past. Rarely, if ever, do I funnel or filter my thoughts through what is most benefiting to Your Kingdom’s glory.
Your Kingdom’s Glory, I’m not even sure what that means. What I DO know is that I get so wrapped up in thinking and seeing things one dimensionally, that I completely forget that THIS is not my home!
Jesus, I can never thank You enough for Your Word. Your Truth. Your life. Your death. Your Kingdom. Lord Jesus, You are so much greater than my limited thinking allows me to fathom.
I turned to Revelation to read again of Your Kingdom. In doing so I was reminded of the grace and peace offered us by “God who is, and was, and is to come” (1:4b). Looking at the bottom of the page in The Life Recovery Bible, I read this comment “The powerful work of Jesus Christ is the only valid foundation for recovery.” Oh, amen to that!
“Christ shed His redemptive blood on the cross in order to free us from bondage to sin, past abuse, destructive habits, compulsions, and addictions.” Come, Lord Jesus, come.
“God loved us enough to send His Son to die on our behalf. But then Jesus rose from the dead conquering death forever! Through Him, we also can rise to new life.” Really Lord? Just like that?
“No matter who we are or what we have done, in Christ, God has a solution for our problems. Even death has been overcome!” Mm. Yes Lord Jesus. You paid the price for ALL of my sin!
“Through Christ, we have been made citizens of His eternal Kingdom (see Philippians 3:20), and we have an eternity of healthy living to look forward to.” Lord Jesus, I confess to reverting once again to attempting to hide and pretend away the fears I continue grabbing and holding onto. I keep looking at things in THIS world instead of hoping, praying and believing Your Word on all that is to come with You in Your Kingdom.
In his letter to the people of Philippi, Paul wrote of the joys that are found in following You. I confess to attempting to manufacture those joys.
Under the heading Forgetting the Past; Reaching for the Goal (Philippians 3:12-21) Paul told of his goal to be obedient to Your will and accomplish it daily.
I had forgotten these verses Dearest Lord Jesus. “No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us” (vs. 13-14).
He continues urging “all of you who are mature Christians” (15) to “pattern your lives after mine, and notice who else lives up to my example” (17). He warns “now with tears in my eyes” (18) of the “many who walk along the Christian road who are really enemies of the cross”.
“Their future is eternal loss, for their god is their appetite: they are proud of what they should be ashamed of; and all they think about is this life here on earth” (19). Most dear and blessed Lord Jesus, I resemble that verse far too closely!
Continue Your work in me most blessed One making me so much more like Your believers mentioned in verse 20. “But our homeland is in heaven, where our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ is; and we are looking forward to His return from there.”
Jesus, I love You. I trust You. I depend on You. The thoughts and fears of my past could be my undoing. I choose instead to look to You. To Your Kingdom. To Your Kingdom’s glory. Thank You Lord Jesus. I love You. Amen.
(795 words ~ 9:20 a.m.)
No comments:
Post a Comment