Everything You Are
Some people say I'm lucky, or that they admire me, because I follow God's will as hard as I can and believe in what I am doing. That's not the whole story. Many see the fruit of my walk with God, but it's the quiet times and the times I have to lock myself away to work or pray that people miss. If you want to draw closer to God, and walk in power, you must give up your life.
We cannot approach God without sacrifice. You must give God your hopes and dreams, your days and nights. People will say, "Yes but God won't want me to do something I don't want to do," and that is true, but only if they can see those dreams lost and ruined. God's way is infinitely better, but when I say sacrifice I mean real loss and real pain. It is the reality of your loss, not just your words, that is your sacrifice.
And after you lose your dreams of the future, your confidence in your present, and even your security what will you do? Will you humbly turn to God, who takes you with joy in open arms and only then can begin the refining process in your life? Will you become bitter at your Creator for taking what you told Him you wanted to give by signing up? This is the test of your roots; it is a question of whether your life is lived for God or still secretly for yourself. In God you will find strength to go on, away from God you will harm yourself with your own bitter emotions.
It's here, at the lowest point of your life, that God will meet you and transform you. You will learn a new way to walk, and you will be given a hope that never wears out. You will move forward with your eyes fixed on that hope, regardless of your surrounding situation. The pain will keep coming, losses will never stop in this life. In spite of that, you will be truly alive and the pain will not overcome you.
We've been called to have life abundantly, to be so alive every day that the world has more colour when we're around. Our selfish hearts are to be transformed by this gift, because we know it's by sharing the gift that we ourselves stand to gain. We are lives of sacrifice, reaching out because the love inside us will not be contained. This is what it means to be a Christian - real life comes with pain, and real love cannot be selfish.
We cannot approach God without sacrifice. You must give God your hopes and dreams, your days and nights. People will say, "Yes but God won't want me to do something I don't want to do," and that is true, but only if they can see those dreams lost and ruined. God's way is infinitely better, but when I say sacrifice I mean real loss and real pain. It is the reality of your loss, not just your words, that is your sacrifice.
And after you lose your dreams of the future, your confidence in your present, and even your security what will you do? Will you humbly turn to God, who takes you with joy in open arms and only then can begin the refining process in your life? Will you become bitter at your Creator for taking what you told Him you wanted to give by signing up? This is the test of your roots; it is a question of whether your life is lived for God or still secretly for yourself. In God you will find strength to go on, away from God you will harm yourself with your own bitter emotions.
It's here, at the lowest point of your life, that God will meet you and transform you. You will learn a new way to walk, and you will be given a hope that never wears out. You will move forward with your eyes fixed on that hope, regardless of your surrounding situation. The pain will keep coming, losses will never stop in this life. In spite of that, you will be truly alive and the pain will not overcome you.
We've been called to have life abundantly, to be so alive every day that the world has more colour when we're around. Our selfish hearts are to be transformed by this gift, because we know it's by sharing the gift that we ourselves stand to gain. We are lives of sacrifice, reaching out because the love inside us will not be contained. This is what it means to be a Christian - real life comes with pain, and real love cannot be selfish.
posted by Merlz at 7:06 PM
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