The Plan

Romans 6:20-21 (MSG)
As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.

God has a better plan. We were not meant to do what ever we felt like doing. True freedom is in following God's purpose for our lives. God gives us parameters and guidelines with choices. Just like a child needs boundaries and guidance, we need insights into our future and direction. There is comfort, safety and freedom in knowing there is a plan.

Burning Hearts

Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

There are times when reading scripture that the words jump off the page at me and pierce my heart and soul. In these moments I know God is speaking directly to me. Surely, that was the experience described in Luke 24:32. God is always speaking, whether through His written word or His spoken word. We have to be alert and listening to hear Him speak. A burning heart is a sign that God is speaking. Does your heart burn this morning?

Complete Identification

"Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily." Galatians 2:21

We try so hard to be good and to keep the rules of being Christians. We can't, we will fail in some part and disappoint ourselves. When we are crucified with Christ we become righteous through His sacrifice. Until we commit to be truly His, crucified with Him, we will fail at doing good. Total abandonment of self, our will and desires is necessary for our salvation and our righteousness. Only then will we be able to do good, serving God and others in self-sacrifice. This is Christ-like living. Not because we have to but because we want to please God in everything. Loving Him more than life itself is glorious!

“What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.” Galatians 2:20 MSG

Proverbs 23:26 "My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways."

God wants our whole heart turned toward Him. In our earthly mind we find things/people who seem so important to our lives and necessary to complete us. In this passage of Scripture God is reminding us that He wants all of our heart. Only when we give Him our all can we be truly satisfied. Out of a satisfied heart we can serve people unconditionally. When we love others out of the abundance of God's heart it is true and good, holy and right. God draws us to Himself because He is a jealous God, but He also draws us to himself to show us how to truly love others. Human love will fail sooner or later, God's love never fails. His love is patient, kind, longsuffering, endures, never quits. This love is what we long for.

Shields

I sat next to a nice lady on the plane and we chatted about this and that. It's interesting how we can have a great conversation and walk away with very little information revealed about each other. We shield ourselves, protecting against what? Are we afraid of hurt, an attack against who we really are? Or do we just need more training on how to communicate? Maybe both are correct. Trivial talk to me is a waste of time, yet necessary to bridge the gap with people. How do we break down the shields and truly get to know that person next to us? When the lady on the plane realized I wanted to know about her, she opened her shield just a little and let me see inside. A process for sure, slower than I would like, but rewarding at the end of the day.

The root of Faith

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. It is a life of Faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us "go." The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success.

The final stage in the life of faith is attainment of character. There are many passing transfigurations of character; when we pray we feel the blessing of God enwrapping us and for the time being we are changed, then we get back to the ordinary days and ways and the glory vanishes. The life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting. It is not a question of sanctification; but of something infinitely further on than sanctification, of faith that has been tried and proved and has stood the test. Abraham is not a type of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith, a tried faith built on a real God. "Abraham believed God."

Hebrews 11:8

Surrender

To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. Surrender, our lives are not our own. We have been purchased by the blood of Jesus.The world looks different through the eyes of surrender.

Galatians 2:20