In order to walk in the blessings of God, we need to walk in the obedience to His Word. Once you accept Jesus as Savior, make Him Lord over your life – it means JUST that. IS Jesus Lord over your life? Or do you consider Him Lord ONLY when you are in need???? Making Jesus Lord OVER your life indicates as in Galatians 2:20:
“I have been crucified in Christ, nevertheless I live, yet NOT I but Christ, lives by faith in me.”
When I experience a loss of peace, it often is because I’m fighting against what Holy Spirit is indicating I need to change about (or within myself) to experience a closer walk with God, and the only way that changes is when I submit myself to whatever it is Holy Spirit is showing me I need to change about ME. We are as in Romans 12:2:
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.“
Are you fighting against what it is God is telling you is HIS will? Are you walking a walk that is humble in submission to the Father? Are you grieving Holy Spirit by arguing with Him about what it is YOU believe, what it is YOU are having YOUR life represent? (If so, I have to say, in all due respect – when you give your life to Christ, it is NO LONGER YOU who live – but Christ IN you who lives… Fighting whatever it is Holy Spirit is telling you needs changing is like a dog chasing after his own tail, you won’t get anywhere and will remain stuck where you are until you hear what Holy Spirit is saying to you…) Believe me, I’ve been there and done that and I have found that it is MUCH more peaceful to take a look at what it is Holy Spirit is showing me about myself that needs changing, transformation because it USUALLY is for MY OWN good! (I know this is an ouch word… I’m saying ouch too! 🙂 )
“But I believe, I feel, I, I, I…”
News Flash – God isn’t asking for our opinion, God wants OUR lives (the lives which we have turned over to Him) to line up with HIS Word, which He has given us to guide us through this life. ANY parent can tell you that often kids don’t like being told “no!” or having to submit to their parents, but any GOOD parent will tell you that they have rules for a reason.
GOD, THE FATHER GIVES US RULES FOR A REASON
The Bible is not a book of “No” The Bible is the Book of Wisdom! Examples are given of people who obeyed (and who disobeyed) God. God LOVES us! The structure He has given us to live is for our benefit! If your peace or chaos is your present experience it is either because Holy Spirit is trying to GROW you OR it is because you ARE adhering to what God is telling you to do! Ol’ Slewfoot doesn’t bother those that are not a threat to him and his desire to thwart your walk with God! Only you can determine WHICH it is.
ARE YOU IN THE CENTER OF GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE
OR
ARE YOU FIGHTING AGAINST WHAT IT IS HOLY SPIRIT IS SHOWING YOU NEEDS TRANFORMING?
If you call yourself a Christian (are part of God’s Chosen Remnant), you are an “Ambassador for Christ” an Ambassador represents someone/something/some place. Take a look at what you believe in and ask yourself – am I representing Jesus in my lifestyle? In my viewpoint? If you don’t know WHAT God represents, read the Bible, it tells you what He represents. How He wants you to live and if you are honest with yourself – you will admit that there are some things within you that need changing. Transformation of our minds in Christ is a DAILY thing. Every day we make choices – do those choices line up with the Word of God or do those choices line up with YOUR opinion, YOUR self?”
God has blessed us with free-will, you are free to live life as you choose – but in considering these words, you need to take in mind that at the end of this life (and our lives are BUT breathes) the Bible tells us that we WILL give an account of what we chose, what we represented and how we lived… IF you decided to live a life WITHOUT God, you will also have made a choice to spend an eternity WITHOUT the God you chose to reject IN your life. IF you chose to accept the gift that God gave us, in professing to believe Jesus is the Savior, made a choice to make Him Lord OVER your life – you will be saved. BUT the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:15:
“If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
If your lifestyle is one where you are putting the world and its opinion ahead of God’s, then you are placing yourself in a very precarious place. Mark 8:36 says:
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
One of the things we who are part of God’s Called Remnant, followers of Christ have come to realize and have to accept is exactly what Jesus said in John 15:18-21:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.”
Is it more important to you to win the “popular” approval of those around you? Or is it more important to you to listen carefully to what Holy Spirit is showing you (which always lines up with the Word of God) and choose to follow Him? If you look at your life, what you are believing in, what it is you are you are standing for – are you standing for what God stands for?
“But, But, But, But, But…”
There are no “buts” with God. There is only “Yes and Amen.” God did not ask us for “our opinions” – the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:12:
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
Do you trust that God knows what He is doing? Is YOUR trust in God, or in yourself? Sometimes we really need to sit down with ourselves, and take a look at who it is we are serving, what it is we are representing and who it REALLY is that we are living for… We are in a spiritual war, we are deceived, we are accused and we are lied to/about. But even with all that, we get to choose if we are going to stand for righteousness. If we are going to stand for the Word of God. If we are TRULY going to be a walking, living, speaking, teaching, loving Ambassador for Christ. We have a responsibility as believers to speak the truth! If you are a born-again believer you have the Holy Spirit residing in you, are you speaking over Him and grieving Him? Or are you lining up YOUR will with that of His? This is an area I constantly have to check myself if my peace has left me – usually it is because I am acting in a defiant manner that contradicts what it is Holy Spirit is telling me, and I have to repent. I have to allow my mind to be transformed – because even as a Christian, you STILL have free will and free choice. If you are experiencing oppression in your life, perhaps this is an area that you want to revisit in prayer and ask Holy Spirit to show you the areas that you have not allowed Him to bring under submission to His will and to His Word. Once we listen and learn and turn those areas of ourselves that need transformation and allow Holy Spirit to do what He is called to do – our peace, our joy, our sense of purpose is restored. God’s way is ALWAYS better than “our way” because God KNOWS what is best. Sometimes we just need to recognize that and step in line to what it is He is telling us to do, or showing us how to live. He says it because He has our very BEST interest at heart – we can trust Him, He knows what He’s doing.
“Father God, I thank You so much for knowing that we would need Holy Spirit to be our Guide, our Teacher, our Comforter. Thank You for sending us Your Spirit. Please forgive me for the times when I have spoken OVER what it is Holy Spirit is teaching me. Please forgive me for the times I have not listened to the Instructor you so gracefully sent into my life when I turned my life over to You. Forgive me. I repent. If there be anything evil or self-serving within me, I pray that you change it, remove it. I choose to allow Holy Spirit to transform the areas of my mind which need transforming. Help me to be ever cognate to the fact that when I choose to accept You into my life as Savior, made Jesus Lord OVER my life, I chose to die to myself. Help me remember that I AM accountable to You in the decisions I make. Help me to be sensitive to the fact that I am categorizing myself as a “Christian” which very definition means “to be Christ-Like” and to make decisions and live in accordance to the examples set for me in Your Word (the Bible). Help me be sensitive to the fact that others around me see how I live and what I believe, and that I am being watched (especially since I profess to be a Christian) and very well MAY be the only Ambassador for Christ and the Word of God that people see! Forgive me for the times when I have failed to represent You in a way that glorifies Your name! My biggest desire is for people to see CHRIST IN ME. Help me Holy Spirit, teach me, guide me, use me! Give me divine appointments where I can be used to either strengthen others walk in Christ, or be a tool to bring someone into the knowledge of God’s salvation and love! Help me to step OUT OF THE WAY so that others can truly SEE the way! Thank You for forgiving me and helping me to grow in You. May You be glorified, in Jesus’ name I pray AMEN.”
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