 “Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God.” (Romans 12:1 CEV)
Many people want to be used by God, but they are unwilling to take the first step and that is the willing submission of their lives to God. Unless your heart’s desire is to please the Lord with your existence, you will never take this vital first step. Too many want to offer their lives to God, but when they consider what this actually means, they give up this honorable pursuit. Jesus must not only be your savior, but he must also become your Lord or else you will never do what he commands you to do(see Luke 6:46). When Jesus is your Lord, then compromise is never an option. Compromise prevents the power of God from flowing through your life. However, a surrendered life will allow the power of God to flow and operate in your life uninterrupted. In Colossians 1:9-11 Paul admonishes us saying, “We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding his Spirit gives. Then you will live a life that honors the Lord, and you will always please him by doing good deeds. You will come to know God even better. His glorious power will make you patient and strong enough to endure anything, and you will be truly happy.” God is looking for those that will live to glorify and honor Him. He is looking for those that will show the world at large just how good He really is. Will you be the one that God can count on?  “So do not lose the courage you had in the past, which has a great reward. You must hold on, so you can do what God wants and receive what he has promised.” (Hebrews 10:35-36 NCV)
Are you currently facing what appears to be the fight of your life? You started out believing God could do anything and now your faith is being put to the test. You may have even prayed, “God if you don’t do this then it won’t get done.” Well today I would like to cheer you on and say, “Don’t quit because you’ve come too far.” The above referenced text was written with that exact purpose in mind. I’m pretty sure the writer had believers in his day who were experiencing faith fights and needed an encourager to speak into their lives. Jesus even told the disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.](John 16:33 AMP)." So you see challenges will occur in your life, but you need to focus on the victory that belongs to you in Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews says, “You must hold on.” Why? You need to hold on not only for your own sake, but for the sake of those that will be blessed by your testimony. Never again think “If God gets me through this, “ but begin to think about “When God gets me through this” because Jesus already told us that he has “conquered it” for us. When you experience victory it just makes God look even more attractive to the unbeliever. Get ready to share what God is doing in your life because your testimony will impart faith and create breakthrough in the lives of others.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
God is interested with both the simple and the complex areas of your life. Too often we exclude God from our lives until we come across something that appears to difficult to handle, but when you trust God you trust him with everything and partner with him in everything because you realize that your life is dependent on His goodness because “In him we live and move and have our being(Acts 17:28).” This brings to my mind a story involving my 3-year old niece. One day my wife and I were eating with our niece and she came to the point in her meal where she wanted to drink the juice box that came with her meal. As I observed her detach the straw from the box I anticipated that she would need a little assistance with unwrapping the straw so I asked her if she needed help to which she replied, “No, I want to do it by myself.” As she began to bang the plastic straw on the table with hopes that it would break the packaging I asked her again, “Do you want me to help you with the straw?” She replied, “No I got it.” Of course, she didn’t have it so at this point she began to bite the plastic wrap still not succeeding in opening the straw. Noticing the frustration on her face I extended my hand and she gave me the straw which I easily opened for her enabling her to enjoy the juice. My purpose in telling that story was to illustrate the fact that we often forbid God from being involved in the small things because we think that the task is simple enough for us handle on our own, but we can still have difficulty with it. To God there are no big problems and little problems. God wants to handle our juice box problems and move those mountains that stand in the way of our destinies. Only when we realize that God cares about our entire existence can we finally begin to walk the path of trust which grants God permission to partner with us in life. |
AuthorSteve Tolbert is an emerging revivalist who is passionate about drawing people closer to God. Archives
November 2020
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