Just because the Lord is in your head doesn't mean He is in your heart! Many people do acknowledge His existence (isn't that nice of them). But that only means they know about Him, they don't really "know" Him. Do you really know Jesus? Have you taken that one precious moment in time to bend the knee of your heart to Him and acknowledge that you just might be wrong and He is right? Have you asked for His forgiveness and His pure nature to come inside you? You may get pretty frustrated not being able to meet His standard, but could that be because you are trying to do the "God thing" with the broken "Adam nature". Ain't going to work dar-dar! Switch out your religion for relationship...get Him out of your head and let Him slip into your heart (Romans 8:6). He loves you so much and wants to be your closest friend, not just some acquaintance. Endure the fire!
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In the military you have to learn a lot about survival. It is important that you pay attention in all of those classes and training sessions because the job of the military often requires its members to be in harm's way in an often spartan environment. So it is for those who serve the Great Commander, because a life serving God is so much like being in the military. You better listen up when God tells you how to get through the day. It may be through the "heat" of a difficult relationship; it may be in the "dark" of confusion; it may be in the "battle" of temptation, wherever it is, God shows us how to survive because He is the best Commander you will ever have. He tells us to put on the "armor of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17).; He understands your fear (Psalm 27:3), He understands lonliness and separation (Luke 5:16, Isaiah 59:2) and He understands temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). No warrior would ever go out on the battlefield without protection and direction...make sure you do the same or else you'll get slaughtered in the battle of life. Endure the fire! Are you a complainer? Is your typical day complaining to God that you woke up late and your car didn't start fast enough, that your cell phone went dead and your foot massager didn't work when you got home? Maybe you'd be surprised if He told you the "rest of the story"...like He was fighting off the death angel this morning and let you sleep through it; and he delayed your car start so you wouldn't get hit with that drunk driver down the road; and the phone dying prevented you from receiving a call that would have been used against you at work; and that foot massager had a short and would have wrecked the wires in your house and cost you a fortune to repair. Can you just trust God to know what He's doing? "In all things give thanks" (1 Thes 5:18) We have to LEARN how to walk with God. It isn't going to come "naturally" but rather "spiritually", and if you are new to the God thing, it's ok because He is like your "supervisor" at this "new job". Just let Him teach you and guide you in what your responsibilities are and then go from there. When you screw up He won't fire you, heck, you're in training...He WANTS you to get it right. And just like in a job, you don't enter as middle management, you enter at the bottom and work your way up. Don't ever forget that Satan hates it that you left his employment and now have a new Boss. He will do everything to sabotage your new position in Christ. But God is right there, offering you steady advancement to success if you work hard in His training program. His principle is to practice being faithful in the little things so you then can be faithful in the big things. But like any new job you have to know WHO the Boss is, WHAT He's like, WHAT He's looking for and HOW you can expect to be treated. So get going on your "training" in Him. And remember the pay scale..."the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". (Romans 6:23) Endure the fire! |
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