How often do we go about our lives, making our own plans for the future...then we ask God to bless it.
Shouldn't we be asking WHAT God's will is for our lives first, THEN He will bless us?
hmmmm
Matthew 6:33 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
A full review of this chapter may be warranted....
Too often we try to mold God and his will for our lives into what we've already planned to do, say, or be....It's really all wrong, in the sense that we should first realize...."it's not about me." My life is not my own anymore...it ALL belongs to God.
Too often we ask God to bless us, our lives, our plans....rather than asking God to reveal to us HIS will for us and HOW can we be a BLESSING to others according to his plans....
I want.....
I need.....
I feel.....
I desire....
Try this prayer for a week or so....
"Oh Lord, who is in heaven, blessed be your name. Your kingdom come, YOUR WILL be done on earth, as it is in heaven and let it begin with my life...in every part, in every facet, in every day.
Let me not move an inch out of YOUR WILL for my life. Please speak correction and direction, and grant me the will and the ways to obey out of choice rather than repentance out of circumstances. YOUR WILL be done in me."
I invite each of you to share some experiences and some scriptures that relate to this blog entry....This blog is only as good and useful as the involvement in it.
NOTE: If you desire to be removed from our notification list or if you know of others that want to be added, just let us know....no problemo (hawaiikman@yahoo.com)
May the Lord our God, bless you and strengthen you for His service.
Colossians 1:9-11
5 comments:
Psalm 25
Of David.
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
2 in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.
4 Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;
5 guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O LORD.
8 Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11 For the sake of your name, O LORD,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
13 He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
14 The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
free me from my anguish.
18 Look upon my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
19 See how my enemies have increased
and how fiercely they hate me!
20 Guard my life and rescue me;
let me not be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope is in you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
from all their troubles!
Agreed. Too many people (and I) shoot first and ask God to fix things later. We would all do well to ask first then move.
However, speaking as one who is still struggling to hear the still, small voice of God, sometimes you just gotta go with your gut (hopefully that's the Holy Spirit's tug) or make the best decision you can based on your knowledge of the Word and God's principles.
I know there are some Christians who are so worried about being outside God's will that they never make a move. I can't help but wonder if they're missing out on the adventure that God might have for them. Martin Luthur said, "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly... Pray boldly - for you too are a mighty sinner." In part, I think what he meant was that God's grace frees us to live boldly and if we, in good conscience, make a wrong decision (wrong job, wrong church ministry, wrong spouce, wrong color shirt), God's grace is more than sufficient to cover it.
We have far too many boy-in-the-bubble Christians who surround themselves with Christian friends and pass times, never making contact with the world they're called to reach. For some it's a fear or being outside God's will, for others it's fear or being outside their comfort zone. God's grace covers them all, but remember what God said to the man who did nothing with the one talent he was given (Matt 25:28-30).
Food for thought, much away.
God bless,
randall
http://blog.myspace.com/lonetomato
Randall, I'd like to hear some stories of how God has used you as you stepped out of your comfort zone and did what you thought God was telling you to do... how you have multiplied your talents.
God Bless,
coorslt
coorslt,
I'm not sure if this is answering your question, but here's something I posted in response to one of Keiger's earlier blogs. It's one of the few instances where I KNOW I heard from the Lord.
"Even in my own life, there have been instances where I've heard from God. I was in a business meeting with other Chritians and we had to make a very tough decision (let's call it choice A and choice B). Everyone in the room was leaning towards choice A. But before making a final decision we prayed and during this prayer, a verse kept running through my head - a verse that suggested we go with choice B. This verse just wouldn't leave me alone so I prayed that if this was indeed something God wanted me to share, he would have to make it crystal clear (it was all my mustard seed faith could muster). So the prayer is done and I've got this pit in the bottom of my stomach. The guy leading the discussion singles out this other guy (let's call him Jim) and asks him, "is there something the Lord is telling you?" Jim looks surprised and says, "yeah. God told me that Randall (that's me) has a word." Well, I share the verse that was running through my head and by the end of the meeting we go with choice B."
I don't know, it was harder than I tought it would be to respond to your question. In some ways, even after almost 15yrs as a Christian, I still feel like I'm just scratching the surface - like I still don't have a good answer for basic questions like, "how do you hear from God?"
Right now I'm pretty sure that God has been calling me to write. Why do I think this? Well, quite simply, it's because inspiration has been sitting on my doorstep and everytime I invite him in he tells me a story (you can see some of these stories at the blog link below). I don't know what use my writing is or will be to the Kingdom of God, but it's the step that's in front of me so I take it.
Okay, on to Keiger's other blog...
randall
http://blog.myspace.com/lonetomato
Thats an awesome story Randall. Yeah, I know what you mean. As I thought of this topic this week, the answer doesn't seem so cut and dry. There are many factors. The Holy Spirit moving through us and others, our obedience, His grace, His timing, the talents he's given, our maturity, etc.
And who's to say that the doldrums aren't part of His will? Are the bad things that happen to us part of his will?
Joseph
gen 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Can we handle the truth?
rom12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
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