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Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.~Isaiah 55:2
When it comes to jigsaw puzzles, we all know that to enjoy a satisfying outcome you need all the pieces. In many ways, life is like that. We spend our days putting it together, hoping to create a complete picture out of all the scattered parts. Yet sometimes it seems like a piece is missing. Perhaps we’ve been pursuing the wrong pieces to the puzzle. Even though we may know that life without God at the center is a life that has lost the most important piece, do we live as though He isn’t particularly relevant? And even though we may attend church regularly, is He the throbbing center of our lives? Sometimes we grow accustomed to feeling distant from God. This makes it easier to sin, complicating the sense that something important is missing. But no matter how far we may drift from God, He wants us near. He appealed to His people through the prophet Isaiah: “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance”. If something is missing in your life, remember that God is the only One who can fully and abundantly satisfy you. Let Him complete the picture of your life. Instead of coming with a list of requests, simply pursue His presence each day. Make it your main priority to become more aware of the voice of God. Hear Him speaking to you.
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When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” ~ Matthew 8:18-22
Have you ever been drafted for a special service assignment away from home? Duty to country, kin, or church may call some of us to leave our familiar surroundings in order to serve elsewhere. When the Lord Jesus announced that the coming of God's kingdom was imminent, he urged his listeners to not only heed his teaching but to follow in his footsteps as well. Jesus had a mission to accomplish and he wanted disciples who would join with him in proclaiming the coming of God's kingdom. One prospective follower, a scribe who was an expert in the law of God, paid Jesus the highest compliment he knew. He called Jesus “teacher”. Jesus advised this would-be follower: Before you follow me, think what you are about to do and count the cost. A disciple must be willing to part with anything that might stand in the way of following Jesus as Teacher and Master. Another would-be disciple responded by saying that he must first bury his father, that is go back home and take care of his father until he died. This disciple was not yet ready to count the cost of following Jesus. Jesus appealed to the man’s heart to choose for God's kingdom first and to detach himself from anything that might keep him from following the Lord. The Lord Jesus calls each one of us personally by name and he invies us to follow him as our Lord, Teacher, and Master. He invites us into a personal relationship of love and friendship, trust and commitment. The love of God frees us from attachments to other things so we can give ourselves freely to God for his glory and for his kingdom. It was love that compelled the Lord Jesus to lay down his life for us. And he calls us in love to give our all for him. What can keep us from giving our all to God? Fear, self-concern, pre-occupation, and attachment to other things. Even spiritual things can get in the way of having God alone as our Treasure if we put them first. Detachment is a necessary step if we want to make the Lord our Treasure and Joy. It frees us to give ourselves without reserve to the Lord and to his service. There is nothing greater we can do with our lives than to place them at the service of the Lord and Master of the universe. We cannot outgive God in generosity. Jesus promises that those who are willing to part with what is most dear to them for his sake “will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). Is there anything holding you back from giving your all to the Lord? 7/16/2013 0 Comments I choose to be gratefulToday I choose to be grateful.
In every situation I face, I will have a grateful attitude because I choose to focus on my blessings rather than on my problems and constraints. No matter how dark the day may get and the rain falls, I embrace thankfulness. I am grateful because when the rain comes it brings forth new life into the earth. In the same way, the challenges I face may seem overwhelming, but those trials work for my good. In any situation I face, I rejoice, because I know that joy will come in the morning. I trust that my life is in the hands of my Almighty Father, and as the trials come, so will the solutions. I feel honored when I think that my Father believes I am strong enough to handle the challenges that I face. I walk in humility which allows me to be grateful. Sometimes, it may seem that my blessings are the result of my hard work or that I am entitled to them. However, in reality, it’s only by God's grace and mercy that I am blessed. I cultivate gratitude within myself because there are people worse off than me. Regardless of what happens, compassion for others always helps me remember my many blessings. Today, I choose to be content in whatever circumstances I may find myself, because I know that a Godly outlook can soothe a difficult situation, but an attitude of complaint only makes things more challenging. I give thanks in everything because I am truly blessed. |
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His Goodness We are told to “be of the same mind toward one another” which means essentially that we must develop and maintain the mind of Christ or God’s thoughts. But if our thoughts are contrary to God’s, then we must exchange our thinking with God’s and for that process, He has given us His inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word. So what is our need? We are to study the Scripture, but for that to be effective, we also need to develop the art of biblical meditation. Enter into The Sanctuary to meditate on the Word of God.
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