I am not
I've been reading this great book for awhile now by Louie Giglio about recognizing that in terms of the big picture, I am not and God truly is I AM. He is the One true God, who is in complete control of this life and I cannot do any of this on my own with the kind of success that can only come in the pursuit of righteousness. Daily I need to be more like Christ, I strive toward the goal He has set before me but I know, I know that until I am standing before Him I won't know it fully. I can do all these things in my life for good, but it doesn't amount to a thing unless my heart is pure and my greatest desire is to simply trust and obey Him with my life. It is so easy, even for a Christian and all we claim to be, to get cocky, arrogant, prideful in our walk. So why is it so surprising and so painful when something happens to knock us flat on our backs? It is in those moments we have the opportunity to immediately evaluate the heart and its true intentions. I love this scripture:
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
Phillipians 2:5-11
To be completely immersed in who Christ is, what my purpose is in this life I must realize I am not, and He is the Great I Am. I love this quote from Louie:
"Attempting to orchestrate the world around us, even for a day, leaves us stressed and spent."
How much time do we spend working feverishly for what we think is God's purposes for our lives? And how much time to we waste trying to figure it all out before He is ready for us to do it? I am guilty of this, most of my life. I pride myself on being a planner, seeing ahead and mapping out in my mind what is the best course to take. When it comes down to it, how often do we go to the Father first? Before we even begin to envision the path ahead, do we consult Him first? I have had more than one moment in my life when I have approached a situation thinking after a lot of studying, praying, and deep contemplation that I know just the solution. It turned out I was wrong, and God had something better in mind that I hadn't even considered. I have come to this place more than once in my life, where I realize I don't have the mind of Christ and I am not in the place I need to be mentally and spiritually. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is able, He can make the mountain move if it needs to move. I just need to trust Him to move it, and stop worrying about what I can do to help. God has the plan and I just need to trust Him with it. He knows best, I do not and nobody else does either. I need to ask Him once again to take my brokenness and heal it, fill the empty places and use me for His glory. He is good, and He will do His good in me.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
Phillipians 2:5-11
To be completely immersed in who Christ is, what my purpose is in this life I must realize I am not, and He is the Great I Am. I love this quote from Louie:
"Attempting to orchestrate the world around us, even for a day, leaves us stressed and spent."
How much time do we spend working feverishly for what we think is God's purposes for our lives? And how much time to we waste trying to figure it all out before He is ready for us to do it? I am guilty of this, most of my life. I pride myself on being a planner, seeing ahead and mapping out in my mind what is the best course to take. When it comes down to it, how often do we go to the Father first? Before we even begin to envision the path ahead, do we consult Him first? I have had more than one moment in my life when I have approached a situation thinking after a lot of studying, praying, and deep contemplation that I know just the solution. It turned out I was wrong, and God had something better in mind that I hadn't even considered. I have come to this place more than once in my life, where I realize I don't have the mind of Christ and I am not in the place I need to be mentally and spiritually. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is able, He can make the mountain move if it needs to move. I just need to trust Him to move it, and stop worrying about what I can do to help. God has the plan and I just need to trust Him with it. He knows best, I do not and nobody else does either. I need to ask Him once again to take my brokenness and heal it, fill the empty places and use me for His glory. He is good, and He will do His good in me.
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Love, Pat