Don’t Sell Out! (Purpose vs. Provision)

"For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." -Col 3:3

In life, there is a great temptation to go for the next big thing:  the next big business, the next big degree, the next big job opportunity.  But in the kingdom, things are different.  God works quite differently than we do, His ways are higher than our ways.  (Is 55:9) Sometimes the thing that looks the best may not be the best for us - the best that God has in mind.

Sometimes we can get stuck seeking provision first, instead of seeking our Provider.  Sometimes we can get stuck seeking out approval or affirmation from people, instead of going to God first and experiencing His love. Other times we’ll see our value in our accomplishments, instead of seeing that God created us with value, before we ever did anything to deserve it.  Our value is built upon His love for us.

We can so easily sell out and miss our purpose by seeking other things before God’s will in our lives.  What is He doing? What is He saying?  Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing - nothing more, nothing less.  (John 5:19)

Are we seeking God's kingdom first? (Matt 6:33) Are we putting His purposes first before seeking out provision?  God will make sure our needs are met when we put His kingdom first.  God has all the answers we need for our business, our ministry, our relationships, our finances, and our personal lives.

Today, avoid "selling out" in your calling by putting Him first.  We will experience so much peace and life by keeping Him at the center of our lives, fulfilling the purpose He gave us to do.

From Bad to Best

"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."  -1 Peter 5:8
 

Sometimes when I think about the state of our culture, I feel burdened.  When I see or hear about music video with lots of sex and violence and all of the millions of views these videos have on YouTube, it makes my heart heavy.  

"How many people are being led into things that are spiritually dangerous for them?!?" I think.  The artists representing these videos do not care about the spiritual well-being of these millions of viewers, mostly young and impressionable. They do not have an awareness of the spiritual reality of what they are living out when they make these types of videos. (Or maybe they do?) The producers, music executives, and artists mostly care about the bottom dollar - what will sell.  We are always pushing the envelope as a culture with the mentality, "What can we get by with that excites people but doesn't go over the line too much...?" 

But, as Christians, we are called to live out a different example.  We are called to spread the good news of the kingdom, creatively, effectively, and authentically.  How much better could life be if all of us knew the freedom, love, and amazing life we could have in Christ?  Plus, heaven for eternity! 

When I first came to Christ, I came to Him because I realized how bad my life had been.  I was depressed, suicidal, and I hated myself.  But when I received a revelation of His love, I was changed into a different person.  I went from bad to best.  

Are you choosing the best in your life, so you can lead others to the best?  Pray that God would help you in this, so that we would not be swayed by the world, but instead become the people God has called us to be, to renew, restore, and show the best way - the way of redemption through Jesus Christ. 

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." -Romans 12:2
 
When we choose His way, we will discover the best for our lives.

Uproot the Root!

 

Source

"And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.'" -Exodus 34:6-7

Have you ever had a problem that you simply could not get rid of?  Have you ever had something, whether an emotion, a habit, or a particular thought pattern, no matter how hard you tried, you could rid yourself of it - even after confession and repentance? After we become a Christian and we are “born again” this doesn’t mean that our battle with sin is over.  It simply means that we have become “new in Christ.”  (2 Cor 5:17)  Freedom from sin is a journey, as God reveals what is hidden in our hearts, bringing them to light and into His cleaning power.  (1 John 1:7)

Sometimes we may struggle with something that we've "always" seemed to struggle with. This problem may have had an origin long ago – even before we were born.  We may notice that those in our family struggle with similar issues, or perhaps we never even noticed it was a sin before we became a Christian. But as we walk on our journey, and the Holy Spirit begins to reveal certain things to us that were once okay and are now not as okay anymore, we may realize that something has a hold on our life that shouldn’t.

Once I heard a man speak to a church group about his struggles with sexual sin.  He explained to the audience that infidelity and sexual thoughts were something that he had always struggled with, and he had never known life without these issues.  He kept on going through “sin management”, where he confessed and repented for his actions but would see the same issue rear its ugly head 6 to 8 weeks later.

Eventually, this man received a revelation from the Holy Spirit through reading the scripture that “confession” means to “discover the root” and repent of the root in order to get free.  Since he had no recollection of when the issue began, he realized he was not the one who opened this door to sin initially. Only when he confessed the “genesis” of these issues, where they began from his father and grandfather, was he able to become truly free of their influence.

Are there any issues in your life that you struggle with continuously?  Pray and ask God to show you where they may have their root.  He is faithful to forgive and cleanse us so we can have complete freedom in Him!

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."  -Ephesians 1:7

Pure Vessels

"And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him." -1 John 3:5

Are you a pure vessel? Being committed to be a Christian involves a continual process of sanctification, and even more so if you are a teacher of God's word.  (John 17:19, James 3:1)  Although Jesus has paid the price for our sins, and we continually receive His forgiveness, there are still things He will require of us so that we become complete and more like Him.  (James 1:4)  This most often has to do with issues of our hearts. "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life."  -Proverbs 4:23

Recently my husband and I went to a marriage conference and one of the sessions was about transparency.  The couple that was speaking talked about their journey of sanctification, which involved the man getting free from issues of adultery.   This of course caused a lot of strife in their marriage, and even though the man had repented to his wife for those things that had happened long ago, he found himself in "sin management", trying to manage the effects that this spiritual root of sin had on him.

This couple had been invited by a pastor to minister to a group of people at a leadership conference, but before they arrived, they had had an argument.  The man felt convicted that they should not minister to this group of people due to the fact that there was strife in their hearts.  As the pastor introduced him, he told him that they were not prepared to minister, and that their hearts were not pure.  The crowd went completely silent.  After a few moments the pastor held the microphone and repented for times when he and his wife ministered with strife in their hearts.  Ninety percent of the crowd got on their knees to repent and the Holy Spirit ministered to the large crowd for more than an hour.  It was very powerful!

As this couple described what had happened, the woman said that when we minister the truth of the gospel but have strife in our hearts, people can receive a double message:  one of God's truth, but then also of whatever unresolved sin is dwelling in our hearts. 

Are you a pure vessel?  Do you make repentance a regular practice in your life?   Pray that God will reveal and remove anything that may block His grace, light, and power in your life.  His word says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." -1 John 1:9