"Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. PSALM 22:3 KJV
When we go forth into the battle—whether we battle through a family crisis or a career problem—we have two strategies. We can go in our own weakness and face defeat, or we can go in the power of the Lord. How do we do the latter? We simply love, adore, worship, and praise His name. We know that God makes His home in our praises, and He will march with us even to the farthest corners of the earth and the end of the age. As we worship, our life strategies come together in ways we never could have formulated on our own. Then, as we face the challenges head-on, we keep right on praising, right on singing to the Lord, who is greater and stronger than any challenge that might stand in our path. The wonder of worship, guiding our everyday experiences, will totally change the way we see everything that confronts us. What is that challenge for you today? I would urge you to focus not on the misery of the crisis but on the mastery of Christ. Then follow Him into battle. See if the demons themselves don’t turn and flee from the gateway, terrified by the sounds of godly praise and adoration." - Dr. David Jeremiah Morning and Evening
Was reading many devotionals this morning, after reading my Bible, and several thoughts on a few things came at once. Really was a challenge to understand what I was to write.
The verse of the day on Biblegateway is: "And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it." Luke 9:23-34 NASB.
I read through my Bible plan then read Romans 12 again and was wondering how God was going to tie so many thoughts together. Take up his cross daily. David Jeremiah sort of is speaking to that passage. Was considering as well my words to a few people yesterday about the direction of my life. I really have no career aspirations anymore. No dream job that I am shooting for. Nothing. I have already achieved more than I had dreamed of. What types of jobs that interest me are way beyond my reach. I have no desire to spend years getting a degree, piling up mountains of debt, to get some high paying job that I would find myself actually not liking.
Romans 12 is sort of spelling out taking up your own cross.
The verse where Paul says that by the grace given to him that we ought not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. My mind keeps replacing the word grace in reading that with "unmeritted favor". Go ahead read that verse and substitute it yourself and you will see it differently.
Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.
Striving for "that job" isn't really living for what Jesus wants for me. That job or any job might be His will for me to do but it shouldn't be my desire.
I look at Romans, look at other places where indeed we see words about tribulations that would befall us. Gold under fire. To be taken places where we wouldn't go, doing things we wouldn't think to be doing, to become more like Christ. To remove impurities a controlled temperature is required to smelt gold, silver or any precious metals. We indeed read of ow precious we are to God in the Bible.
I do find that which Dr. Jeremiah says in today's devotional to be a truth of life. When I put more focus on my praise and worship music the day goes better regardless of what problems are there.
Whether you acknowledge it or not you are in the thick of the battle.
There are no neutral zones in the world in which you and I live and find ourselves.
Satan's working on trying to bring about his desire to take all the praise and adoration from mankind and put it on himself, both from the unbelieving and through deception the believer in Christ Jesus. Read for yourself the warnings of false teachers infiltrating the Church.
Satan's trying to jockey for a position to combat what the Bible says is about to happen in the book of Revelation and other places in the Scriptures. He is. Believe it.
He cares not whom he destroys. Cares not who he uses to his ends.
His worst enemy is a person who refuses to give up on prayer and supplication to God.
He sends his minions to tempt and sway the Believer away from the truth of God in any way, even if it's a subtle way he will take it.
You are in a battle for your mind. To save our lives we must lose it not to these attacks but to live for Christ Jesus.
My driving desire after moving was to not waste this moment on me.
We prayed for this moment and God delivered. I know Jesus is coming soon. I want to be found by Him doing what I was supposed to be doing since I am a worker in His fields. Look at that again. Read the passages about Him praying and telling others about praying to send workers into the harvest (world). Look at His parables about sending workers into His fields at all hours of the day. It's His fields in which we work. He is our employer. Not our fields. We are to be doing what our employer wants done in that field.
When He comes will you be found doing what He tasked you with doing?
This battle we are in has been won already. But our obedience in it and through it to Jesus is still required.
Striving for more this or more that for your own personal gain is not living for Jesus.
Living a life disconnected from service to God isn't living for Jesus.
Sticking your head in the sand will not alter the fact that the battle still is ongoing.
Our excuses to not fight will not keep us from being attacked.
We are His workmanship. We will be changed either through willing obedience or through His intervention.
The battle indeed belongs to God. As a line in a song that I like says "and when I fight I fight on my knees, with my hands lifted up. Oh God the battle belongs to you.".
You can't live a life of taking up your own cross by doing your own thing.
Look at your excuses. Be truthful. You really think they will hold water when you stand before Christ? Look at your activity. Is it showing a life lived for Jesus?
Look because be assured the enemy looks every moment to see how your walk with Jesus can be disrupted. You are in the battle.
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