by David Brenneman
"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." James 4:1-10.
"For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full." John 15:4-11.
It's always amazing to me to see something other than what someone intended in their questions of life.
With MercyMe, they had a song out years ago called "Dear Younger Me". In recent days have seen meme's with the core question of that song asked. "If you could tell your younger self 3 words what would you say?" "If you had an hour with yourself in your past, what would you talk about?"
As thinking is as much a part of life as breathing, I have stopped to think about such questions. Not that God would ever permit such an event to occur.
But what would be beneficial? To many, whether worldly-minded or Heavenly-minded, the power of that moment would not be lost on them.
Regrets might get addressed, missed opportunities. What would the best things to say to improve themselves or others?
Is such a thing a waste of brainpower? Maybe. Let's look at things differently. If you know you wasted time, energy and effort in your past, what can you do now to get things straight, to do what's right? To get the most out of your now?
In a movie called Frequency, a police officer, through an old ham radio station combined with a supposed effect of the Northern Lights, talked to his Dad whom he never knew because of lung cancer taking his Dad's life. Through it he changed history. Saved his Dad's life, stopped a serial killer, saved his Mom's life because she had been on that killer's hit list back in that past. He altered his life, his Parents lives and his best friend.
The what might have been in cinema cannot be in our lives today.
We cannot change the past. We can improve our present. We can do better in our here and now.
Replacing whatever is worthless for whatever God, through the Spirit, is wanting of you and to teach you is beyond comparison to what you hold dear in your heart of this world.
You might be like me, know a whole lot about many things, statistics, facts, figures etc. But what good is keeping up on those things when God says there's so much more to know about us and our relationship with Jesus?
What good is it really to spend hours in front of a screen, big or small, and yet don't really try to take seriously the lesson plan the Spirit has for you?
What good is it to make important what isn't in the eyes of God?
As was mentioned in the Scriptures...are we trying to please God or please man?
"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." James 4:4-10.
"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17.
IS whatever is important to Jesus important to you? Is it really? If so...if that's really true...what are you doing to show it? Are you deceiving yourself? Are you really trying to know your Savior and Lord? Are you really going about life with Jesus as the leader of your life?
Throughout the Old Testament, at various times under various Kings, the destruction of whatever the people were doing in their lives was necessary. Destruction of idols and ways of thinking.
There was absolutely no consideration of what the cost of that destruction was...only the cost of not obeying God.
There's a cost that you can't see.
The cost of whatever you could have been doing in your life that would be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus in you. That cost you will see go up in flames when you stand before Jesus to give an account of your life before Him.
Do you want to hear "Well done!" or be ashamed at what your life has revealed?
The choice is yours in this here this now.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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