As I sit with you Lord, I dream of what could be. I dream of what my life would look like if I was completely given over to you in my thoughts, my dreams, my attitudes, in my day to dayness of life. As Jesus said, "I do nothing except what my Father tells me to do." Lord, I want to be like that. I want to receive the daily manna of your voice...I want and even more importantly need to hear from you regarding everything in my life. I say "my life", but maybe that is part of the problem, I am too convinced that this is my "my life." Have I not given my life over to you? Have I really died to myself, my dreams, my habits, my addictions, my rights, etcetera? I am so busy living "my life", that I have forgotten that I have given my life to you. I want so much to lose myself, to live with the power and the peace that comes from living in your presence moment by moment...how do I do that and still live in this world. Wherever I go, because you are in me, you go too. "Christ in me, the hope of glory." I want others to see you, not me. At homegroup last night I was reminded that my sin is no longer a barrier to my relationship with Christ, why? Because it was taken care of at the cross once and for all! Do I really believe that? Do I really think that I can come boldly into the throne of grace? Do I really believe that I can approach the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and that he receives me? He does! That is what is so amazing...talk about good news!!! Do I really get that God's Word truly is good news? If not, then I have to ask myself "Why not?"
Our discussion last night was about how the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God should be where we live here on this earth. That should be our "normal." But we often go in search of that rush, that high that we get with God when we go to an anointed church service, or in worship, or in a meeting somewhere that again reminds us of what we could have...we are like druggies looking for our next high- shouldn't we be practicing the presence of God at this moment...and at every moment? Shouldn't that make a difference in how we react, respond, and live our daily life? Are we any different from the world if we keep seeking after the experience rather than a moment by moment encounter with our Father God? Are we more addicted to the goose bumps or to the true, unadulturated love that the Father has for His own? Our normal ends up being just like everyone else's- scraping by with snippets of true life and love- we survive the day, we can't wait for Friday, we struggle through the meaning of what we are doing day to day in our jobs, our mundane life and wonder what is this all about. How did Jesus walk in the mundaness of his day when He was truly God and had the divine power to do anything He wanted and yet..."did not consider eqaulity with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..." Wow, He could do anything He wanted, but chose instead to submit Himself to the Father minute by minute and He found fulfillment there. He knew His purpose on this earth. He was not here to make a name for Himself or to prove to everyone who He really was- He was so secure in His purpose, so secure in who He really was that He didn't have to prove anything to anyone...
Wow, if we could get that- we have nothing to prove to anyone. Not to ourselves or anyone else- we already know who we are- the beloved of the Father. Do we really, really believe that? God made us the way He chose to make us and He is pleased with what He has made...are we perfect, no, but God knows that we are dust. He knows us and sees us and loves us anyway...The only thing that separates me from my security and destiny in God is me- my own perceptions. My view of God is skewed...it is an idol of my own making, not who God really is. God is love. He is not capable of anything else. Yes, He calls us to live holy lives but as it says in Galatians, "Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." and, "Are you so foolish? After beginning in the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" We are to continuously live dependent on the Spirit of the living God- that is how God designed us. We so often though think we can now do it on our own. We get mad at ourselves when we fail- but we were never meant to live a godly life apart from God Himself- He is the one who empowers us...It is Him and only Him that will give us the sustaining power to live as He calls us to live. "He will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You." Our perfect peace only comes from walking with Him minute by minute, day by day. In the New Testament you rarely, if ever, see Jesus flustered by the needs of people, nor of their sin, etcetera. He did become angry at the buying and selling in His Father's house. He knew what He was called to do every moment of His life because He listened to His Father. He was not afraid of death as He knew that is what He came to this earth to do...He came to conquer death by dying and then raising to life and giving death it's final blow! Satan wanted to snuff out the image bearers of God through death and God had a plan that would not be easy, but would thwart the plan of satan. We would no longer have to fear death as we who are His own will have eternal life in communion with Him!
Why is that we come before God with such great expectations? Well, maybe because He is God and everything He does is grand. Are we ever content to just be with Him, with no expectations? Do we always have to expect Him to do something? God is not our servant, we are His. Yes, He loves us and jsut as we want to bless our earthly children, how much more does He want to bless us? But even still, He is God and we are not. He always knows what is best, just as we know what is best for our children. How true Lord, deliver us from that need to have You prove Yourself to us. You are God, period. You don't have to do things our way.
Are we "being" born again. It is not a once and for all kind of thing...it is a continual process. Being implies ongoing...our mind set is to continually be changed in His presence. The continous process of having our minds renewed. We are to set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth...Are we truly living that way? Are we more concerned about what I will get for Christmas, how I'm going to pay my bills, I need time to clean the house, how am I going to get all my work done, etcetera? We are in the world, but not of it. How does that really play out in our lives? Do we walk each day in a peace that our Father has our back? No matter what comes our way do we believe that He knows and He is with us? Do we really believe that He will make all things work together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose?
The mundaness of life can send us spiraling down to the depth of our soul almost as much as pain can send us to our knees asking "Why?" So many days we struggle with the real meaning of our lives, the real purpose of doing things over and over again...does God allow this to bring us to a place of holy dissatisfaction so that we will search for Him. One moment, one day without the presence of God is meaningless...Do you dare to believe that God is who He says He is? And if He is, wouldn't that radically change our lives if we would totally believe that God is romancing us, wooing us into His presence, not so that He can condemn us or judge us or tell us who we are not, but so that He could love us so completely that we would not have to look anywhere else of that love that we all are in search of and so that our lives would be so obviously radically different that we would actually enjoy the journey that He put us on this earth for. Have you ever heard that saying, "Smile, it will give people a reason to wonder?" Wherever we go, we bring the life of God, the peace of God, the hope of God, the wisdom of God, whatever He is, we are because we are not only made in His image, but we are given over to Him completely that He would live through us. We still look like us, in our uniqueness, the way He made us. "I have come that you might have life and life more abundantly!" How do we live out that abundant life that He offers us- by giving ourselves totally to Him. How do we give ourselves totally to Him? By listening for Him, hearing Him, submitting to Him and allowing "Christ in me the hope of glory" to shine through. Allow the Heaven to come down to earth by allowing God to show up wherever you find yourself then the values of the Kingdom of God will come to bear in that meeting, in that family, in your household, raising your children, wherever you find yourself, if you allow Him, He will be there!
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