Many times in life we come across a fork in the
road. We have a choice to make - which way to go. We often make a pro and con
list that will give us a bird's eye view of how we feel about the situation.
We tend to rely on our human reasoning to make the
decision, which is often heavily influenced by our desires, insistence or
manipulation from another person, the world's philosophy or Satan's
manipulative lies (James 1:14).
We forget the good advice from God's Word that
exhorts us to do His will each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6). We tend to
pay more attention to our own desires, much to our detriment, and to go our own
way, directed by our self-centered goals and using our God-given talents for
our own purposes.
Even if we have carnal success in our endeavors, we
are never really satisfied. Our victories are hollow and our joy is fleeting.
God has a perfect will for us in this decision, and it benefits us to pay
attention to His Spirit's direction (Galatians 5:15-25).
Living in the center of God's will is the happiest
place on earth. We may falter at first as we are learning to discern His still,
small voice within us (1 Kings 19:11-13). If we get discouraged and give up,
Satan wins yet another spiritual battle in our life.
We may make a few mistakes as we learn the
difference between His thoughts and the many other voices in our mind. Yet,
once we make a habit of walking in God's Spirit, we learn to differentiate it
from our own thoughts by the peace or unrest in our spirit.
Regardless of our faltering attempts, repentance
restores our connection to God's Spirit and God hears our call of dependence on
Him and honors our faith.
Prayer:
Father God, teach us to pay attention to the
direction of Your Spirit every moment of our life. Do not allow us to wander
from the straight and narrow road that You designed for our success and
protection. Help us to resist the temptation to rebel against or to ignore Your
voice, to compromise our spiritual convictions or to disobey Your Word.
Keep us from the allurement of our flesh, the devil
and the world to do our own thing, to strive to reach our own goals and to seek
the glittering rewards offered to us if we will stray from Your will for our
life. This broad road always leads to destruction of our body, soul and spirit.
We make a commitment to depend only on You, and we give You all of our love and
allegiance, as we totally surrender to Your will for our life.
Thought for the Day:
Heeding the promptings of God's Spirit throughout
our day will help us to prosper in body, soul and spirit and to find true
fulfillment and peace that comes only from living in the center of God's will.
