Jesus
recommended that when we come to Him with a need, rather than to be afraid of
His Will, we believe in His goodness (Luke 8:50). In fact, when it comes to
salvation, if we refuse to believe in the name of Jesus, we condemn our self
(John 3:18).
Daily,
we cause our self unprecedented grief when we wander from our faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 6:10). Pride goes before the fall (Proverbs 16:18), and
our desires are not always holy; yet, a faithful person will always pursue
holiness (Habakkuk 2:4).
When
we focus on God's Kingdom, we build up our faith, we pray in the Spirit, and we
keep our self in God's love by obeying His commandments (John 14:15; Ephesians
3:18-19). We look forward to the mercy of our Lord to bring usinto eternal life in His presence (Jude 1:20-21).
Reading
God's Word nurtures our faith in Heavenly Truth. This strengthens our
convictions and helps us to keep them to the end of our lifetime in this
earthly realm (Hebrews 3:14). We pray the prayer that never fails with
confidence like Jesus did, "Not my will, but Yours be done" (Matthew
6:10).
Often
we feel trepidation concerning God's Will for us. We think that if we control
our life, rather than surrendering totally to God's Will, then events will run
more smoothly, and people will better co-operate with us (James 4:13).
Satan
convinces us that controlling our own life allows us to avoid trials that may
come if we follow God's will for us. The opposite is actually true. Living in
the center of God's will is the happiest place on earth. He makes all things
beautiful in His time (Romans 8:28-32).
The
past does not need to discourage us, and the future does not need to frighten,
confuse and stress us out. We can live in total peace and joy in the exact
center of God's will by following the guidance of God's Spirit each moment of
our day.
Prayer:
Father
God, we are silly to try to control our life. We have no idea what will happen
tomorrow (James 4:14-15), but You already know the end from the beginning (Isaiah
46:10). Remind us that much of the anxiety and stress, that we think is
inevitable in our life, will disappear once we totally surrender to You. Your
incomparable peace washes over us when we yield to Your Will.
You
continually prove Your faithfulness to us; yet in our humanity, we often
question Your goodness and unfailing love. Help us to remember what Jesus
taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." We
surrender our life to You today and every day, and we thank You for Your perfect
plans and provision for every moment of each of them.
Thought
for the Day:
Jesus
died in our place in order to pay the debt we owed for our sins, as well as to
gain control of the earth back from Satan; the devil is still the god of this
world, but he is in subjection to God Almighty even now; once King Jesus returns,
He will put all things under His feet.
- Colossians 1:17
