I Want My Own Way

Read: Luke 12:20-31 

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:" - Matthew 6:20

How often do I reject God's plan for my life and choose to follow the ways of the Satan, the flesh or the world? How often do I disappoint God with my choices? I wonder how often God grants my request, knowing all along that it is not His best plan for me. In my quest for life, do I look for fulfillment in all the wrong places?

God gave the Israelites a prophet to speak to them directly, but they wanted a king instead (1 Samuel 8:5). Eventually, it turned out that their king had to go to the prophet to find out God’s will for them at any given moment. So tell me, why did they need the king? He was merely a middleman. They just wanted a king, so they could be like all the other nations in their world.

Do we marry the wrong person, take the wrong job, go to the wrong school, move into the wrong neighborhood, buy the wrong car and wear the wrong clothes just because we want to be like everyone else in our world? What’s wrong with being different? What’s wrong with putting God first, living out His will for our life, and dressing and living in such a way to give glory and honor to Him? Let’s seek first His kingdom, and He will provide us with every thing that we need.

Prayer:

Lord, when my heart longs to be like the world, I step out of Your will for my life. Help me not to sew to the flesh, because I will most certainly reap destruction. Transform my mind to see things from Your perspective and make me content with Heavenly treasure instead of earth's counterfeit.

Thought for the Day:

When I seek to follow the Spirit’s direction with my life, I may not always see the results, but I know that I am laying up treasures in Heaven.

Our Destiny Hangs in the Balance

Read: James 3:10-12

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." - 1 John 2:15

Living Godly lives requires that we focus on living holy lives. However, in today's society with all of the glitter and glitz, it is so easy to get sidetracked. We start out by dabbling in sin, but we end up as sin’s slave. Holiness and sin cannot dwell together in the same person. There is only One Way to obtain freedom from this addiction to the world. That is through the leadership of the Holy Spirit within us. He will permeate and perfect us until we live for God alone, in the abundance of His righteousness, peace and joy.

Sometimes, the weeds of this world threaten to choke the very life from us. There is hope, however. The Master Gardener promised that in the end, He would separate the chaff from the wheat and burn the counterfeit in the eternal flames of hell. The difference between the chaff and the wheat is found in those who are not only convicted of sin, but who are also actually converted from sin and who live transformed lives. 

Prayer:

Lord, never allow any love for the world to dilute our love for You. Keep us unspotted from the world and overpower us by Your love.

Thought for the Day:

As we conform to the image of Christ, our spiritual identity will insure our eternal destiny.