Since I got back from this recent underway period, I've felt like a lot of truth has been allowed to simmer. I've had great periods of prayer just baring my heart to God. I've had moments of clarity hearing God speak the answers to me in His perfect way. I haven't had many intense times in the Word like I have been used to, but God has brought verses to my mind throughout the day and has shown me insight into His Word. I guess I can summarize it as a time of getting to know God and especially getting to know my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As I consider that all things are made through Christ and nothing that was made was not made through Him, I've noticed how I have seen God in so many sources recently. I've come to a deeper appreciation for the way God created everything to be and I'm starting to see people, creation, and experiences in light of their perfect design rather than as the visible reality of brokenness and decay resulting from sin.
There are two things in particular that God is really working in me. I pray that my wrestling can be of encouragement to you.
My prayer for awhile now has been "Jesus, I want to know you. I don't care what it costs me. I don't want to miss out on knowing You, my Treasure, my Savior, my first love." Of course, it sounds like a very noble prayer, but be prepared for God to answer it in unexpected ways!
Have you ever been misunderstood? How about judged wrongly? Has someone you love and trust ever claimed to know your heart when in reality he/she had little understanding at all? Can you relate to the hurt that comes from being misunderstood or labeled poorly? What about when your motives are pure and honorable and God-fearing?
God has shown me what courage it takes to rise up and trust Him even when people close to me hurt me. "Look to Jesus" I hear Him saying. "Think of Me," God speaks. The purity of my motives doesn't even equate to a fraction of the purity in which Christ lived. His motives were perfect. And yet what do we know about Christ's life? Everyone rejected Him. They said He was from satan. They said He was just Joseph's son. They mocked Him. They beat Him. They crucified Him.
Praise God at His faithfulness. He allows us opportunities to experience a minute fraction of what our Lord must have experienced as He was rejected by the very men whom He came to save. Even through the personal hurt, we should seek to count it all joy as James tells us because we gain invaluable insight into the hurt of Christ.
The second area has to do with trusting God. As a single 27 year old, I have plenty of opportunities to worry about my future or to lust after idols or to lose faith that God knows what is best for me. All three of these tie into trusting God.
The one that has really hit me hard lately is in the area of sexual purity. To be honest, my instinct tells me that God's standard is too high. It is impossible to be pure. Maybe it is because of today's access to sex on every billboard, every commercial, and even at our fingertips just a mouse click away. Why bother trying to live up to a standard that has really become obsolete in our modern world? That's what my flesh wants to tell me.
As I've really taken the time lately to consider what God is telling me, I've come to some critical understanding. His standard is impossible...for me. But it has already been accomplished by Jesus Christ. Christ has given me all that I need for life and for godliness. He is a reality in my heart and in my life. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. Can you see the difference? There is such a subtle transition between this truth and the lie that causes so many to live in defeat.
So, perhaps you're wondering as I have often wondered, what is the practical application? Is it possible to really live in obedience to God? I want to start off by saying that I don't have the credibility established to tell anyone to follow my life's example. But I will say this: God is blessing me with an understanding of how to live the pure life that He has called me to. I feel that for the first time in my life, I am developing the understanding that is necessary to actually live in a manner worthy of the Gospel in regards to purity.
Here's what I see God teaching me.
God's standard brings about fullness of life, unsurpassed joy, and deeper love of Jesus Christ.
Take a look at Deuteronomy 6:24,25:
And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.
"For our good always." God doesn't make restrictions designed to bring us agony or bitterness. God sets the standard that brings about complete and incomprehensible satisfaction in Him. There is no greater joy than knowing in your heart that you are above reproach because you have obediently followed Christ. I have yet to find a more amazing experience than watching Jesus Christ transform my heart and grow my love for Him. I am losing the feeling of obligation and gaining the desire to lovingly obey the commands Jesus gave me. I want to follow Him. I want to be obedient. I know it means knowing God and experiencing all He has for me. I know it pleases Him. I know it is only possible because of Him.
I want to experience God in ways that continue to amaze and humble me each and every day. I want to know Jesus. I want to live surrendered. And I want to do it all for the praise of His glory.
As I consider that all things are made through Christ and nothing that was made was not made through Him, I've noticed how I have seen God in so many sources recently. I've come to a deeper appreciation for the way God created everything to be and I'm starting to see people, creation, and experiences in light of their perfect design rather than as the visible reality of brokenness and decay resulting from sin.
There are two things in particular that God is really working in me. I pray that my wrestling can be of encouragement to you.
My prayer for awhile now has been "Jesus, I want to know you. I don't care what it costs me. I don't want to miss out on knowing You, my Treasure, my Savior, my first love." Of course, it sounds like a very noble prayer, but be prepared for God to answer it in unexpected ways!
Have you ever been misunderstood? How about judged wrongly? Has someone you love and trust ever claimed to know your heart when in reality he/she had little understanding at all? Can you relate to the hurt that comes from being misunderstood or labeled poorly? What about when your motives are pure and honorable and God-fearing?
God has shown me what courage it takes to rise up and trust Him even when people close to me hurt me. "Look to Jesus" I hear Him saying. "Think of Me," God speaks. The purity of my motives doesn't even equate to a fraction of the purity in which Christ lived. His motives were perfect. And yet what do we know about Christ's life? Everyone rejected Him. They said He was from satan. They said He was just Joseph's son. They mocked Him. They beat Him. They crucified Him.
Praise God at His faithfulness. He allows us opportunities to experience a minute fraction of what our Lord must have experienced as He was rejected by the very men whom He came to save. Even through the personal hurt, we should seek to count it all joy as James tells us because we gain invaluable insight into the hurt of Christ.
The second area has to do with trusting God. As a single 27 year old, I have plenty of opportunities to worry about my future or to lust after idols or to lose faith that God knows what is best for me. All three of these tie into trusting God.
The one that has really hit me hard lately is in the area of sexual purity. To be honest, my instinct tells me that God's standard is too high. It is impossible to be pure. Maybe it is because of today's access to sex on every billboard, every commercial, and even at our fingertips just a mouse click away. Why bother trying to live up to a standard that has really become obsolete in our modern world? That's what my flesh wants to tell me.
As I've really taken the time lately to consider what God is telling me, I've come to some critical understanding. His standard is impossible...for me. But it has already been accomplished by Jesus Christ. Christ has given me all that I need for life and for godliness. He is a reality in my heart and in my life. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. Can you see the difference? There is such a subtle transition between this truth and the lie that causes so many to live in defeat.
So, perhaps you're wondering as I have often wondered, what is the practical application? Is it possible to really live in obedience to God? I want to start off by saying that I don't have the credibility established to tell anyone to follow my life's example. But I will say this: God is blessing me with an understanding of how to live the pure life that He has called me to. I feel that for the first time in my life, I am developing the understanding that is necessary to actually live in a manner worthy of the Gospel in regards to purity.
Here's what I see God teaching me.
God's standard brings about fullness of life, unsurpassed joy, and deeper love of Jesus Christ.
Take a look at Deuteronomy 6:24,25:
And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.
"For our good always." God doesn't make restrictions designed to bring us agony or bitterness. God sets the standard that brings about complete and incomprehensible satisfaction in Him. There is no greater joy than knowing in your heart that you are above reproach because you have obediently followed Christ. I have yet to find a more amazing experience than watching Jesus Christ transform my heart and grow my love for Him. I am losing the feeling of obligation and gaining the desire to lovingly obey the commands Jesus gave me. I want to follow Him. I want to be obedient. I know it means knowing God and experiencing all He has for me. I know it pleases Him. I know it is only possible because of Him.
I want to experience God in ways that continue to amaze and humble me each and every day. I want to know Jesus. I want to live surrendered. And I want to do it all for the praise of His glory.
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