Our Lives Before God
January 1, 2014
The is something ominous about a new year...the feeling of a clean slate..the excitement of new adventure. The tradition of making resolutions to things YOU want to change. The first formal Bible Study I am embarking upon this year is the study of Gideon, who learned the value of marching along side God's plan (as bizarre as it may seem sometimes).
Romans chapter 12 holds a valuable resolution for us..resolving to allow the Holy Spirit in to make the needed changes in our lives.
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around-life and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. Romans 12:1-3
Let's Pray:
Lord, You are our all in all. Without You, we have no existence. January 1, 2014 is upon us because of Your choosing, not because of anything we have done. So, we say, "Thank You for this day...may we live it your way!" Slow our pace Father, teach us to halt and pray before we march forward into any action; before words fly off our tongues, typing or texts, which can kill and destroy the joy of others. Mold us into a people who comprehend the power in forgiveness...the essence of why Jesus came. Give us hearts which see others as valuable and an importance in investing in their lives, not just tossing them aside. Help us evaluate our time in the eyes of Your worth, not our selfish desires. Your Kingdom will come on earth, as it is so gloriously established in heaven. May we be found faithful to fulfill the purposes for which You have called us, bringing You glory in all we do.
In Jesus Name, by faith, we say, "Amen!"
The is something ominous about a new year...the feeling of a clean slate..the excitement of new adventure. The tradition of making resolutions to things YOU want to change. The first formal Bible Study I am embarking upon this year is the study of Gideon, who learned the value of marching along side God's plan (as bizarre as it may seem sometimes).
Romans chapter 12 holds a valuable resolution for us..resolving to allow the Holy Spirit in to make the needed changes in our lives.
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around-life and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. Romans 12:1-3
Let's Pray:
Lord, You are our all in all. Without You, we have no existence. January 1, 2014 is upon us because of Your choosing, not because of anything we have done. So, we say, "Thank You for this day...may we live it your way!" Slow our pace Father, teach us to halt and pray before we march forward into any action; before words fly off our tongues, typing or texts, which can kill and destroy the joy of others. Mold us into a people who comprehend the power in forgiveness...the essence of why Jesus came. Give us hearts which see others as valuable and an importance in investing in their lives, not just tossing them aside. Help us evaluate our time in the eyes of Your worth, not our selfish desires. Your Kingdom will come on earth, as it is so gloriously established in heaven. May we be found faithful to fulfill the purposes for which You have called us, bringing You glory in all we do.
In Jesus Name, by faith, we say, "Amen!"
