Philippians 3:7 – “but
whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
Acts 9:1-19 – Read it. “But
the Lord said to him, ‘Go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my
name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show
him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
– So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away our inner self
is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing
for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the
things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are
seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Philippians 3:8-11 –
Indeed I count everything as loss of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
Jesus. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as
rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through
faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may
know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings,
become like Him in death. That by any means possible, I may attain the
resurrection from the dead.
I
would say that learning how to live after 42 years of day to day sin constantly
growing and progressing is the hardest thing to learn. Habits and comforts are
hard to crawl out of even when you are for sure that whatever it is that you
are doing is not right. When I read these scriptures I think of things that
make me comfortable like work, money, material possessions, people, and things
that have once made me comfortable. Some of those things may have once
sustained me, supported me, and looked to be very healthy and good things for
my life. Today I wonder what God has for me and what my calling is. Will the
things that once were healthy for me or things that carried me through life be
the things God chooses to carry me and sustain me now that I have given my life
to Christ? Lately I have thoughts that God is changing me! That to me is a bit
scary and exciting. I’ve always loved my work and what I do. But I see God
making new plans for my life lately. Letting go of what we know is
uncomfortable but God teaches me in these verses that it’s going to be o.k. I
should embrace what God has for me today because He knows best and He’s got all
these promises. Today I recognize that for eternal salvation I should be
willing to give 1000 lives to my creator and the one who looks after me! It’s
because of His love for me that I have a chance at all again. “Some light
momentary affliction” shouldn’t worry me at all and I owe it to the man
upstairs for what He’s got planned for me!
Prayer: Father
God, if I had 1000 lives to give, you would deserve them all. What I struggle
with is the one you gave me and how to live that out. Help me to see clearly
just exactly how I might live that out. Amen
Thoughts: I always
rebound quickly when I get down or when I get out of prison. Maybe what I need
to do is slow down, wait for God and let Him work in my life instead of doing
what I know that makes sense to me! I want to do the things that God wants me
to do whether it makes me comfortable or not! Many times in my life I’ve
stopped listening to God and His direction and well you see where I’m at now!
Prison. Something tells me I should stick with reading, praying, turning from
sin, and surrounding myself with people doing the same! What do you need to do
to “listen to the call God has on your life”? Are you really qualified to drive
the car or should you ride shotgun? I’m going to ride shotgun a while and see
what happens.
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