HIT YOUR KNEES

Ever have the days where you get blindsided? Something in life happens and now you are left with a choice to go one of two ways. This choice can come from a simple conversation or a major incident, either way you have now come face to face with a decision.

When we live a life only in the world then we can simply make a list of pros and cons. After we make the list we examine it and make a decision. There are times we go the right way and other times we, well screw up big time. When we live a life with God as our Ultimate Authority, the process looks different.

When God is in control everything in life changes, including the way we make decisions. Our lives depend on Him and our decisions are guided by His Spirit. Our list making days look different. Our list has been given to us in Scripture on how we are to live our life the best way. When we have to decipher what to do, we fall to our knees and pray.  Here in the Presence of God, we are able to see Him for who He really is, which reveals the heart He has in the decision we are to make.

Christ lives in us and our prayers bring that part of Christ, the Holy Spirit, alive in us. Praying connects us to God in a way that cannot be otherwise obtained. We are vulnerable and open to God transforming us and guiding us. Our trust moves from ourselves and our logic to the wisdom and provision of God. Prayer brings us closer to God than we could ever have dreamed. It is not a spiritual high, but a sacred meeting place filled with grace and love and compassion and heart changing conversations. God has granted us the privilege of praying to Him. We are able to ask for His guidance, especially when major decisions face us. Not only will He guide us, but our hearts will be desiring to move in a way that His does.

We are all prone to believing that we don't know what God wants us to do, but are we praying about it while being in His word and striving to live our lives in connection with Him? If we are, then we must be ready to hear the answer He has for us. We must be ready for the no, the yes and the not yet.

In my own life, prayer helps me to discern what is my neurotic emotions and what is God's desire for me. As a woman I know I am prone to irrational decisions and emotional responses. I have learned to be more careful and patient when it comes to decision making. By the grace of God, I pray more and wait on Him more. I have been guilty of the sin of saying the phrase, "God told me...." when really, I don't know that He did. My desires have wanted something, which may not be a bad thing, but is not necessarily the best thing. God lovingly guides us in this life, we simply need to follow His direction and make sure we are on our knees everyday to know what that is.

REFOCUS

Ever had a really good cup of coffee and then tried to go back to drinking your normal, cheap, instant coffee? Once you realize what good coffee is, nothing else will satisfy. You may settle for instant coffee, but there will always be a longing for the taste of that good coffee. This is how I think of my life in the times where I am trying to find my joy in what the world offers- money, pride, beauty, ect- instead of in Jesus. I know what true joy in Him is like, so when I settle for less, it always leaves me longing for Him.


As a Christian, I have learned that joy and fulfilment are something that the world does not understand. My faith in Christ does not allow me to settle for things that are less than worthy of my time and energy. Christ does not allow me to find satisfaction in anything but Him. It is not because he does not want me to be happy, in fact it is the very opposite. He desires that I have true joy in glorifying Him. He understands that anything less than the act of being near to Him will never staisfy my needs to be fulfilled. Once you have "tasted and seen that the Lord is good"(Psalm 34:8) you crave more and more of it. Jesus understood this and lived His life seeking God first, no matter what the cost. Jesus had far from an easy life, yet He never doubted God's presence and will for His life. That gave Him the peace and joy He needed to live in this world.


When I refocus my eyes on Christ life makes a little more sense and seems a little more hopeful. I know this sounds cliche, so let me get specific. I follow a Man that worked a regular job for 30 years while still being fully God. He submitted to the authority of men that He created, and Jesus did it without sin. Jesus was mocked in His own hometown(John 4). The last 3 years of His life, while He was in ministry saving and healing people, He was homeless(Luke 9:58). The one night He needed His friends to stay up with Him, they passed out (Luke 22:45). Even though He never sinned, people wrongfully accused Him and beat him, whipped Him with razors, and then nailed Him to a cross. He is called " a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief"(Isiah 53). So when I refocus my eyes on this Jesus who knows what it is like to struggle in life, I find comfort.


Looking at the way Jesus walked this earth and the trials He went through you would think that He would have every reason to be unkind, unloving, and flat out angry at the world. Yet, He was the opposite. He served with the joy of the Lord as His strength. He loved God so much that He would rather spend time with the Father than sleep. He may have had all of the reasons to be mad at God, yet God was the very one He ran to and submitted Himself to. So I have to ask myself, how can I live like that?


When it comes to truely seeking God and His glory, my joy instantly follows. I should never be dumb enough to think that the road will be easy. Yes, there will be times of laughter, but also sorrow. There will be times of fun and excitement but also grief and tears. But as scripture says"Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere."(Psalm 84:10)


John 15 gives me direction. Jesus speaks of being The Vine and us being the branches. It talks of how we get our life from Him and our only job, as a branch, is to stay connected to The Vine. We do this by abiding, or remaining in a fixed place next to Jesus through His love. And then after explaining this Jesus says(v11), "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full."


The world may never understand this and they may try to tempt me with momentary satisfaction. There is a pattern this world tries to have us follow, my job is not to conform, but to allow Jesus to transform me. When I let go of desiring instant gratification and hold fast to long term satisfaction in Jesus, it's a good day. Someday's it is as simple as remembering that Jesus loves me and I know this because the bible says so.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans12:2