The rewards of saying “Yes”
As I was driving towards home tonight, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to go aside so we could spend some time together. (Is that awesome or what?) Unfortunately, I had a lot to do to get ready for my trip to IHOP tomorrow.
However, I’ve been up at 5:00am the past two nights to watch the God.TV daily devotional. Mike has been teaching on James 1:4:
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (ESV)
I wish I could remember more of the teaching, but I wrote down that scripture and a couple others on an index card and took it to work with me. When work got dull or frustrating, and I wanted to hop on a time-wasting website, I just remembered that verse about persevering (steadfastness). Other times recently when I have felt the Lord’s presence restraining me (e.g. “Ok son, lets shift away from that time-wasting activity…”), I have tried to stop as quickly as possible and shift into what He wants me to do.
Let me tell you, trying to be obedient in this simple area the last couple of days has had an awesome effect on me! There’s nothing worse than closing out a day feeling quenched in your spirit and barren in your heart because you’ve wasted so much of the day, and against His admonition. Thank God for His grace and the ability to get back in His will, but it’s so awesome to go a whole day without getting out of sync and feeling quenched!
I wanted to encourage all the readers out there (lurkers, I should say… make a comment already!): Understand and remember the grace of God. Read Romans 8:1 until it is weaved into your spirit… THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION!! No matter what happened, as long as you’re born again and have repented, you are not a failure in God’s eyes!
One of the things that the Lord showed me not too long ago which so reassured my heart was that I was a success in His eyes, because after all the years I’ve known Him, I still choose Him and love Him… That I have a rich history in Him (even in the midst of what I’d call failures and even falling into sin), and in a time that the nations are becoming increasingly anti-Christ, I still love Him. That counts a LOT in the heart of God, even if you feel like you are a very weak christian. Just keep pressing in and receive the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, good bible teachers, and especially friends that are pressing into God alongside you.
Blessings!
September 3, 2008 - Posted by alifeofprayer | Meditiations on the word | consistency, holiness, IHOP, International House of Prayer, Jesus, perseverance, Saying Yes to Jesus | 7 Comments
7 Comments »
About
I’m a believer in Christ living in Oklahoma City. I could tell you all the neat things I do on my job and where I work, but at the end of it all, those things don’t really matter too much. The prime defining element of my life is that I am in Christ, and He is in me. It defines who I am, what I do, what I believe, what I desire, what I say, and how I live.
As I progress into Christ more and more, you will see me gradually melt away, and represent Christ as the fundamental image of who I am.
The only thing worth pursuing is Jesus. He is it.
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God doesn’t talk to everyone, or at least, everyone can’t hear God and doesn’t know what he sounds like.
nopurposelife (depressing title dude!),
God does speak to everyone, but many have hardened their hearts against Him. Otherwise they would hear Him beckoning them to draw near, lay down their burdens, forsake their sin, and enter into a relationship with Him.
I wouldn’t call it a “hardening of hearts”. That’s a typical Christian label. While some people just don’t want to hear, others, like me, can’t hear. We don’t know what we are listening for. It’s like the proverbial “needle in a haystack” except you don’t know that you are looking for a needle so you don’t know what you have found when you find it.
Hey,
Just wanted to say I’m enjoying some of your blogs. It doesn’t matter what arguments/theology or whatever people throw against you, you KNOW God, and that overrides everything!
You are blessed
Blessings Ben, I’m thankful for your comment.
I checked out your website, and I love what you guys are doing in Chester. I’m in a group that worships in downtown Oklahoma City every Sunday night. The presence of God is awesome, I always love flowing in worship with Him.
Blessings!
God had to rebuke me for my self condemning thought and now I’m on thoughts about me probation… I can no longer have an opinion of myself that God does not approve of at first… probation is kind of a lifetime gig
That’s a very true principle. It’s like God steps down into your self-bashing party and says, “How dare you slander and upbraid my son?” I’ve experienced that before.
)
It’s kind of funny how I can think back and see how the Lord was trying to reach out to me for years and show me His opinion of me… I just couldn’t accept it or receive it for the longest time. I’m so thankful that He finally got through to me… in the most extravagant way.