What Is Your Will In Christ?

Lord, no one can tell another of the individual path in this life that you will choose for them unless you give divine knowledge - the one by which you will lead them to truly know you better and to refine the character of their spirit. Your plans are your own and your wisdom beyond our capacity to predict. You alone are the omniscient God who crafts the pathways of men who follow you in order to respond to the deepest needs that we have not the wisdom to even be aware of. The trials and triumphs you make available to each life are as unique as those you have chosen to create because you alone know the full measure and ways of refinement necessary to mold each of us futher into your image. But all of the paths you chart for our lives lead us in the same direction. If we choose to follow them in sincerity and faith, the path you choose for every life leads us to the feet of your throne. The hills we are made to climb and obstacles that you set before us in this life are never to c...

I can only assume that it was my overwhelming confidence in my son-in-law's outdoor prowess that led me to forgo the usually instinctual mental landmark mapping on a recent camping trip. But whatever it was, in a moment around the campfire later, it left me with an opportunity to feel somewhat vulnerable and open to a spiritual acknowledgment ... I had the awesome pleasure to accompany the family of one of my daughters along with one of my younger sons on a short camping trip deep into the woods where there were no trails and not another human being for miles (the nearest form of civilization being many miles further beyond that). The deep woods around the area where I live in the great northwestern part of the United States is rugged, brushy and unforgiving. It's a place where the simplest of mistakes can produce tragic results and it's vastness alone can leave one with little hope in the event of an emergency. But my son-in-law is without a doubt one of the most...

The Lord spoke something recently to refresh my own heart that I would like to share with you in the hopes that if you have struggled in similar ways that I have, you might find the courage that belongs to you in Christ ... I'll start by asking you this: what inspires overwhelming passion in you? What is it that moves you more than anything else? Please take a moment to consider ... Usually these are the things that we value most highly. They're things that we're connected to in deep ways that inspire powerful conviction and emotion in us. They're things close enough to our own hearts that they can move us in ways that nothing else can. They're things that we hold personally sacred. In my own little world, my family, my eternal family in Christ, and on a higher level, my God top the list. But there used to be other things mixed in as well. They were aspirations and goals that I set for myself, material things, and things that I felt I needed to prove to th...