What Is Your Will In Christ?

What if you were able to make one personal request of the Lord with His guarantee that He would grant it? If this request was only allowed to apply to you personally, what would it be? For me, there are times in a moment of personal reflection when I might wish that I were a robot - a spirit so perfectly tuned to God’s will, heart and commandments that I never made mistakes. There have been many times in life when I’ve had the disappointing opportunity to stop and think to myself “I wish I hadn’t said that (done that, thought that)” knowing full well that nothing escapes my Father’s notice. We’re all exposed to emotional and physical situations and motivations that in our unfinished refinement might move us to do, think or say things that we find ourselves regretting when we stop to think about them later. But it’s not robots that He wants. If He did, He would have created us that way from the beginning. I have no doubt that any desire by me to be a perfectly performing robot...

In the darkness, I’m comfortably warm in my bed. The day’s issues have been addressed and the day’s conversations have come to a close. They’re not even in my mind right now and it’s time to rest. But as I lay quietly, I can’t let it go. I can’t quiet my heart and let it be over. My joy and the intimacy are too compelling and inviting to let it end now. So I press on quietly. Not wanting wake my precious wife, I whisper quietly mouthing the words that spring from my heart under my breath - wanting, needing the conversation to continue. “Lord, you are indeed the God of all that is good and truly holy. There is no one Lord who is worthy to stand to compare with the greatness of even your mere shadow. Your breath gives us life! You are the source of all that we need and our heart’s true desire. You are our sole provider, our defender and our security. You are my great and wise counselor and most intimate confidant. Lord, I can trust you for anything. You are awesome and m...

In my last post, I indicated an unwillingness to define examples of what true grace is out of fear of my own weakness to do so adequately. However, I was motivated in my heart to do it and since I’ve not been able to escape the continuing urge, I can only assume that the urge remains for a reason and that the source has a purpose to be fulfilled. My continued reluctance might be nothing less than disobedience to the Holy Spirit which is not something I’m willing to risk. I don’t have to know and I certainly don’t pretend to know what His purpose is. My responsibility is simply to respond obediently and trust that He knows what He’s doing. I know that I can be long winded, but I can’t resist taking the opportunity to point out that trusting Him has become an easy thing to do – when you get to know someone in a close personal relationship, it becomes easier and easier to trust a trust worthy person because they prove their faithfulness and competence over time. But you can’t lea...

I've been away from my blog for awhile for which I hope that you'll forgive me. Having been presented with, and directed to, new challenges and pathways, I desperately needed some time to adjust and to begin to manage some new opportunities that our Lord had planned as part of my journey even before He created me. I cannot promise that I'll begin posting again with any real regularity, but that I will be obedient to do so as the Lord prompts - moments like now. These changes in my life of late, I can see are part of a much larger plan for my growth that has actually been in place for a very long time. They're just another step, another lesson and opportunity to learn and to demonstrate my willingness to seek and to follow what He's ordained to be the pathway of my life from the beginning. This being very much the same as the individual course that He's willed and carefully planned for every human being that He's ever given the gift of life to. As wit...