What Is Your Will In Christ?

What would we put our stock in if we could only have one choice, but not both - either the meager satisfaction and pleasuring of our decaying flesh, or the divine completeness of walking safely with God in a blissful, unending Father and child relationship filled with unlimited creativity and wonder?... With so much going on in the world it's too easy for us to get distracted and sidetracked sometimes a nd if our focus isn't anchored on Christ, our minds are left open to so many things competing for our attention. Our thoughts can be easily overtaken at times by the cares of our humanity - basic physical needs, emotional issues and stress. Or perhaps just an unexpected diversion from what we might consider to be our daily norm. Situations may come up with urgency to change our expected life trajectory without warning, but while we consider and strategize about our response to all of those compelling needs and the tempting urges of our vanities, our God watches to find those who...

To truthfully "know" Jesus, His heart, His person, His character is to be drawn to love Him dearly - this I know with good confidence. That being said, it would seem likely to me that if that true connection is never made, then it's more likely true that one has never honestly known Him.  Scripture tells us that one day every person who has ever lived will acknowledge Jesus as Lord - even His most ardent deniers,... but how many will truly know Him? How many will know the height and honor of His place in the heavenly realm and will have embraced the opportunity to know Him as friend? "Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor  and gave him the name above all other names,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,  in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,  to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 29-11 (NLT) Everyone - even the dead will be raised to recognize Him at jud...

What follows is my opinion. You can take it, or leave it right here. My hope is that it stirs something in you...  Many of us were raised in homes that were intended to be centered on biblical values or were at least aware and had some knowledge of virtue based living. If you're old enough, like me, you lived under laws and guiding concepts in calmer times that were primarily in agreement with the Ten Commandments and bore the essence of a bent toward righteousness. Were there troubles in those days? Of course. Wherever human beings are present, trouble may not be far away. But even so, it was a different time.  It was a time when respect for the separation between right and wrong seemed to be more clear and prevalent and when respect in general was a more common attribute ... along with a desire for respectability. None of this is intended to say that there were not serious issues that remained to be dealt with in society then, but the demeanor and countenance were very diffe...