What Is Your Will In Christ?

Awesomely awesome God, your greatness reaches beyond the farthest expanses of the heavens and all that is within them declares the vastness of your immeasurable glory So how is it that such a tiny and unremarkable creature such as I can hold your attention and capture your heart so completely? For indeed I hold them both firmly captive By your sovereign choice to love the unlovable and to give unspeakable worth to the unworthy I am a target of your grace, your obsession and cherished possession I am broken, gratefully crushed in spirit and deeply humbled by the presentation of endless grace and your grand recognition which I cannot earn to deserve in the smallest portion Your generous provision has sustained me from the moment that you formed me and your grace to share from what is yours alone has bloated the richness of my days Where are the words to describe you, to righteously declare the wonders of your character? I cannot find them for none are adequate to paint a port...

I'm not really sure what made me think of it after all of these years. It was such a small thing that's been lost in decades worth of days and completely obscured from my thoughts. It was small and plastic and something long forgotten from my childhood that keyed me to reflect on something that I think might be representative of a perspective that some people cling to. It was a white plastic figurine that stood on a little brown plastic pedestal. The flat, cast figurine was someones' representation of Jesus that glowed in the dark after the lights were turned out at night. When everything else turned into shadowy shapes void of detail in the murky darkness, the only thing that could be clearly made out was that little glow in the dark plastic Jesus that sat on my dresser. In some respects, I think that may be how some people still see Him, even in the light of day ... In a world full of things that appeal to the senses of our flesh, it's sometimes easy to set asi...

Warning : If you're not a Jesus follower, reading this may cause confusion, a   thirst for understanding  or an outright  curiosity . These side affects can be serious and may vary based on your personal experience and knowledge of the truth. If you suffer from any of the above side affects, you should consult a true Jesus follower after reading - one who knows they're still imperfect and humbled by grace for further advice. Reader discretion is advised.   The Fog In the busy, hazy confusion of day to day events, ranging from personal to familial and then world wide, it's easy for one to get caught up in a cycle of concerns and activities that make certain things seem more remote or possibly even lost in the fog. It seems endlessly true that some things are more important than others ... but then none are more important than some. Human beings are a busy lot - constantly acting and reacting to a huge variety of things in an endless number of different ways o...

In the midst of what might appear to be a darkening spiritual horizon and one that seems to be giving a host of possible reasons for concern, I would stand to reassure you that hope remains unshakable because like our God, His truth remains unchanged. It's true that as we watch the constant and unrelenting daily stream of current news stories from around the world, we might be tempted to let our peace be adversely affected. There's a steady drum beat of aggression, oppression, repression, viciousness, perversion, deception, lust, lawlessness and murder ... and around the world it's increasingly targeting Christ's followers. It's a steady invitation - an attempt to appeal to our sense of indignation, alarm and fear ... and a designed potential distraction from the truth. We live in a day of widespread, graphic and almost instantaneous media coverage. Many of the stories we see and hear in the news today have the potential to breed what I like to think of as spi...

Lord, In the midst of darkness, the great mystery and beauty of your character shine beams of righteousness, purity and holiness into the darkest corners like a beacon of life ... your perfection has no equal in all that exists You are the origin of wisest counsel offering the keys of satisfying life to any who will listen and the examples of your character are life giving to those who follow ... yet men of dust seek to prove their own wisdom You are the Creator and source of all that is truly good. The fruit of your Spirit is the essence of all that is true beauty and the desired goal of good hearts to replicate ... yet men still lust after things that decay You have given life to all that lives and all that you have created obeys you save only some that you have given that choice. But in the end, you will not deny yourself justice ... choice is responsible to destine a foretold future You walk among the stars and they reflect your glory. All the bodies of heaven orbit ...

Sovereign Lord, There is no horde or multitude at the height of their power that can prosper against you. No gathering of angels or fiercest beings that exist can withstand the withering power of your gaze. You have no worthy competitor or true challenger to your omnipotence. You have the power to give birth to amazing galaxies in the heavens and to make them vanish again at your will. Those things in the farthest reaches of the heavens obey you without hesitation and you are sovereign in your power to rule over all that exists. So who is mere man that you should regard him in any way let alone cherish him so highly? In spite of his unworthiness, in all of your works since you created all that we can see, you have made provision to sustain him in your humbling grace and mercy. Yet among man's ancestry of the ages and even now, there are those who deny you. And with their words they seek to make you disappear like smoke in the wind or the morning mist in the presence of the ris...

I thought after I originally posted this that it might be better if I explained a little about what inspired it. It wasn't inspired by some big failure that I'm aware of. It's that lately I've come to recognize with more emphasis than ever as I spend more time focusing intently on the vastness of our God, that everything about me is so insignificant by comparison. My plans, my wisdom and my strength don't even register on that scale. But even so, He knows everything about me in the most minute and intimate detail. And still, knowing all there is to know, He loves me deeply. While I make plans for moments, months or even a few years regarding issues that are subject to decay and change, He makes unchangeable plans that span thousands of years with eternal results. I find myself at times thinking about the things that the Lord mentioned in His conversation with Job and realize that I, like Job, really know so very little. I am so small, so frail and limited by true ...

I've been watching something for a long time, years in fact. It's something that's had an effect on me in no small way, and an effect that I've come to question the healthiness of at times. I don't think that my awareness of it is coincidental. Rather, I think it's by design that it draws my attention. But in what way am I to respond? What purpose drives it? I'm comfortable that the Lord knows well and I've also become comfortable that He also will not let me be overcome by its weight. After all, He won't give us more than He also gives us the means to carry. In this I'm confident, so I plod onward waiting to see His particular purpose in it. Maybe it's just this ... I've felt drawn to watch what I will call the spiritual pulse of not only our nation, but perhaps with somewhat less inspiring interest, the world as a whole.Ever since I become aware of the new testament and the truth that will reign over the future, I've never felt ...

Lord, your mere presence is the inspiration to more than any heart can hold. The beauty of your character moves us beyond the formation of words to express. The power of your presence prospers a humble man in tears of gratitude and the wake of your Spirit moves generations to worship you in rivers of life. The sun, the moon and the stars reflect the mere shadow of your glory from great distance. Your Spirit serves to quench our thirst much more than a cool pure stream in the heat of the desert. But how long must we wait to behold you in glory? As a man of sorrows you came to give life and joy to multitudes greater than the number of grains in the sands of the earth. And so we long now to wash the feet of our Savior with the tears of our gratitude and kiss the hands that offered the peace of our God to mankind.. Can there be any greater agony than the growing anticipation of meeting you face to face in your glory? Longing grows and desire will not be bound until we see you in your ...

Psalm 33:6 (NLT) "The LORD merely spoke and the heavens were created. He breathed the word and the stars were born." Who among us can say what exists beyond the reality of men other than what the Ancient has told us? I AM is not bounded by the reality of men, but creates as He will. What will we behold in the future beyond what we've seen here? The God who breathed the universe with all of its fantastic wonders into existence is not limited by our imaginations, but is majestically sovereign to create an eternity that we can't even begin to imagine. The God who creates stars, moons, planets and everything in them holds ready an eternity for His children the likes of which cannot be imagined by man. I believe firmly that the life, that reality in eternity, is the life that He purposed to create us for - not this temporary one. I believe that He has rich purpose in this life to grow our character and refine us by His Spirit in preparation for the life He intende...

Lord, By your grace, grant me your perspective. Help me to see things as you see them, because the way that you see them is the truth that exists before me. Help me to hear things as you hear them, because the way that you hear them is with true discernment. Help me to think as you think, for your thoughts are truly wise, righteous and holy. Help me to have a heart that is constantly seeking your own and that is moved by the things that move yours. For your heart is the pinnacle of beauty. Help me to reside in your spirit always, for your Spirit leads me on the pathway ever closer to you. Lord, teach me your ways and help me to walk in them firmly, for your ways are not the ways of this world that seeks to deceive me. Remind me constantly of your great works and all that you are as I walk through this place so that I may always worship you in spirit and truth, properly respecting the God of my creation. Lord, being the created, I cannot and have no desire to be my own ...

Lord, In your great presence I am far too small to be counted I’m a mere speck under the foot of a towering giant I’m an ordinary grain among the sands of the oceans And you Lord, are the waters of the seas that move me at will I’m helpless against you and wholly dependent on your mercy I’m common and short of greatness, destined for obscurity But by loving grace alone I’m now chosen to become more Through the fire of your spirit I’m refined and made molten Shaped by your own Holy breath, you call me now special With praise and thankfulness I am transformed to have worth And with others I’m now cast as a part of the Kings cup Now, so honored to bring sweet wine of loving gratitude to your lips Let my praises forever exalt your glorious wonders For against you there are none worthy to compare You’re the source of all that is good, righteous and holy Your vast compassion, beyond the explanation of men You lift up the humble and soon humiliate t...