How do you view God? How do you view yourself? The answers to these questions can give a lot of insight on the condition of our current situations. It’s important that we don’t approach God like a vending machine thinking that we can get whatever we want on our terms…Today’s blog entry deals with responsibility.
“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” – Luke 22:42
The scripture above shows Jesus’ willingness to carry out the will of God the Father even if it meant doing something that would be extremely difficult. As we live our lives, it’s important that we never lose sight of the fact that we are here to carry out God’s will. And while many of us may not lose sight of that, we may sometimes lose sight of the way that God operates.
Here’s what I mean. Sometimes we as people approach God asking Him to change things about us on a “surface level” instead of getting to “the root” of the issue. Say for example, there’s a person who constantly overspends money, and they constantly pray that God would bless them with more money. By praying this type of prayer, the individual is focusing on trying to fix the by- product of an issue instead of going right to the issue of overspending. A better prayer may be to ask God to help them to be a good steward over the resources they have been blessed with (and a good steward in general).
While I used the example of money, this can apply to many other areas. I use this illustration to point out the fact that we as humans have responsibility. If we are unhappy with results in our lives, it may be a good idea to examine ourselves to see if we are opening the door to some of the issues we’re dealing with. With that being said, I also understand that we have an adversary, Satan that comes against us (See Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8). It’s important that we guard ourselves against the enemy by putting on the whole armor of God, and at the same time realize that some of the things we’re dealing with may be by our own doing.
We live in a society where many people want a quick fix. And while God can definitely move in our lives quickly, we should also realize that God often has a process that he takes an individual through in order to help them grow and build character. As it says in Genesis 8:22, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease.” This scripture mentions the word seedtime, and there are other examples in the Bible that mention the seed. A seed goes through a process, and it’s important that we go through the process that God has for us. We live in a fallen world were we are constantly exposed to things that are Anti-God. We need to renew our minds daily, and uproot the things in our lives that are taking us off of the course that we should be on.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” – 1 Peter 5:6
“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” – Luke 22:42
The scripture above shows Jesus’ willingness to carry out the will of God the Father even if it meant doing something that would be extremely difficult. As we live our lives, it’s important that we never lose sight of the fact that we are here to carry out God’s will. And while many of us may not lose sight of that, we may sometimes lose sight of the way that God operates.
Here’s what I mean. Sometimes we as people approach God asking Him to change things about us on a “surface level” instead of getting to “the root” of the issue. Say for example, there’s a person who constantly overspends money, and they constantly pray that God would bless them with more money. By praying this type of prayer, the individual is focusing on trying to fix the by- product of an issue instead of going right to the issue of overspending. A better prayer may be to ask God to help them to be a good steward over the resources they have been blessed with (and a good steward in general).
While I used the example of money, this can apply to many other areas. I use this illustration to point out the fact that we as humans have responsibility. If we are unhappy with results in our lives, it may be a good idea to examine ourselves to see if we are opening the door to some of the issues we’re dealing with. With that being said, I also understand that we have an adversary, Satan that comes against us (See Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8). It’s important that we guard ourselves against the enemy by putting on the whole armor of God, and at the same time realize that some of the things we’re dealing with may be by our own doing.
We live in a society where many people want a quick fix. And while God can definitely move in our lives quickly, we should also realize that God often has a process that he takes an individual through in order to help them grow and build character. As it says in Genesis 8:22, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease.” This scripture mentions the word seedtime, and there are other examples in the Bible that mention the seed. A seed goes through a process, and it’s important that we go through the process that God has for us. We live in a fallen world were we are constantly exposed to things that are Anti-God. We need to renew our minds daily, and uproot the things in our lives that are taking us off of the course that we should be on.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” – 1 Peter 5:6