“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all of your heart."
Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV) No matter how far you are from God today, there is a pathway back to him. Maybe you haven’t been to church in years, or you’ve just been distant for a month or two. Maybe you’ve had one of those weeks where you thought, “I really don’t feel God’s presence in my life.” And yet you long to be close to God. How do you get back to him? Here is a pathway to spiritual transformation—the three things you need to do to get back to God: Realize you need to change. Nothing is going to change in your life until you get dissatisfied with the way you are. You need to get to the point where you say, “I don’t like this. I’m tired of being stressed out all the time. I’m tired of being frustrated all the time. I’m tired of being overworked all the time. I’m tired of feeling distant from God.” Why does God let you get to that point? Because he loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay that way. He will not let you waste your life. God says in Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all of your heart” (ESV). Own up to your sin. Isaiah 59:2 says, “The trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you” (TLB). Have you ever prayed and felt like God was a million miles away or like there was a wall between you and God? Where does that distance come from? Your sins have separated you from God. But if you feel far from God, guess who moved? You! God has always been there. He loves you unconditionally, and he’s waiting for you to own up to your sin so you can have a right relationship with him again. Give up control. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (NCV). True transformation happens when your heart moves from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. Are you there yet? That transformation doesn’t happen overnight. God is going to work on you your entire life. But to start the process, you have to make a decision to repent and, “in view of God’s mercy, to offer your [body] as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1 NIV). God wants to be close to you. And he promises that when you seriously seek him, you will not be disappointed. Watch expectantly how God works in your life this coming year as you seek him with all your heart, mind, and soul.
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“When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 (CEV) It’s important to set goals. But not every goal you set is a goal that God’s going to bless. So, how do you know the difference? Ask yourself these questions: Will my goal honor God? What kind of goal brings glory to God? Any goal that causes you to trust him more, to depend on him more, to love him more, to love other people more, to serve him, or to serve others. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God” (CEV). Even everyday tasks can be done to honor God. You can honor God by taking out the trash. You can honor God by washing the dishes. You can honor God by doing that mundane task at work: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people” (Colossians 3:23 GNB). If you want your life to bring honor to God, set goals that help you be the best you can be for God’s glory. Is my goal motivated by love? God is not going to bless a goal motivated by greed, envy, guilt, fear, or pride. But he does honor a goal that is motivated by a desire to demonstrate love to him and to others. Life is all about learning how to love. Why is it important to have goals based on love? If you set loveless goals, you’re going to treat people as projects. You’ll run all over them to reach your goal, whether they’re a family member, friend, or coworker. God says, “No, you’ve got it all wrong. It’s not about accomplishments. It’s about relationships. It’s about learning how to love.” The Bible says, “Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14 NIV). Your number one goal in life should be to learn how to really love your family, your neighbors, and even those who are hard to love. That makes you more like God, because God is love. “Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit."
1 Timothy 4:7 (TLB) If you want God to use you—fortify your faith. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 4:7, “Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit” (TLB). Do you ever wake up thinking, “I get to exercise today?” We all need both physical and spiritual exercise. Do you want the most benefit you can get out of every minute you exercise, whether it’s physical or spiritual? Here's a way to get the most out of your spiritual exercise by giving you four spiritual habits that will fortify your faith. 1. Study the Bible. You need to study the Bible personally. You can’t depend on someone else’s study of the Bible to fortify your faith. You have to do it yourself. The Bible says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT). God’s Word is the “Get Ready” manual for life. If you want to get ready to be used by God, you’ve got to study the Bible. 2. Read Christian books. Proverbs 19:8 says, “Do yourself a favor and learn all you can” (GNT). You learn a lot more when you read books that help you grow spiritually. 3. Write out your testimony. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have” (NCV). Just like nobody else can study for you, nobody else can tell your story. There are four parts to a testimony: what your life was like before you came to Christ, how you realized you needed Christ in your life, how you committed your life to Christ, and what your life is like now. 4. Join a small group. The Bible says, “Encourage each other and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT). When it comes to fortifying your faith, few things can compare to regular contact with your small group. If you are not in a small group, find people who you can share life with and who will support you as you grow in faith. These four habits will help you stay spiritually fit so that you’re ready to be used by God. Which one will you start practicing today? “The darkness in our lives disappears and the new light of life in Christ shines in.”
1 John 2:8 (TLB) Why does God talk so much about light in the Bible? Because God is light. When he is Savior and Lord of your life, the light of his love gives you hope in the dark days: “The darkness in our lives disappears and the new light of life in Christ shines in” (1 John 2:8 TLB). So here’s a question for you: Are you ready to exchange your darkness and the dark days you’re going through for God’s light? Jesus came to light up your life. Jesus didn’t come alive at Christmas. He has always existed, because he’s God: “Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God” (John 1:1 TLB). Jesus has been in existence for eternity. He created everything. Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind. His life is the light that shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. You see, when you try to live your life without God, you live it in the dark. It’s why things don’t make sense to you—because you don’t have the illumination of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. It’s why you’re burdened with negative emotions. It’s why you’re not healed of the brokenness in your life. And it’s why you stop growing. It’s time to flip the switch and let the light of Christ into your life—not just for your dark days but for all your days. Do you want to trade darkness for light in your life? “In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. Light brings every kind of goodness, right living, and truth.”
Ephesians 5:8-9 (NCV) Several years ago, New York City officials built a water disinfection facility using ultraviolet light to destroy germs and disinfect the city’s drinking water, which is funneled in from about 100 miles away. Instead of using chlorine, the system uses the sun’s power to disinfect and sanitize water using light rays. They disinfect over 1 billion gallons of water every day. Light is a great disinfectant. It cleanses, sanitizes, and purifies. The light of God works in a similar way in your life. Harmful words, thoughts, and actions make you spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes physically sick. When you confess your sins to God, his forgiveness sanitizes, purifies, and cleanses you. The Bible says it like this: “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7 NIV). So many people today are going through dark days because they’re carrying a load of guilt, shame, and regret. They may look successful on the outside, but inside they’re tormented by their secrets. Is there a way to wipe the slate clean? Is there a way to get a fresh start? Yes, it’s called being born again. That doesn’t mean you turn over a new leaf and try harder. It means you get a brand-new life, where everything is forgiven. Everything is cleansed by the light of Christ, and the darkness of regret and shame is lifted. Ephesians 5:8-9 describes what it means to be completely cleansed and forgiven of your sin and born again: “In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. Light brings every kind of goodness, right living, and truth” (NCV). What secret regret, guilt, or shame in your life needs to be cleansed and disinfected? Just expose it to the light of Christ. Then you can move forward, full of hope in Jesus, the Light of the World. “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work."
2 Timothy 2:21 (ESV) If you want to be used by God, you don’t have to be a perfect person—but you do need to purify your heart. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:21, “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (ESV). God uses all kinds of people. He uses shy people and outgoing people. He uses people of different races, ages, stages of life, and backgrounds. He uses men and women. God will use plain vessels, and he’ll use ornate vessels. He’ll use big vessels and small vessels. But there is one thing that God will not use: He will not use a dirty vessel. You have to be clean on the inside. But here’s the good news: No matter who you are or what you’ve done, you can be made clean. How do you do that? How do you become pure? You do it through a simple word: confession. Augustine, a Christian leader who lived a few hundred years after Jesus, said, “The confession of bad works is the beginning of good works.” The Bible says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing” (GNT). The word “confess” in Greek is the word homologeo. Homo means “same,” and logeo means “to speak.” So homologeo literally means “to speak the same” as God does about my sin. It means you agree with him: “God, you’re right. It wasn’t a mistake. It was a sin. It was wrong.” It doesn’t mean you bargain with God (“I’ll never do it again”). It doesn’t mean you bribe God (“I promise to read my Bible every day if you’ll forgive me”). You just admit your sin. That may seem too simple to you. You may say, “All I’ve got to do is admit it, and God will forgive me?” Yes! It’s called grace. Here’s what you can do if you really want to be used by God: Take time this week to sit down with a notebook or journal and ask God, “What’s wrong in my life? Show me. I’m going to write it down, and I’m going to admit it. I’m going to confess it to you.” Then, when God gives you an idea, write it down. Make a list, and then write 1 John 1:9 over the list and say, “God, I admit these sins to you. These are wrong. I don’t want them in my life.” Ask God to cleanse your life. God will forgive you! This is the starting point to being used by God. You must purify your heart. “God . . . has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.”
Ephesians 2:10 (TLB) God did not put you on Earth just to live for yourself. He wants you to make the world a better place! Ephesians 2:10 says, “God . . . has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others” (TLB). There’s a word for this kind of living: ministry. Every Christian is a minister. Not every Christian is a pastor, but every Christian is a minister. That means you use your talents and gifts to make a contribution in life—to be a giver, not a taker. The Bible instructs: Love one another. Care for one another. Pray for one another. Encourage one another. Help one another. Counsel one another. Support one another. And on and on. It is the mutual ministry of every believer in the family of God to every other believer in the family of God. That’s the way God meant for it to be. The truth is, serving God by serving others is not always easy. Sometimes you’ll get discouraged. So what do you do when you start to get discouraged? Remember two things. First, remember the reward you’ll receive that will go on for eternity. The Bible says that God “will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers” (Hebrews 6:10 NLT). He will reward you in eternity. The second thing to remember is that God uses every little thing that happens in your life. Nothing is insignificant when you serve God. None of it is in vain. “Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless” (1 Corinthians 15:58 GNT). Don’t miss the whole point of your life. Start fulfilling your purpose by living a life of ministry today! “Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other.”
Romans 12:5 (GW) The church not only helps you center your life on God, but it also helps you connect with other believers. God did not put you here to live an isolated life. While you’re on Earth, God wants you to learn to love other people, and he wants you to practice loving others in his family. The Bible says, “Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other” (Romans 12:5 GW). When you become a child of God, you’re connected to other believers as their brother or sister. The Bible says you’re part of a body. What is this body? Romans 12:5 says, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (ESV). Your spiritual life does not amount to anything if it’s disconnected from the family of God. If I cut off my finger, it’s not just going to stop growing, it’s also going to die. For my finger to live, it has to be connected to my body. In the same way, you need to be connected to other people in the body of Christ if you want to grow spiritually and fulfill God’s purpose for your life. A study on mental health revealed that if you isolate yourself from others and don’t develop close friendships, like those in a small group, you are three times more likely to die an early death. You’re four times more likely to suffer emotional burnout. You’re five times more likely to be clinically depressed. And you’re 10 times more likely to be hospitalized for an emotional or mental disorder. During the last couple of years, when it’s sometimes been necessary to isolate physically, people have learned to connect in all sorts of creative ways. Whatever situation you’re in today, find ways to connect to other believers. Become part of the family of God. Join a small group. Get connected. As Ephesians 2:19 says, “You are members of God’s very own family . . . and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian” (TLB). “From the very beginning God decided that those who came to him—and all along he knew who would—should become like his Son.”
Romans 8:29 (TLB) God’s goal has always been to make you like himself. He wants you to become like his Son. In other words, he wants you to grow up spiritually. The Bible says, “From the very beginning God decided that those who came to him—and all along he knew who would—should become like his Son” (Romans 8:29 TLB). Sometimes we might ask: “Why is this happening to me?” Here's one reason why: It’s to help you grow. In fact, everything in life can help you grow up spiritually—the good, the bad, the ugly, the things you bring on yourself, and the things that other people do to you. God is not the author of evil. But God can bring good out of bad things. Every situation in life will either make you bitter or make you better. It’s your choice how you choose to respond. Instead of asking, “God, why is this happening to me?” ask, “God, what do you want me to learn from this?” Every problem has a purpose: to help you grow up spiritually and be more like Jesus Christ. So, if one of the purposes of your life is to grow up spiritually and to become like Jesus, what is Jesus like? Just look at the fruit of the Spirit. The Bible says, “He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 TLB). These are the qualities God wants to develop in you. How does God produce those qualities and help you grow up spiritually? He teaches you these qualities by putting you in the exact opposite situations. He teaches you love by putting you around unlovely people. He teaches you joy in the middle of grief. God teaches you peace when you’re surrounded by chaos. He teaches you patience when it seems like the line you’re standing in goes on forever. God will teach you these qualities throughout your life—and the process will take the rest of your life. But you can trust that, whatever you face today, he will use it to help you develop spiritual depth and become more like Christ. “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
Ephesians 1:5 (NLT) The whole reason you exist is because God wanted you to become part of his family. The Bible says, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:5 NLT). Your spiritual family, God’s family, is going to outlast even your physical family. Physical families don’t last. They grow up, they move away, they pass away. But the spiritual family of God will live on and on for eternity. God never meant for you to go through life alone. The truth is, God hates loneliness. When God created man, he put him in the Garden of Eden—a perfect environment—and the first thing God said was, “It is not good for man to be alone.” God wants you to be part of his family. What is God’s family? The Bible says, “That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15 NCV). The church, the body of Christ, is not an institution. The church is not a bureaucracy, an organization, or a social club. The church is God’s family. It’s not about rules and regulations, rituals and religion. It’s about relationships. And it’s about love. The church is “the support and foundation of the truth.” What happens when a building has no support and foundation? It collapses. People who live in earthquake-prone areas understand this more than most. If you don’t have a good foundation under your building, it’s going to collapse when an earthquake comes. God says that your life works the same way. You’re going to have some earthquakes—financial, emotional, relational, health, and career earthquakes. And when tough times come along and you don’t have a spiritual family to support you, you’ll collapse. You can’t fulfill God’s purposes by yourself. God wired you to need other people. With the strong support of the family of God, you’ll have the secure foundation you need to stand through life’s challenges. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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