Another quote from the first season of Lost…
“We all have setbacks. We’ll start over.”
I’m gonna have to write a book soon; “All That I Learned In Life, I learned From Lost.” LOL.
Actually, I am gonna have to go and buy season 2 now, cuz I just finished season one. Man oh man, I hate cliff-hanger endings!
Okay, on to something else…I am reprinting here my two devotionals from today, as they really spoke to me a lot. I asked God to speak to me and give me comfort and direction this morning, and I believe He really did speak to me through these two devotionals…
The Quest For Intimacy
To experience genuine intimacy with Christ, you must be willing to lay down your love for the things of this world. This doesn’t mean giving up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But it does mean your desire for God and His fellowship exceeds your friendship with the world. God wants to bless you, yet blessings must never become what you seek above the Blesser.
A.W. Tozer commented on the quest for intimacy:
There can be no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in the Christian life. Because it is so natural, it is rarely recognized for the evil that it is. But its outworkings are tragic.
We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety. This is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need to have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which is so committed.
The rich young ruler found in Jesus what he had been looking for all his life (Matt. 19:16-22). However, in his heart his material possessions outweighed the need to follow Christ.
You may have given yourself to the Lord, but have you laid aside your love and desire for the world’s riches? The greatest obstacle to knowing God is self-love. Make sure you don’t fall prey to it.
Failing To Listen To God
Imagine you are driving along a narrow two-lane road, and you come upon a warning sign. The sign warns of possible rock slides ahead, and a detour sign points to a good alternate route. Would you ignore the warning sign and drive on?
King David ignored many of God’s warning signs along his path, and he plunged deeper and deeper into sin (2 Sam. 11:1-12:13). He knew that the Lord did not approve of lust, adultery, or murder. But one sin led to another as David deliberately ignored his conscience, which God uses to remind us of His truth.
David had done such a remarkable job of not listening to God that God had to use the bold voice of the prophet Nathan. Perhaps David was puzzled as Nathan began to tell him a story about a poor man’s pet lamb. At the end of the tale, David still did not hear God’s message. Nathan had to spell it out for him: “You are the man!” He then recounted everything David had done and how the Lord felt about his sin.
When David’s ears finally heard the truth, he repented immediately. David said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Sam. 12:13).
If you have been turning a deaf ear to what the Lord has been trying to tell you, it is never too late to ask forgiveness and travel on His road.
It is interesting. A few weeks back or so, I had a dream about a rock slide. I was convinced it was a spiritual dream, but I did not understand it. I asked for interpretation, and it was given; God was warning me that my life was in a danger zone, because of a woman.
I heeded the warning. It was not easy, it was not what I wanted to hear from God, nor was it what I wanted to do. But I obeyed God. I allowed God to show me what I had previously been unwilling to hear; I was sinning in my heart against God, by being in love with somebody in direct opposition to God’s Word and to God’s plan for my life. Even though it felt right to me, even though I was lifting the situation up to God in prayer day after day, still I was in the wrong, and I was sinning.
God is a forgiving God, when we turn away from what we know is wrong and repent and ask forgiveness and change our ways and actions and thoughts. He forgives us, but we still have to live with the consequences of our sin, which we bring upon ourselves. But, we are forgiven, and we have a chance to move on, on the right path for our lives.
“We all have setbacks. We’ll start over.”
Thanks be to God for His grace, His mercy, and His love. And for His warning signs, whether they are heeded or not. God is good, because God is true love.
Following God never brings us pain. Turning away from our sins, having to acknowledge that we have been in the wrong, that can bring us pain. So too will the consequences of our sins bring us pain, sometimes even after we have turned back to the right path. But God will never bring us pain. God's ways are good.
If we are experiencing great pain in life, it is usually because we are pulling against God, and trying to control things and do them our way, the way that we think they should be or should turn out.
Thanks be to our Saviour, we can start over.
Friday, November 21, 2008
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