Saturday
Jan282012
Discerning God's Will
OB's post from yesterday got me thinking of how it is we can discern God's will for our lives. I really believe that the huge concept of "God's Will" can really be broken down into millions of tiny decisions. Do we cherish our wives in this moment or speak words of anger? Do we give in to this temptation, or resist the devil and have him flee from us? Do we trust God in this situation or play it safe? Do we give in to fear or hold onto faith instead?
I am praying for all of us today, that we would, today, choose Him.....in His strength and by His grace.
Also praying for the youth retreat...that not only would it be good, but it would be radically life altering for our kids.
Jan 28, 2012 at 8:40 5 Comments
Reader Comments (5)
I'm amazed at how amazingly creative God is. I'm looking out the window and seeing the snow fall, the snow covered trees and the beautiful mountains, and am in aw of a God that loved me so much, that through my sin he was still abel to create a way for us to be redeemed. Not only just redeemed but allows us to live in such a beautiful world knowing that heaven is so much more amazing and this is just a glimpse of how creative God is. What a glories hope we have in God. The crater of everything.
If we don't seek God's will in every decision, even the seemingly small ones, we display a foolish pride that says we don't need him - we got this. That's a scary place to be, isn't it? If we know that God's plan for us is so much better than our own plans, he is infinite and sees our future, our potential, the possibilities, then we should trust him with our lives - with every small decision.
Just thinking again today about God's blessing in my life. Sometimes his blessing doesn't look good or feel good to us, but in time he allows us to see what he saw all along. I am so grateful, he is such a good God. Thank you God for the hard times, the valleys, when my faith was tested and I was totally confused. And thank you for the peaks, when I get a glimpse of what you see and I am overwhelmed by your love for me.
Great thoughts Mannes, thanks!
I agree whole heartedly with all that was written today! God keeps reminding me of two main thoughts. One is-God has given us everything we need in order to experience his life-changing power in our lives, and secondly, that we have a very clear mission to reach out to the hurting and broken world around us with this same life-changing God's love and truth.
God keeps reminding me of something Beth Moore said- that in order to experience God as He wants, we need to build our lives, each day, in each situation, on these foundational truths:
God is who He says He is.
God can do what He says He can do.
I am who God says I am.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
God's Word is alive and active in me.
...and if I live my life on these foundational truths, my life should look very different than those without Christ!
In the last few weeks, God has literally bombarded our family with hurting broken people. Mothers' with violent teens, broken marriages, drug dependencies. 12 year olds who don't feel safe in their own homes. 14 year olds that are pregnant- others who come from such destruction and chaos in their homes - that seek refruge at our home and with our kids. Parents of some of these kids showing up at our door (having never met us personally) and crying, looking for help and support. People in desperate situations with a new found openness to Jesus. I'm so thankful for that. God allowed me at 16 to go through such turmoil that the stubborn, self- reliant girl in me KNEW I couldn't do life on my own anymore- my desperation drove my pride into the dirt and made my heart willing to put my trust in God. That situation-that moment- changed my life forever- and my prayer is that these hurting people- will also be willing to seek Jesus for the strength and hope they lack on their own.
Most of these teens I've told you about have recently started to come to youth and are also on the youth retreat right now. God is so good and I trust is doing powerful things in their hearts as we speak- it's a battle though- so I keep praying...and trusting...God is who He says He is! God can do what He says He can do ! Those teens are who He says they are! They can do all things ( and overcome even the toughest of situations) through Christ! And God's Word is alive and actively changing lives- lives at Southside and lives at the youth retreat! God is so awesome!!!
LOVED your post, Lor!