EVERYDAY


1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

The spirit, soul, and body are talking about all of us, every aspect of who we are. Paul wrote this as a way of saying that we must be completely led by the spirit in every way and every day. Our devotion to Jesus must not be just a one-day-a-week thing. We are to live and serve him daily, obeying his word and his commandments. We don’t get a day off with God. We may want to take one. We may want to have a little time sat aside to indulge in sin or visit the thought of it, after all, haven’t we
been forgiven for every sin, past, present, and future?

Jesus Christ must be Lord of all of us, not just those parts we want to reserve for religious things, or religious activities. We need to actively walk out our faith daily, fully surrendered to Jesus. We need to remember that at any moment he could return or we could be called home. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Today is the day we have to get it right, or at least make every effort to get it right!

Jesus can keep us when we actively surrender our bodies, minds, and souls to him. When He alone is the reason we wake up, the reason we do anything we do, knowing that the all-seeing God, truly does see it all, even our intent. Are we going to get it all right all the time? No. Is every intent of our hearts pure? No. We don’t even know our true hearts, the word tells us our hearts are deceptive above all else!

How then do we go about this daily living, this daily surrendering? We read God’s word and pray, then we pray, and read God’s word. His word is life, it is the truth! He tells us everything we need to live right in this world. He tells us that our flesh desires those things of this world that will rob us of our peace, our joy, and our intimacy with God. His word tells us those things we are commanded to do. If we study his word, seek him through prayer, surrender our wants for him, and let the Holy Spirit guide us, we may just get it right more times than not.

Jesus can keep us, He is the one who calls us, saves us, fills us, and keeps us. Not one the Father has given him will ever be lost. But we can make our journey through this earth much easier by being fully surrendered in every aspect of our lives. Remembering that we are never alone, He is with us every second of every day.

Surrender your control to Jesus. Let him come in like the mighty rushing wind he is; let him speak peace to your soul. Ask forgiveness for anything that the Holy Spirit brings to mind, knowing He is faithful to forgive. Then if there is some sin that you find yourself either flirting with or actively doing, stop! Ask the Holy Spirit to help you turn away. Here’s the thing, we become what we think about, look at, and actively participate in.

All sin is wrong, and to God sin is sin, whether it be you stilling gum out of someone’s purse or killing someone. God hates sin. But some sins rot your mind and fill your heart with things that are hard to forget and revisit you. The enemy prowls about roaring like a lion, looking for whom he may devour. He isn’t a lion, but he wants you. He may not be able to steal your soul, but he can steal your peace and your intimacy with Jesus. He can saddle up between you and God and cloud your mind.

Remember that sin starts in your head, moves to your heart, and given enough time will become what you do, you will act upon it. We are born sinners; it is only when we are born-again, fully surrendered that we can have that daily walk. Stay close to the Lord, let him have every day; let him show you how to walk, and talk in all your ways.