Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

When I read this scripture I start thinking about my relationship with Christ and where I am in it. In other words, I wonder where I am in the process of being holy and pleasing to God, a living sacrifice. If this is my true and proper worship then it is important for me to examine my heart daily to see where I am in the process of not conforming to this world and its ways. Some days I think I have this”, and other days I think am I even saved? I think we all go through that, days when we feel really close to the Lord and that we are walking in truth living it out, and then those times when heaven and eternal life seem so far away.

I know I want my walk with the Lord to please him in every way, I try daily to not conform to this worlds standards, but being a living sacrifice, how do I do that? Personally, I think it is one choice at a time. When we have the opportunity to choose right or wrong. His way or my way. It is knowing that this life is not just about me and that the choices I make affect those around me and can either build someone up or tear them down. Learning that it is not about me does take a lifetime! When we are born and move into toddlerhood we think everything is about us, not on a conscious level because we are too small, but everything we do says it. As we grow we tend to want those things that make us comfortable and happy. I think laying down self can be very hard.

Therefore, I think we need a lifetime to get it right and when we do then our life is his completely. We do not have to worry whether or not we are pleasing the Lord with our worship. When we surrender every moment of every day to him, we seek his will and his way, we decide it is not about us and humbly submit to him, we can trust that he receives our worship with gladness and maybe at night when we lay down we will hear him whisper to us, well done!

I cannot speak for anyone else just myself, but I desperately want to hear those words at the end of each day and not just at the end of my life. James 4:14 tells us that our lives are just a vapor here today gone tomorrow. We are not promised tomorrow, so our lifetime might not be that long, in light of that we need to make each day count.
I am committed, are you?

Choose to follow Him with every breath, with every beat of your heart. Make the decision to live each day to the fullest in a relationship with Jesus. If you fall…get back up and keep looking to the cross.

Now for some, you might be thinking that this is a strange title, but for others, you know exactly what I mean; we are all going to sin, but how bad that sin, we do not know. As long as we are on this earth in bodies of flesh we are going to struggle. Sin is a part of us and has been since Adam’s fall. If you are thinking that have no struggle with sin, you are only fooling yourself, but you are not fooling God.

My Pastor once said, “if you trust your flesh, that is your first mistake, it will let you down.” It is not a matter of maybe, it is a for sure going to happen at some point fact! For myself that has proved true on more occasions than I care to admit. We all have.

Have you had moments like that? Maybe you chose to spread a malicious gossip about someone, or maybe you took something that did not belong to you. It does not matter the sin, it is all equal to the Lord. Sometimes we want to justify our actions, maybe that person in our eyes deserved to be gossiped about. Wrong! Not a smart thing by any means, but there are times when we choose to satisfy our flesh and not walk in purity before the Lord.

I really think that people feel they can make themselves better, they can live above sin. When we are born into the kingdom and baptized we are buried with Christ and raised to newness in life, the old man has passed away. Roman’s 6:4 tells us this. Now in that moment, every sin is forgiven. We suddenly have Christ’s righteousness. So many people think this means, I will never sin again, I cannot, I am new; however, although the old man is gone, our sin nature that lies deep in our DNA is still there. As the Holy Spirit teaches us and changes us we should act differently and sin should not be a habitual thing in our life, but there will be times that we do sin.

Even Paul says this in Roman’s 7:25-20 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

The “good news” is this, we have an advocate with the Father and his name is Jesus, he alone took our sin and shame to the cross and suffered and died for us, that we would never receive the punishment due us. Every sin forgiven, forgotten as though it never happened, for all eternity. It doesn’t make us want to sin more, thinking we have a free pass, grace, and more grace, or at least it shouldn’t. As we grow in the wisdom of Christ and our hearts are changed we desire to please The Lord above all else. And when we do sin, we ask and receive forgiveness from our Savior, Jesus.

I know that I will not be free of my sin nature until I am home in Heaven, however, I have learned to “not trust my flesh”. I know that without a right relationship with Christ, without constantly seeking him and his will I can easily get distracted and possibly cave to sin.

I used to think that if I could just get into Heaven and hear the Lord say “well done”, that would be a great moment. I find these days that if I can lay my head on my pillow at night and hear “well done” at the end of my day, that makes my heart happy. I want to please The Lord, sometimes I do and other times not so much, but I am so thankful for that Amazing Grace that flows with love and forgiveness!

Romans 8:28 says: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Working all things for my good, it doesn’t say that it will make me happy, or that everything that happens to me is good. We live in a fallen, sinful, evil world. Sin is prevalent in our society, and deeper still in our very DNA. For those who have been called this is a very comforting verse. It tells me that God’s long-range purpose for my life in all circumstances is to bring about
good on my behalf. He has my well-being at the center of his heart. Does this mean it is for everyone, no, it is for those who are “the called”, those that have felt the move of the Holy Spirit and repented of your sins, they have been saved and filled with his Holy Spirit, they are his children!

Gods ultimate goal is to make us like Christ, to use the events of our life to change us, to take us to greater heights in our walk with him. He uses the good, the bad, and the ugly to accomplish his purpose in us and in this universe.
Scripture says this about God’s sovereignty:

Exodus 33: 19b “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

Ephesians 1:11 “In him, we were also chosen having been predestined according to the plan of him who works at everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”

Psalm 115:3 “to quote our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”

Even people of this world, our parents and we as parents intend good for our children, or at least most do. They love to do good things for them, they love to see them prosper and do well. So, we must ask this question that we find in Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?” It is really written as a statement in the Bible but it is a great question to ponder.

Life is hard, good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people, but in all of this God is Sovereign over it, and for his children he always intends it for their good. When we come through a time of testing or trial we can trust that God is working all things out, he won’t forsake us, and although we may not see the good now; One day we will know, maybe on this side of heaven, or maybe on the other side. I can assure you it will not matter anymore because we are home! Praise God!

We can rest on his plans for us knowing he loves us and wants to make us more like him and when our time of “construction” has ended; He will take us home!

Isn’t our Lord amazing? To think that He willingly went to the cross for us knowing who we were and who we would be. He chose the path, planned it from the beginning of time, and when it came time to act on it he did not back down or change his mind; he said yes. That yes cost him a life, his life. When he looked through the window of time he saw a needy me. He saw me unable to live in a state of perfect holiness. He knew I could not, would not keep the law that he had established. There was only one way and that was through Jesus Christ, the perfect lamb of God. He would have to die to atone for the sins I would commit, not just me, but the whole world.

This was not a pretty death, he wasn’t just stabbed or shot. No, he had to hang on an ugly cross naked, his skin torn off from the lashing he had received, bleeding from wounds on his head and suffocating from not being able to bear his own weight. He was pierced through his hands and feet. No, this was an ugly, painful, slow death. And all the while he knew that I would not do the right thing all the time, He knew that the world would forget what he had done, that many would never ever put their trust in him, yet he chose the plan, he stuck to the plan and he carried out the plan. He was perfect in every way, completely without any sin of his own; yet he became sin for you and me.

I have heard it said that someone might die for a good man, but for a bad man, never. Jesus died for all men, good and bad. He died so that we might have access to the Father, to eternity with him. He died to make a way where there was no way. His perfect sinless life was given for my sinful wretched one. I am so humbled by this, I am in awe of this, I am eternally grateful for this!

I will never receive the due penalty for my sins. I will never see hell. Why, because I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I received the free gift of grace that he was offering. Knowing Jesus is the only way, there is no other, scripture is very clear about this. In John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And then in John 10:7 Jesus says this “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” He alone is the way, the only way. So, if you find yourself without this hope of a future with Jesus in heaven, now is the time to call on him. He will save you and in an instant, every sin you have ever committed or will ever commit is wiped clean. You stand before him pure, wearing His righteousness and holiness. When the Father looks at you He sees Jesus and accepts you, just as you are.

If that does not make him amazing, I do not know what does. He did not have to come, He did not have to die, He did not have to save me and give me his righteousness, but he did. He stepped through the windows of time, took on human form and allowed himself to die for you and me; and He waits for your yes.

Hebrews 4:16, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Is today your day? He is waiting….

I hear people say all the time that when they get to heaven they are going to ask Jesus, “Why did this happen, why didn’t you stop such and such, where were you when etc… Are you kidding me! Have you read what Scripture says about God’s glory? Here is just one:
Revelation 21:23 “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” God’s glory is so bright that all
of heaven needs no other light! We are told in Psalm 29:2”2 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in
the beauty of holiness.”

I think when we get to heaven that we will be so overwhelmed by God’s glory and holiness that we will bow low and worship. We read in Revelation 4:3-5 this:”3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. In front of the throne,
seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits[a] of God.”

And you think that after seeing this you are going to still be all puffed up and worried about something that happened to you on earth, NOT POSSIBLE!!! Anytime in scripture that we read about someone having an encounter with God, they are not all argumentative and puffed up or demanding. We see the opposite of that. In Revelation 22:8-9 we read: “8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me”. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!” John was so overwhelmed with what he saw that he started to bow down and even worship the angel that was showing him these things.

Any thought of earth and its troubles will not be anywhere in our thinking when standing face to face with the one who saved and cleansed any thought about this earth and its troubles will not enter our thinking. When stand face-to-face with the Jesus the who saved us her hearts will be completely overwhelmed with Thanksgiving and gratitude that we will be prostrate on the floor of heaven shouting this along with all the other heavenly host, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is to come!

I don’t know about you, but I am constantly feeling like I just do not measure up. I’m not as smart as most people, I’m not as pretty as the world says I should be, I’m not as thin as the world says I need to be, I have not acquired the things the world says I need, I don’t have a large bank account, I don’t travel the world, I don’t, I don’t…

If I were to listen to what the world tells me I need to go crawl into a hole and stay there. I should be ashamed to show my face. The worldview is so mixed up and to be honest so confusing that you just wonder; what do I need to do? I’m not sure why this is surprising since scripture makes it very clear that in the last days wrong will be right, and right will be wrong. I don’t know about you but it sure looks like that’s where we are these days.

Here is what scripture tells us: 2 Timothy 3:1-31 “Be sure of this. In the last days, hard times will come. 2 People will love themselves. They will love money. They will talk about themselves and be proud. They will say wrong things about people. They will not obey their parents. They will not be thankful. They will not keep anything holy. 3 They will have no love. They will not agree with anybody. They will tell lies about people. They will have no self-control. They will beat people. They will not love anything that is good.”

Does this sound like our world to you? I have come to the realization that I do not want to be like the world, I don’t want my values to be dictated by the world values, I don’t want my opinion of myself to be dictated by what the world says etc… I want to be so in love with Jesus, his way, and all that he has for me that this worlds thinking doesn’t come into my mind or affect my behavior.

Mark 12:30-31 says this: “30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.”

So, I look away from the world, and I look inward at myself and I asked these questions “do I love God with all my soul, my mind, my strength and do I love my neighbor as I love myself?” If there is no greater commandment than this I need to pay attention to it, and I need to do these things with everything that is in me. He would not have said to do these things if it was impossible, the Holy Spirit in me makes it possible!

I see young girls trying so hard to look like a grown woman, trying to make sure their bodies meet some expected look. So many have eating disorders and such because they feel there is no other way to get “that look.” And the pressure that is put on kids to succeed, to get stuff, as much stuff as they can. The world is in love with the stuff, bigger houses, better cars, the latest name brand whatever. Sadly they forget that we did not enter this world with stuff. We came naked into the world and when we leave it, we leave all our stuff here for someone else to enjoy.

I think if we all started loving our neighbor as ourselves, showing kindness to anyone and everyone we come in contact with and stop trying to get there, wherever there is, we would see a change in our world. We need to be an example to the world. We all struggle with something, feeling like we are not “enough” is not what God intended for us. So, when I have a moment where I have compared myself to someone, my stuff to their stuff and I feel I fall short, I remember whose I am; I remember I am dearly loved and that I have all I need in him.

There will always be someone prettier, more accomplished, smarter and higher up the worldly ladder than I am and you know what I am perfectly okay with that. Knowing I have a Father in Heaven who loves me, who died for me, who is always present and always on my side, is enough!

There is a verse in Jeremiah that speaks volumes to anyone who pays attention. Jeremiah 23:23 and 24 say “Am I only a God nearby, “and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? “Do not I fill heaven and earth?”

Have you ever tried to hide from God? You know you have committed a sin and you want to keep it to yourself, you are ashamed. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden. You have convinced yourself that it was done in secrecy and that not even God could see what you were doing, or for that matter what you’re thinking. We convince ourselves that God is like us, he can only be in one place at one time, he can only see what he is present in that moment to see, therefore, if he was not physically with us when we committed the sin he does not know about it. Newsflash! God is always present, you cannot hide from him, you cannot hide your sin from him; your thoughts are not hidden from him. He sees, hears, and knows everything we think or do, he is ever-present in our lives.

Think of the worst thing you’ve ever done or thought, now imagine doing those things with the knowledge that God is watching, he is right there with you seeing and hearing everything. For a Christian, this brings immediate embarrassment and shame. You would give anything to erase those moments in time.

If we were more aware of God’s presence in our lives I believe we would be living differently? I think most of us would at the very least think twice before we went to “that” place, or we hopefully would think twice about putting something questionable before our eyes,or giving in to a sin. Wouldn’t we guard our thoughts and our words more carefully? Taking each thought captive?

Our Lord “IS” with us, he fills the heaven and the earth, there is no place we can run or hide, he sees us while we’re running and he sees us where we are trying to hide; the beautiful thing about our God who is ever present, who sees and knows everything we think or do; he loves us and he longs to forgive us. He desires that we bring our dirty laundry, our sin to him; he wants to be gracious and kind to us. Jesus died for our past, present, and our future sin. There is no sin other than the sin of unbelief that cannot be forgiven. He longs for us to lay down our shame and run into his arms and ask forgiveness. He longs to put us back on the right path, to give us a better future. He knows that the power of sin is in its secrecy and the devil would love for us to hide away in shame and try to convince us it is hidden from an all-seeing God.

While he was hanging on the cross he knew everything we would ever do or say, and he willingly chose to die for us. We can rest and have peace in that! Just knowing he is ever present and with us everywhere, knowing how holy he is should make us stop in our tracks, re-think the sin we’re about to commit. I have been guilty of dragging my Lord into terrible sin, I forgot his holiness, I forgot that he has given me power through his precious Holy Spirit to resist sin if I will call upon that power. If you do find yourself in sin RUN to Jesus, he is faithful and just to forgive us!

Isaiah 41:10 says: Do not fear for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you. For I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I don’t know about you, but this verse fills me with peace. Knowing that God is with me always, no matter my circumstances, no matter what may or may not be going right or wrong brings me such peace and contentment. There have been times when I have had to meditate on this verse, times when I was full of fear and I was anxious because I did not know what to do or where to turn.

God doesn’t say I might uphold you, or if you will just get your emotions under control I will uphold you; he says that he is my God, that he will strengthen me and that he will
uphold me. If the bottom is falling out of my world or yours and you belong to him, you and I will land in his arms. I have had those times when the bottom has fallen out of my world, and it was into his precious arms that I found myself being held, being strengthened, all fear leaving me.

When I was a child I was afraid to go to bed. I was afraid that my daddy would come into my room and abuse me, abuse was apart of my every- day life and I was confident that evil lurked around every corner. I would put my head under the covers and I would say, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus over and over again until eventually I would fall peacefully asleep. My grandmother had shared with me that when she was afraid she would whisper Jesus over and over again until peace came. She told me that she knew that he heard her cry for help and she would quote Isaiah 41:10. She said that I could always call upon the name of the Lord, that he would hear me, that he would quiet my fears and hold me until I drifted off to sleep. I did not realize then that she was teaching me a pattern for life. On more than one occasion I have cried into my pillow quietly saying: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus help me, Jesus!”

Psalm 4:9 says: “In peace, I will lie down and fall asleep, for you alone Lord make me secure.”

These days I find myself falling very peacefully asleep, I have learned through the hard times that he is faithful. That when I call out his name he answers me. God cares about the things that
concern me, that cause me fear or pain. He doesn’t always take those things away, mostly he grows me through them. Ever vigilant to make sure that I never have more than I can
stand, but just enough to make me lean in a little closer to him. So, the next time you are feeling fearful, call his name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Peace…Precious peace will flood your soul.

God does not always change the storms of our lives, but he does change us through the storms. My pastor always says these words and they are so very true. We need to look at our storm through Jesus and not look at Jesus through our storm. It truly changes your perspective. Sometimes we think the storm we are facing is too big for God and we forget that there is nothing too hard for him, nothing! Mathew 19:26 says “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” and in Jeremiah 32:27 He asks us this question; ” I am the Lord, the God of all mankind, Is there anything too hard for me?” The answer is “NO” there is not!
He is with us and He will see us through, He will quiet our fears and He will dry our tears.

Do you ever find yourself sitting, daydreaming about something or someone? It occupies your every waking moment, sometimes robs you of sleep. Sometimes they are good thoughts and other times not. And there are those times when someone will tell me I’ve had you on my mind, or I’ve been thinking about you lately and it warms me to know that they thought about me. Of- course, this is assuming they were good thoughts! God’s tells us that he thinks about us as well. As a matter of fact, it says that he thinks
about me so much that it would outnumber the sand on the sea. Wow, this totally amazes me. To think that the God who created the universe has me on his mind. And all his thoughts toward me are good and full of love and grace.

Psalm 139:17-18King James Version (KJV)
“17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”

Psalm 40:5“Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

Psalm 139:17“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them”!

In addition to these thoughts, he thought enough of me to die for me. He decided I was worth a life; his life. His thoughts toward me were so great that they nailed him to a cross. His word says this:

Romans 5:8“But God demonstrates his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Revelation 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the
kings of the earth. Unto him, that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”

Now, I’m pretty confident that if it came to it I would die for my children, my husband, some close family member, but to die for people who didn’t love me, who sinned against me; Would I , could I think so much of them that I would die for them, can’t say that I would. However, Jesus doesn’t see us as we are he sees us as we will be and his thoughts moved him to action. He knew we had no other way to the Father, He knew we could not obey the law. His death and resurrection was the only way, and He willingly obeyed the Father and willingly, with love in his heart and salvation in our future gave his life for us. We were on his mind and it moved him to the ultimate sacrifice.

John 10:11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 15:13“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

So, the next time you find yourself daydreaming about someone, turn your thoughts toward Jesus meditate on his great love for you!