Day 1:
Point to ponder: It's not about me.
This is such a simple concept yet it defies every ounce of our self centered lives. If we could just remember this in everything that we do, think, and say how easily surrender to God would be. Even though I know without a shadow of a doubt that any and every thing God plans for my life is the absolute best thing for me, self still gets in the way. It's like what Paul said in his writings,the things I want to do I don't do and the things I don't want to do I do( I know it's not an exact quote and I didn't give a reference either and I'm not sure but it could have been Peter and not Paul that wrote it. But I think its in Romans. I know I know I'm just being to lazy to look it up). Any way You get what I'm saying,Right?
Verse to Remember: Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. Col. 1 : 16(Msg)
This verse takes me back to Genesis and creation. Why did God create us? I believe He created us so he could love us and be loved by us. Not that the trinity wasn't in a loving relationship already with each other but they wanted to share that love with others. Kinda like a family. A couple starts out in marriage as two but pretty soon they want to share their love with another so they have children and so on. That's one way that we are created in Gods image. We desire to love others and receive love in return. We were created to be social being in that way. God placed in us a desire to love and be loved. But we also have the freedom to choose whom we will love. Will we love ourselves more than He or others. Unfortunately this is to often the case.
Question to consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself ?
Well I guess one direct way would be to avoid as much of that advertising as possible. Another thing might be to make some advertisement of my own and place it in highly visible places around the house in the car etc. Most importantly I need to be in prayer AMAP(as much as possible). And I need to surrender to God every day, every time I pray. I like to sing so I'll probably sing about it a little too.
It's Not About Me. I'm not sure I was of the mind that it's not about me, but what am I supposed to do for Him. It has been question that had not been answer for a long time. I have always been willing to give of myself without hesitation, and that has been a problem for me (not being able to say no). Then one day God slowly began working with me and letting me know that I needed to trust Him and in Him and lay all at the feet of my Savior. In the last few years my marriage has headed south. What is amazing is that my soon-to-be ex- atended a small group who studied this book and I saw no change in her life. I have some what avoided reading "The Purpose Driven Life," but since this is the second mention of it to me by friends, I think it is time.
ReplyDeleteRemember: It can be challenging to remember that our purpose is in God and that He makes it known to us. This world can so quickly distract us from our purpose. it will be a little more difficult for me int he near future because I feel the need to be selfish, but at the same time I want to spend as much uninterrupted time with my Savior to regain that which I put aside to satisfy others. i did an evalngelistic series here not too long ago and church members are telling me that I missed my calling. Here's a question: Is my calling part of my purpose, or is my calling my whole purpose?
Ponder: I listen to music CDs and the Bible on Audio in my truck. I just recently finished the Kings and Chronicles. As I listed to the story of each king in Israel and Judah, I see that if you choose not to live for God, He cannot provide you with His protection and safety. Listening to my co-workers and pondering on God's Word application in my life remind me that God is in control and I need to let Him drive. Sometimes I wonder if a commercial or something I see can be turned into a sermon about the Gospel and salvation. It's in everyday life that we can see God's hand.