It really gets on my nerves when people look at me and say, "Oh you're so innocent/righteous/other word that describes how pure I am, you just can't understand how difficult it would be for me to GO HARD for God the way you do."
'Scume, you DON'T know my life.
There is a reason why freshman year my nickname was Juicy (which everyone discovered from old high school friends), why certain people could not approach me because of my smart mouth. I have stories that could make you....yeah. Innocent? pul-leeze.
So I would like to say to all : Don't do me. I have been through it. Serving God with all your mind, body, and spirit is not easier for certain people. Have we not all sinned, and continue to sin, and fallen short of the glory of God? Romans 3:23 We are all the same people: sinners. And frankly, we don't even deserve to say Jesus's name, let alone do His work. So all that doubt, all that fear, all that unworthiness, helplessness, guess what - I FEEL IT TOO.
I believe that the difference is one thing: I realize that it is impossible for me, DeAnna, to serve God the way He deserves. Doing the Lord's work is not a duty performed in one's own strength. It is the Holy Spirit alone who teaches us to love Him sincerely.
(Sincere. Now that's a word. Without deceit, without thinking of how good it will make us look to this group, or this person, without any profit for ourselves....let us meditate on that...)
The life of faith is a life of obedience. Notice: obeDIEnce. We have to die to ourselves daily. We need to live in loving, total, sincere obedience to God. He must have entire possession of us.
IMPOSSIBLE!!! I know, that's me, my brain, my being, yelling.
But guess what? It may be impossible to you, but not to God. With God, all things are possible. Matthew 19:26 He has promised to put His Spirit in us so that we can do His works. John 16:8, 13 He will give us the strength to have fellowship with Christ, to keep His commandments, and to abide in His love. He will claim our whole heart and life.
What you see in me, that righteousness? That's Christ. He is in me. For if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Once we have grasped this truth, we will begin to feel our deep dependence on the Holy Spirit and ask God every day to send Him in power into our hearts. Acts 1:8
Is it that simple? God is a God of order...we as humans complicate things. All we have to do is BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, CONFESS that He is Lord and we are sinners, repent and TURN AWAY from our sins (don't keep looking back, let em go! They're just holding you down anyway, why do you keep going back to pick up more weight?), and SEEK THE KINGDOM of heaven and all these things will be added to you. Romans 10: 9, Acts 3: 19, Luke 12: 31
Those are powerful words. Take a minute today and actually think about actively applying them to your life. But remember, you can't do it by yourself. Ask Him for His Holy Spirit. Matthew 7:9-11
Lord, please teach us how to seek Your face, Your Holy Spirit, so that we may workship You, serve You, and love You with a pure and sincere heart. Amen.
~Dove Sister DeAnna Rhodes
I'm right there with you DeAnna. I feel like people think the same of me..and while it's true, I haven't necessarily been through or done things that other people have, that doesn't mean I haven't struggled or had hard times. Living for Christ IS hard, but it makes me all the more determined to walk this thing out. Plus, like you said, with God on our side...we can't lose! Good post :)
ReplyDeleteYou hit it on the nail....I have sinned struggled and still sin and struggle. The life of a Christian is never easy it just gets harder but the fact that I wake up every day knowing that His spirit is inside of me, knowing that He gave me a light to shine before other ppl gives me nothing but encouragement to serve Him and spread that same love and joy He gave me to others.
ReplyDeleteSOOOOO True . I get that all the time! That's why I'm always so quick to tell people exactly what I struggle with because it's through transparency that people make a connection with me. This was great though!
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