March 28th

March 28th  

We live in this broken world in broken bodies surrounded by mess. But we have this hope that one day we will see Him face to face and be made perfectly complete, glorified in Heaven. We have this Hope! One day we will be resurrected to Heaven and be in complete Shalom, Shalom. We have this hope! We are in a dark world of death and sin but we are the light. We are the light because we have the Light (Jesus) living in us. We don’t have to wait for Heaven to have hope.

Are we living like we have this hope? Are we living like we are full of the Light of Jesus? Or are we just biding our time, scrapping and scraping along, waiting for eventual relief? If this is you, are you ready to let God do something different in your life? Are you ready to let Jesus change you and your life? Are you ready for the Holy Spirit to transform you? You are called with a purpose and when you surrender to the Lord’s will completely for you and your life, everything changes. When He is no longer someone you tack on to your life one day a week or even every morning, when He becomes your purpose and what/who you live for, then your life will be transformed and be fulfilling.

We must surrender our wills, our ideas and misconceptions of what this involves, and even who it involves. We must be willing to put our own desires on the shelf and say “Here I am Lord, send me.”

Do you hear the Spirit calling you? Do you hear Him? He is saying, “It’s time.”

It is time to let go of our old way of thinking, feeling, and doing. It’s time to follow Him with all of our being. It’s not focusing on what we are letting go of or giving up, it’s about focusing on what He is calling us to. It’s time people. There is no time left for playing around or playing church. The Holy Spirit is calling us to follow His lead and walk completely in His will for us.

Hebrews 12:1-4 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Yes, He calls us away from ourselves and our desires, yes, we give up what we want in exchange for what He wants. But, what He offers us is so much more.

We are so quick to settle for less than He has designed us for and planned for us. Here is a quote from C.S. Lewis and how true it is:

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

What we are giving up is mud pies compared to the Living Hope that He has called us to which is so glorious that we can’t fathom it until we experience it and then there is still more, and then there is still more, and then…still more.

Hebrews 6:18-19 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

2Cornthians 3:12-13 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.

Verses 15-18 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Let’s give up the veil, tell the Holy Spirit you are ready, surrender and let the Hope that you have produce a reflection of the Glory of God in you that will be evident to yourself and others as you walk forward in obedience in a new level of communion with Jesus!

Jesus thank you for being my Living Hope! I don’t want to just walk around in a mediocre life following my own dreams and striving for my own goals. I want to follow you. Holy Spirit I hear your call, I am ready. Help me to surrender everything for you. Show me how to walk forward in this new surrendered walk with you. Show me how to have that fellowship with you that shines on my face and in my life and I will not cover it with a veil. I give you all of my mudpies and everything I have been holding on to up to this point. Take my life and let it be completely yours. I am ready for more. Thank you for allowing me to fully be a part of your plan Jesus!