Living the Life

My Utmost For His Highest

 We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”  CHAMBERS

 The key to living the new life we have been given as Christ followers is maintaining a relationship with the Lord.  That does not mean somehow you must avoid losing your salvation … you can’t undo your adoption … you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14)  “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

 What it does mean is that you must personally build a relationship with the Lord and maintain it.  Reading the Word, talking with God, and living in obedience to what He says … John 14:21 says that if you keep God’s commandments you demonstrate that you love God.  Deuteronomy 32:46-47 says the Bible is not just words .. it’s our life … our guide to how God intended His creation to live in relationship to Him, other people and the world they live in. 

 By staying in touch with God every day, we remain sensitive to His Word and will.  It’s like driving on the interstate.  The speed limit is 70mph.  Most cars drive 80 and others even faster.  Everyone knows what the law says, but they ignore it … until they see the police car and then they become law abiding drivers … at least until they know they aren’t going to get stopped.  We need to practice driving the speed limit … I have found that I still arrive at my destination … Saving a few minutes or a couple of hours is not worth compromising what I know to be right.  If I compromise  there … where else am I willing to compromise?  It is a slippery slope.  So I deliberately set the speed on the cruise control to 70mph.  Sometimes I need to be reminded to set it … I have an angel sitting next to me :o)  but you get the point. 

To live this life in Christ in the manner that God intended I must be intentional, I must read the Word, I must talk to God, obey what He says, and I must do that every day. Are you doing those things?  All of those things?  If not you now understand the reason why God seems so distant and your faith of so little value.  There is much more to be said .. thousands of books have been written on the subject … but that is enough for today.

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)