Choosing Another Sidewalk

My Utmost For His Highest

Who is the man that fears the Lord? —Psalm 25:12

“Are you obsessed by something? You will probably say, “No, by nothing,” but all of us are obsessed by something— usually by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our own experience of the Christian life. But the psalmist says that we are to be obsessed by God. The abiding awareness of the Christian life is to be God Himself, not just thoughts about Him. The total being of our life inside and out is to be absolutely obsessed by the presence of God. A child’s awareness is so absorbed in his mother that although he is not consciously thinking of her, when a problem arises, the abiding relationship is that with the mother. In that same way, we are to “live and move and have our being” in God (Acts 17:28), looking at everything in relation to Him, because our abiding awareness of Him continually pushes itself to the forefront of our lives. If we are obsessed by God, nothing else can get into our lives— not concerns, nor tribulation, nor worries. And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. […] God will cause us to “dwell in prosperity,” keeping us at ease, even in the midst of tribulation, misunderstanding, and slander, if our “life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).”  CHAMBERS

Who do you turn to when you have a problem in your life?  God wants us to be so close to Him that we don’t even ask the question “What am I going to do?” With the focus being on ourselves, first.  Matthew 6:33 says “Seek first the kingdom of God”.  Everything should be done .. every thought should be thought in the context of your relationship with God.  When we think of 2 Corinthians 5:17, we tend to think of the bad things passing away .. sinful things .. but sin took root when Adam decided to decide for himself what the right thing to do was.  Consider this .. every aspect of your life is covered by your relationship with God.   There is no time when you should set God aside in favor of what you think is best.  What keeps us from living like that? Fear.  We are fearful that if we don’t do something it won’t get done.  The fear comes from a lack of faith.  The lack of faith comes from the lack of relationship.  The bottom line, God is not a priority in your life.  We do not see Him as a daily necessity.  And so, we live a miserable existence, far from the victorious life that God has intended for us.  You will never break the cycle you are in if you don’t choose to go another way.  At a Promise Keepers conference in Indianapolis in 1995, Dr. John Maxwell told a story about a man who was walking down a sidewalk and he fell into a deep hole.  He could not get out and eventually someone heard his cries and helped him out.  Well, the next day and the next number of days, he walked down the same sidewalk, falling in the same hole and crying out for help.  Then, one day, he decided to take another sidewalk.  Don’t you think it’s time for you to choose another sidewalk?  ELGIN

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)