Embrace the Within no. 149

“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him. [Here the use of Greek present imperatives (asking, seeking, knocking; vv 7, 8) emphasizes persistent, constant prayer.]

Matthew 7:7-11 AMP

Persistence is the key to getting what we need. I need to be committed to asking, committed to getting doors opened, and committed to seeking what I need. And that persistence is being in constant communication with the Father. Persistent, constant prayer is the foundation of my Walk with the Lord.

Three years ago I started asking, seeking, and knocking to find a better way that was not filled with fear. I had spent years thinking everything was going to be okay with faith in the world’s systems. If I just made enough money, then I was going to be safe. If I just followed the rules, then I was going to be safe. BUT there is no safety from fear in the world. When the plague hit and things were closed and supply chains dissolved and fear began to grow, no amount of money, no amount of rules, no amount of faith in worldly systems was going to protect me. Only the Way of the Lord was there to provide the Way through those times.

So I started looking to Him for answers and they continued slowly. He helped me build not only faith in Him BUT also faith in myself to follow Him persistently. And I think that was what I was lacking even more than faith in Him. I wasn’t trying to get myself right until then. I was trying to make everything else right, everyone else right . . . I was trying to remake the world in my image when I should have been remaking myself into a better image of Him. And that is what I have dedicated the work of these past three years to doing.

Am I doing that He wants? Am I asking Him what He wants? Am I persistently seeking what He has for me to accomplish? Am I working on my relationship with Him? Am I working on my relationship with others? Am I looking to be a better Ambassador of His Kingdom daily?

I pray that every day I walk with persistence. I pray that through my persistence He will open the doors and He will speak through me. I pray that my actions and my thoughts are always working to better align with the Way He wants. I pray that every day I am keeping that persistence in moving toward being a better image of Christ on this side of eternity.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 148

“Therefore, as the chosen of God, holy and dearly loved, put on affection, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, putting up with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone should have a complaint against anyone, just as also the Lord forgave you, thus also you do the same. And to all these things add love, which is the bond of perfection. And the peace of Christ must rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.”

Colossians 3:12-15 LEB

I am selfish. I typically want other folks to be more like me because it will make my life easier. If folks just did things my way, thought my way, lived my way, then things would go a lot more smoothly for me.

It’s never going to be that way. That’s my way of doing things. Praise God that isn’t His way of doing things or I wouldn’t exist. Too often my way is not His Way. And my way is selfish.

I don’t want the best for others for their benefit. I want the best for others because it benefits me. I want folks to conform to my selfish ways of the world being reshaped in my image. I want folks to act the way I want. I want folks to support the things I support. I want folks to act in a way that benefits me. BUT that isn’t what God wants. God wants me to act like Christ. God wants me to reflect His Son when he looks at me. I bear His image BUT I want what I want too often.

I rarely “put on affection, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience”. I typically don’t tolerate or forgive others. And I am insufficient when it comes to love. The Spirit is supposed to be living inside of me. I am supposed to have the fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control”. I am to be all those things because Christ is and was and will be those things. BUT I am not to be selfish.

Too often I am surrounded by selfish people. And that selfishness wears off on me. I see selfishness in the questions being raised by folks in church. I see selfishness in the questions I am asked by students. I see selfishness in social media posts. I see selfishness in the actions of my family. I see selfishness in the choices of my friends. I see selfishness in the reporting of the news. I see selfishness everywhere including in my own choices. And the first place and last place I need selfishness to change is with me.

I pray today that I listen to the Spirit inside me. I pray that I rely on The Way of the Lord to shape my vision and not my way. I pray that I do better at living a life that is selfless rather than selfish. I pray that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control become my character. I pray that I put on affection, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, putting up with one another, and forgiving one another. I need to change myself before I can change anything else in this world. Father, let me be Your change today and tomorrow and forever.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH