Embrace the Within no. 178

“Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to [sexual] impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin], because [by choice] they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen” (Romans 1:24-25 AMP).

God allows me to get what I want even when what I want is not what I need. I get to make choices about how I live this life. I can choose to follow His Truth that is revealed through His creation to me daily or I can choose to follow my own selfish desires. I can choose to worship a creation enthroned or I can choose to enthrone the Creator.

I need to worry about my own heart. Am I focused on living a life that resembles and reflects the teachings of The Christ or am I living a life that reveals my own selfishness? I have a lot of excuses for not living like Jesus. BUT, they are all rooted in my own selfishness of not wanting to pick up my cross and follow Him. They are all rooted in the selfishness of disobedience and worshiping a creation over the Creator. And most of the time that creation I choose to worship is me.

If I am living a life aligned with Jesus, then I should be loving God and my neighbor. I should have the outward and inward fruits of the Spirit, “. . . love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23 AMP). I should be a light to others in my daily walk. I should be an Ambassador of His Kingdom by the way I live my life. Am I that example of goodness?

I pray that all I say and do reflect the Creator. I pray that I am faithful to bearing His image each day. I pray that my walk worships and serves Him as a beacon to those who are lost. I pray that my ambassadorship of His Kingdom is an example of goodness in my home, my community, and the world at large. I pray that this example helps strengthen the chracter of The Church in this fallen world.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 177

“For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense. For even though they [Anyone who attributes the existence of the world to chance or to a different creator is already guilty of deliberately rejecting God, because to deny the true God one must set aside common sense] knew God [as the Creator], they did not honor [glorify]Him as God or give thanks [for His wondrous creation]. On the contrary, they became worthless in their thinking [godless, with pointless reasonings, and silly speculations], and their foolish heart was darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God for an image [worthless idols][Paul’s indictment of idolatry (images) is logical and devastating. He emphasizes that idols are essentially copies of living creatures, whether in human form (as, for example, in ancient Greek myth) or otherwise (as in Egyptian idolatry and metaphysics). These lifeless images are clearly powerless, and even the living creatures which they supposedly represent are either nonexistent hybrids and monsters, or else ordinary creatures on earth who could hardly create so much as a grain of sand] in the shape of mortal man and birds and four-footed animals and reptiles.”

Romans 1:20-23 AMP

For as long as I can remember, I have known that God exists. Paul here writes about people that deny this very Truth. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God for an image” (Romans 1:22-23 AMP).

And sometimes, even though I am certain of God, I exchange knowledge of Him for an image. And sometimes that image is me. Sure, I can exchange Him for sports or family or sin BUT all too often I exchange Him for selfishness. I exchange Him for what I want. I exchange Him for the image of myself.

And if there is one thing that sums up all my problems in my relationship with God, it is selfishness. I don’t have to worry about not believing in Him BUT I do have to worry about exchanging worship of Him for worship of self. When I start to get the idea that I am doing this whole living for Him thing right, that is the time I need to look out the most. I need to be concerned at those times because those are the times I want to enthrone myself in His place. And that selfishness is a constant obstacle this side of eternity.

My own righteousness, my own selfishness, my own indignation, leads to my enthroning myself in His place. I replace Him for an image. And I am then being foolish while claiming to be wise. I need to always focus on His understanding. My thinking becomes worthless because “even though I know God, I do not honor Him” (Romans 1:21).

I pray today that I keep God enthroned in my life. I pray that I give God the honor and respect and praise He deserves. I pray that I give Him the priority in my life and no longer try to replace Him with any image. I pray that I am selfless in my reflection of His image and not my own.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH