Read It, Learn It,
Live It, Share It
“Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” – Titus 2:12-13
I have always found this scripture to be reassuring and challenging.
Daily we are bombarded with opportunities for unrighteous, ungodly
behavior. The world is filled with lustful desires and tempting
distractions, causing each of us to take a step back and ask ourselves, “What
if Jesus were with me right now?” One of the things they teach you in press training is never say something that you would not want on the cover of the Wall Street Journal the next morning. Truthful, factual and authentic words must be carefully planned before they ever leave your lips. It is so easy in today’s fast paced world to say something that you didn’t truly mean, regardless of what the intent might have been. So it is with our actions. People get caught up in the moment and one thing leads to another and suddenly they’ve gone too far. What is it about our desire to impress, to blend in and to create an image of acceptance that drives us to step over that boundary of righteous behavior?
We are bound by an inherent evil of the flesh and desires of the heart in this world. It isn’t something that only impacts a select group of individuals, or a small percentage of the populous. The real question is not whether we are all sinful. The answer to that is unequivocally yes, it is in every single one of us from Kim Kardashian to Billy Graham, we are all captive by the sinful nature of mankind. The real question is around our adherence to the convictions of the Holy Spirit and our ability of each of us to deny this nature and seek the righteousness and godliness of our Savior – Jesus Christ. The more control we give over to the God and the Holy Spirit the easier it becomes to resist the temptations when they arise. There is where the real problem comes into play. We look at the lustful desires of our heart and choose to pursue them. It is a choice we are making to refuse God’s will for our life and pursue that which we know to be against His righteousness.
There are areas in my life where I have to constantly be reminding myself that where I go, I take God (in the Holy Spirit) with me. I am dragging the perfection of our King and Almighty Father into the depths of Hell and evil by decisions I am making in my life. I know I’m not alone in this struggle. I know that the likelihood is, that as you are reading this you are also scouring through your mind those areas where you know you have given in to the cravings of your flesh and the lustful desires of your heart. It might be in the area of work, greed, materialism, sex, drugs, alcohol, food and yes even violence.
Have you noticed that in the valley’s of your life, you probably had taken the steering wheel back with full intent of controlling the curves in your life – only to end up in the ditch. Today is the day for you to lay it out there for the Lord to deal with. By confessing it to the Lord, seeking repentance for your thoughts and transgressions you begin down a new path of righteousness with God. Give Him the steering wheel and I promise that the car will stay out of the ditch. There is one simple question to ask yourself when you are faced with a decision of unrighteous, ungodly behavior; “What if this ends up on the front page of the Heavenly Street Journal tomorrow morning?” In most cases, knowing that Jesus Christ is returning at any moment, you should also be asking yourself; “If I were entertaining Jesus Christ would I bring Him to this event (situation or action)?” If, in His physical presence, you would not choose the same way, than you probably realize that the activity is probably unrighteous and you shouldn’t be taking the Holy Spirit there either. The right thing to do is take 2 minutes, pray about it and ask God to make your mind clear on the decision that will best uplift His glory.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father,
We are captured in the sinful nature, passed on from generation to generation. We are drawn like moths to a light, bees to honey and ants to a picnic; to the temptations of evil in this world. We are surrounded by temptations of lust, desires, greed, food and so many other areas that we cannot stand without Your strength. So Lord, we beseech You to build a fortress within each of us to stand strong against the evil in this world; keeping our eyes focused on Your return to bring us home. Forgive us for our weakness and our choices to pursue our flesh and not Your will in our lives. Help us to become filled with Your Holy Spirit so that every decision is righteous in Your eyes and represents Your glory to all that we come in contact with. In Your precious name we pray - Amen
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment