(Originally posted on WordPress: February 19, 2023)
I don't want to just go through the motions of being saved, simply cause I "know" what to do and how to "act."
I don't want to walk so close to the line between sanctification and carnality that it hampers my testimony and weakens my witness.
I don't want to risk my relationship with God for a "good" time.
I don't want to prevent anyone else from having a relationship with God because I want to please my flesh.
I want to live so God can use me ANYTIME and ANYWHERE.
This is not about being balanced... I believe I can live a balanced life without looking like the world.
This is not about having fun... I believe that I can have fun without participating in activities that, while they may be lawful, are not expedient.
I believe that God wants me to be balanced and have fun... He made us a triune being... spirit, soul and body. And the Word tells me that a merry heart is like medicine to my soul. (Proverbs 17:22)
So, you ask, what is it about?It's about my purpose for being placed in the earth. It's about loving God enough to not do anything that would break His heart. It's about living a holy and separated life... not just having a form of Godliness with no power. It's about Jesus being glorified in EVERYTHING that I say and do. It's about being entrusted as a carrier of His glory... being a member of the Levitical Guild that has the responsibility of bearing up under the weight of God's glory, being one called upon to usher God's people into His holy presence. It's about God being able to trust me with His glory and me not wanting to defile or demean it. It's about not grieving the Holy Spirit who resides inside of me as I abide in Him. It's about discipline... bringing my flesh, my will, and my desire under subjection to the Word and the Holy Spirit. It's about denying myself, taking up my cross, and following Jesus. It's about laying aside every weight that holds me back so I can run the race set before me. (Colossians 1:10; 2 Timothy 3:5; Matthew 5:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; 1 Chronicles 15:2; Ephesians 4:30; Luke 9:23; Hebrews 12:1)
At the end of the day, it's not about me. It's all about Jesus and Him glorified. So, I may have to give up some things. There may be some activities I can't participate in. There are some places I don't need to go, and things I just should not do, but for me, the reward of pleasing God and living a sacrificial life will be worth it all when I see Him and see Him in peace.
Don't get it twisted... I know it's not about works. But I do understand that I still have to deny myself and not succomb to the works of flesh, but allow the fruit of the Spirit to be produced in my life. And the result of having that fruit in my life compels me to live a life that is pleasing in His sight. (Galatians 5:22-23)
It's not my works, but His grace... and I will not take His grace for granted and trample over it by living like the world. I treasure the grace He has bestowed upon me and I guard it with my life (how I live my life). (Ephesians 2:8-9)
When I say it, I'm not playing..."I MEAN JESUS!"
#thebeholdmoment #iBehold #iMeanJesus #iaintplayin #itsJESUSforme #grace #glory #perspectivesofasurvivor