Living a 220 life

Make a stand for your family

We find a profound statement at the end of Joshua 24.15, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The situation leading up to this statement by Joshua was cultural sin. Many people doing many things they shouldn’t be doing. Does this sound familiar to our day and age? Are we not flooded with all types of sin on a regular basis? The key to Joshua’s statement is that he made a decision and was taking a stand based on that decision to follow God.

Have you made a Joshua type decision to follow Jesus in your life? This type of decision is an all consuming decision; it’s a decision that changes your daily life. It’s a decision that doesn’t allow you to maintain a leg on both sides of the fence. Have you decided to raise your children for Jesus? Have you decided to love your spouse as the Lord calls you to love your spouse? Joshua’s decision not only effected his own life, but also the life of his family. We as followers of Jesus must make this decision and then lead our entire family in a life that honors and glorifies Jesus Christ. Decide and take a stand for Jesus today!

Rest in the Lord

I find it very difficult to simply come to the Lord and be quiet. I seem to always find things to do instead. However, we need to come to the Lord and quietly sit at His feet! Isaiah 30.15 says, “…In repentence and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.” Psalm 46.10 tells us, “Be still and know that I am God”. As simple as it may seem, quietly sitting at the feet of God is not easy. It’s humbling and reveals our feebleness as human beings. This is exactly what God wants! He wants us to acknowledge our complete dependence on Him.

Friends, we must take time to put everything away, sit in a quiet place, and wait to hear from our Lord. Has your spiritual life been a one way conversation? Are you allowing God time to speak to you in response to your prayers? Take time to simply soak in the serenity of your Heavenly Father.

It’s all about Jesus!

If there is one thing I can step away from the Ft. Benning ministry with it’s this: If you wish to grow deep in spiritual maturity you must focus on Jesus in everything. This seems like such a simple concept…almost too simple. In fact, many fervent believers will overlook this in order to dig into “deep theology”. Sometimes our fervor for Jesus makes us miss Jesus. We think the only way to find Him is through deep intellectual insight. We think we need to spend more time in deep contemplative thought about life. However, unless we learn to practically lean into Jesus in every area of life we won’t grow. I have learned that I need to seek Jesus in everything. He is like the cells of life; If I just look deep enough at anything I will find Him. I just need to remember to look for Him in everything.

Take root and bear fruit

This morning I read Isaiah 37.31, “The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.” As we help others grow closer to Jesus we must always remember both sides of the coin.
We must grow our roots deeper in a relationship with Jesus Christ. We must passionately seek Him in all we do. Romans 12.2 tells us to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds”. We must set our minds to the work of seeking after Jesus. We must spend time with Him and dig into His Word.
As we seek Him and grow our roots in Him we will naturally bear fruit upward. We must not, and can not, expect fruit in our lives if we’ve neglected the cultivation of deep roots. Some are prone to expect fruit without the root. Also, one may believe he or she IS cultivating roots, however, if no fruit is evident the root system should be inspected.
Our primary concern in life should be on the root system. We should cultivate our own roots and then help others cultivate their roots.
Let us not be fruit inspectors, but rather let us be root cultivators in life.

It’s not about me!

I read this morning in Isaiah 30.1-2 “Woe to the rebellious children, declares the Lord, Who execute a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin; Who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me, to take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!”
So many times I look for the safety of those around me. I would rather run to a doctor or lawyer or professor rather than the Lord.
I believe we also see in this text that God simply wants us to come to Him with our plans. Though it may be a great plan, if it’s not a plan given by the Lord you’re missing the mark. The Lord desires our heart and our acknowledgment of ultimate dependency on Him.
Let’s begin to seek the Lord all the time and in all we do!