NAVIGATING IN THE WILDERNESS: "MAKING THE DECISION"
GUIDING SCRIPTURE: Psalm 25:1-5 (ERV) says, “Lord, I put my life in your hands. I trust in you, my God, and I will not be disappointed. My enemies will not laugh at me. No one who trusts in you will be disappointed. But disappointment will come to those who try to deceive others They will get nothing. Lord, help me learn your ways. Show me how you want me to live. Guide me and teach me your truths. You are my God, my Savior. You are the one I have been waiting for.”
Today I want to pose the question, “Will you decide to LIVE A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST?
Whenever I’m on social media and someone puts up two pictures side by side and says, “This person looks such and such or this looks like such and such” I take a moment to examine both of the pictures! I tilt my head and squint a little bit then I start to kind of sort of see what they see! I don’t know what it is about a good squint but it just helps us all to see a little better and a little clearer lol! Once the similarities or differences are revealed I begin to become CONVINCED, then I literally can’t unsee what I’ve seen!
I truly believe that the HOLY SPIRIT does this for us daily. As we walk the line of DUALITY, we’re exposed to both good and evil, light and darkness, and negativity and positivity. We’re literally shown both sides of the coin, and this exposure causes us to have to make real life decisions! It’s really easy to stay on the right side of the line when we don’t know what else is out there but once our eyes are open it can cause us to start experiencing an internal bidding war. We start to question what’s a sin and weigh what we can and can’t do. We try to figure out how close we can get to the line without crossing it so that we can still sort of do what we like to do while still trying to follow CHRIST, but that’s not how this thing works. We can either be pushed toward darkness or drawn into the light, but it all depends on what lens we filter life through! We will continue to fight with ourselves and feel that internal battle until we truly make a decision. This is why it’s so important to LIVE BY THE SPIRIT instead of the WORLD, because the HOLY SPIRIT provides insight that’ll PROTECT US, but most importantly he protects us from ourselves. Galatians 5:16-18 (NLT) says, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”
Jonathan McReynolds has a song called “NO GRAY” that literally speaks directly to this situation. In the song McReynolds says, “I can't just have my cake and eat it too. Cause it's real easy to stay on the fence and still do you. And it'd be cool if we could love the Lord and still go do our thing, But see, it doesn't work like that, you gotta be WHITE OR BLACK.” This song constantly reminds me that we have to be intentional about pursuing RIGHTEOUSNESS and HOLINESS. We can’t stand in the GRAY AREA! The energy that we exude to try to find the loophole could be used to literally seek WISDOM from GOD to learn how to change our behavior. 1 John 2:15-17 (NLT) says, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”
In my opinion GOD sent us the HOLY SPIRIT to act as the FILTER that allows us to shift from SIGHT TO VISION! Sight allows us to see what can be seen but vision allows us to see and think about the future with wisdom. When we’re presented with options I truly believe that the HOLY SPIRIT prompts us to tilt our heads to the side and squint a little bit so that we’re able to identify the traps and pitfalls of the enemy. I don’t know about y’all but the HOLY SPIRIT speaks to me all day long, even when I don’t want to hear it but I’m grateful for the guidance. The revelation usually produces conviction or deep feelings of remorse that grasp our attention. These feelings aren’t meant to punish you, they're meant to act as turn by turn directions for correction! Changing your habits will be challenging because this process requires discipline and the ability to deny your flesh. It’s going to feel like every little thing you’ve been doing is questionable and you may feel like you have to give up everything, and that’s in fact what GOD is asking you to do. Mark 8:34-37 (NLT) says, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
GOD isn’t here to BARTER with you, he wants your total BUY-IN! I promise that you’ll never have buyers remorse when you’re investing in the KINGDOM! JESUS CHRIST gave up his LIFE to give us LIFE and we’re charged to do the same! Letting go of the life you have right now will result in experiencing a life altering transformation. Choosing to follow JESUS CHRIST allows you to be led by the HOLY SPIRIT daily. You’ll still experience tough times and trials that’s inevitable but you’ll never do it alone. When you trust GOD with it all he provides an ease to life and a strength like no other! Making this decision also allows you to live an INTENTIONAL LIFE IN PURPOSE ON PURPOSE. GOD is CALLING you to greater! All I’m going to say is it’s so much better on this side with G-O-D, JESUS CHRIST, and the HOLY SPIRIT. GOD LOVES YOU and wants you to EMPOWER YOU, but you have to CHOOSE A PATH! This journey will defy all logic so you won’t always be able to make sense of everything but GOD will give you WISDOM and GUIDANCE ALONG THE WAY. If you’re going to be LIVE BY SPIRIT you have to activate your faith and obedience. This journey requires your YES, and your willingness to let GOD do the REST.
ACTIVITY: Please read these chapters to learn a little more about living by the SPIRIT and living the NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.
GALATIANS 5 (LIVING IN THE SPIRIT’S POWER)
COLOSSIANS CHAPTERS 2 AND 3 ( NEW LIFE IN CHRIST)
1 JOHN 1 (THE WORD OF LIFE)
PSALM 1119:105-109 (GOD’S WORD IS A LAMP TO MY FEET, AND A LIGHT TO MY PATH)
SONG OF THE WEEK: "NO GRAY" BY: JONATHAN MCREYNOLDS