With life being as hectic and busy as it is, we often times are forced to think at breakneck speeds, always living a week ahead of where we are. One of the biggest problems that this can cause is that we rarely stop to live in the moment anymore and the times that we do stop probably cause us all kinds of stress because we're afraid of falling behind. If we can't stop for a moment to enjoy what the LORD has given us today, how can we ever take time to look at the changes that have taken place in our lives over the past year or more and appreciate them? It is important that we must find time to do this, but it has to be done right because if you force the time you won't enjoy any part of this process. This is where setting priorities is so very important.
A friend recently mentioned to me that they had noticed how much better my relationship with God has gotten over the past year and that I have grown spiritually in ways that seemed unrealistic for where I was just one year ago. I thanked this person for bringing this point to my attention. Without that reminder, I may have never taken the time to relive the past year in my own mind. When I stopped and took time to look back, it showed me just how important doing this is and how important we need to make it. If you’re not a person that is good with prioritizing, then I suggest that you write a note to yourself or put it on your calendar to set one hour aside to just reflect on the changes that have taken place in you over the past year. Eventually making it a once a month event, kind of like checking in with yourself to make sure your on track.
As we grow in God, we advance from one level of understanding and maturity to another and as we achieve each new level, he reveals another level that we need to get to. Our growth is and should be a never ending process. God is perfect; none of us are or can ever dream to be. So we will always be a work in progress. I found though from looking back at the past year that I learned some things and became more familiar with other things. I got to see where I was at that time and where I've gotten to. I got to see the mistakes I have made and the land mines that I stepped on along the way. I saw where I got distracted and made other things more important than God. I also got to see the many things that I did right in getting to where I am at now. They say hindsight is 20/20, so if you use it you must have a perfect view of what you've done both good and not so good.
In advancing in our spiritual growth this can be priceless information. Most of what you can learn from your own past cannot be taught to you by anybody else. It's a personal experience and it's one of the best learning tools that we have. God looks at our hearts and he will certainly see the changes that we have made in our hearts over time. He'll see that we have learned and are maturing in the Spirit. Think of it as a house cleaning, by looking back at the past we will see what we should hang onto and what we should let go of. We need to let go of anything that can or will hinder our Spiritual growth. At the same time we need to cling closely to the things that have helped us.
Romans 12:1-2. Says, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
In this passage we are asked the question. When we think of what God has done for us, is it too much to ask for us to give ourselves to him? I can’t imagine any believer saying no to that, but there are still many people that don’t have their eyes totally focused on God, so they don’t understand the full impact of the choice they’re making when they say no to him. Many people especially new believers have just as much unbelief as they do belief. It is the job of the mature believer to reach out and help these new believers along until they are strong enough in the spirit to walk on their own. Just like a baby penguin is sheltered until it is one day forced to go on its own, new believers too must be loved, protected and nourished with GODS WORD until they are able to walk on their own with God. It is then and only then that they will be able to say a resounding YES instead of a confused or insecure NO, when God asks them to turn their lives over to him.
If we all take the time to look back once in a while and do a self check on how we’ve progressed in our Christian walks, we will always be aware of the following things.
We will be always know which areas of our lives we need to improve upon.
We will see the things we’ve done right, so we can continue to do those things but even better.
We will create a habit of stopping to take time to enjoy where we are today and how we got there.
Be sure to stop and smell the Roses. God didn't make them to just stand there and look pretty.
I invite you to pray this with me.
Heavenly Father: Thank you for this message this week. Thank you for caring about us so much that you want for us to take the time to see and appreciate our own spiritual growth. Thank you also for the reminder that we need to slow ourselves down God. We cannot enjoy any of your creation if we don’t take the time. Father I ask that you would help us all to be better at managing our time. Whether it’s spending time communing with you, or spending time with our family’s and friends or just spending time alone relaxing, enjoying the beauty around us especially now with the Spring season beginning and all of the flowers and trees awakening from their winter slumber.
Father help us and equip us to be the guides for new believers. Instruct us how to protect, guide and feed them so they can grow their relationship with you.
I ask this in Jesus name.
Amen
God Bless You All
“The Sharpshooter”
No comments:
Post a Comment