“and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2 Cor. 5:15…………
“The one you love is not the one I want you to take,” the Spirit of God told me firmly, even sternly, emphatically early this morning. I have just woken up, and am utterly exhausted, not just from too little sleep, but from literally walking virtually non stop at a fairly rapid pace for about four hours through the streets of New York City yesterday searching for housing.
I was thinking for the umpteenth time about an apartment I had seen days earlier which despite its need for some work the management company had promised to do prior to move in seemed like the perfect fit.
The Lord impressed it upon me that despite my fatigue, despite the fact I hadn’t prayed my usual first prayer of the day or opened the Bible which I try to do early in the morning before the day gets away with itself, that I needed to share this message with others.
What message? JUST BECAUSE WE LOVE SOMETHING DOESN’T MEAN IT’S WHAT GOD WANTS US TO HAVE.
Why had God spoken to me sternly, firmly, even emphatically? Because SOMETIMES IN OUR ME-CENTERED CULTURE AND OUR ME-CENTERED SIN / FLESH-NATURE WE ARE SO USED TO DOING WHATEVER WE PLEASE AND WHATEVER SATISFIES US AND BRINGS US PLEASURE AND BEING TOLD IN OUR WORLD THAT WE SHOULD IN FACT MAKE OURSELVES AND OUR DESIRES OUR PRIORITY THAT WE NEGLECT THE FACT GOD DID NOT CREATE US TO LIVE FOR OURSELVES BUT INSTEAD CREATED US TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL OUR HEARTS AND TO LOVE OTHERS!
My friend, God created us to LIVE FOR HIM, to LOVE HIM, to HONOR AND ADORE AND WORSHIP AND OBEY AND PRAISE AND HONOR AND GLORIFY AND SERVE HIM! Not US! This does NOT mean He doesn’t want us to enjoy our lives and won’t give us good things and even things that we love, but it does mean that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, that GOD’S WILL IS BEST, that we need to TRUST AND OBEY HIM, that we need to say NO to things we love when what we love is not His will, and that we need to say YES to God in all things and make HIM our priority, and HIS WILL our priority, and that even when we love something or someone, and God says NO, we need to say YES to God and follow His Spirit as He leads us forth.
If there is something you are considering, or keep looking back to as I have been, or that you already have, or are already doing, or something you’ve gone back to, or anything at all that you LOVE that is NOT God’s will, maybe you need the stern, firm, even emphatic message God gave me so early this morning.
Those bound for heaven, and who are promised everlasting life, and who are forgiven their sins and given an eternal relationship with God, who won’t end up in hell and the lake of fire but instead will enjoy Christ’s lordship and fellowship forevermore, are those who REPENT and BELIEVE IN CHRIST AS LORD and don’t just call Him Lord but who LIVE FOR HIM!
If there’s something or someone God’s telling you to let go, and you are clear it’s His will to say no, let go.