If God is not at the center of your life, even if you get what you think you need it won’t be enough. God asks you today: “Take a look at the mess in your life and what’s been happening when you put yourself first. Sometimes God gives you what you want so that you’ll experience some consequences, with the ultimate goal being that you turn back to Him. Psalm 106:15 says: “So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.”
If you put your purposes above God’s priorities, you will never get what you’re after. Here’s a news flash: Only God can satisfy your soul. Until you put Him first, life won’t work. The more you marginalize Him, the worse things will get.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that because you are having problems that God is punishing you. There’s often not a direct connection between your suffering and your sin. Just ask Job or Jeremiah. Bad things happen in this sinful world. “Blessing is not always the reward for obedience (Psalm 73) and curse cannot always be tied to disobedience (Job).”
If you end up broken and on your knees, that’s a good thing! “Experiences of hardship should always become opportunities for spiritual reflection.” When you go through something challenging or difficult or sad, ask these kinds of questions: “God, what are you trying to teach me? Is there a sin I need to confess? What do you want me to change in my life?”
God cares too much to let you roam through life, pursuing only your own pleasure. “God whispers to you in your pleasures, speaks in your conscience, but shouts in your pains; it is His megaphone to awaken a deaf world.” He blows stuff away and calls for a drought so that you will return to Him. If it seems like what you’ve been chasing has just vaporized before your eyes, if you make money only to find it flowing through holes in your pockets, if you feel like you never have enough, the Lord Almighty may be knocking out the props in your life to get your attention.
As you learn in 1 John, it’s not enough to just say you love God; you must live like you do. Words are good, but actions are better. If you want things to change, then how badly do you want to get better? You see, if you sort of want to get back where you need to be spiritually, it probably won’t happen. You have to go after God if you want to change because your default setting is selfishness and procrastination.
If you put your purposes above God’s priorities, you will never get what you’re after. Here’s a news flash: Only God can satisfy your soul. Until you put Him first, life won’t work. The more you marginalize Him, the worse things will get.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that because you are having problems that God is punishing you. There’s often not a direct connection between your suffering and your sin. Just ask Job or Jeremiah. Bad things happen in this sinful world. “Blessing is not always the reward for obedience (Psalm 73) and curse cannot always be tied to disobedience (Job).”
If you end up broken and on your knees, that’s a good thing! “Experiences of hardship should always become opportunities for spiritual reflection.” When you go through something challenging or difficult or sad, ask these kinds of questions: “God, what are you trying to teach me? Is there a sin I need to confess? What do you want me to change in my life?”
God cares too much to let you roam through life, pursuing only your own pleasure. “God whispers to you in your pleasures, speaks in your conscience, but shouts in your pains; it is His megaphone to awaken a deaf world.” He blows stuff away and calls for a drought so that you will return to Him. If it seems like what you’ve been chasing has just vaporized before your eyes, if you make money only to find it flowing through holes in your pockets, if you feel like you never have enough, the Lord Almighty may be knocking out the props in your life to get your attention.
As you learn in 1 John, it’s not enough to just say you love God; you must live like you do. Words are good, but actions are better. If you want things to change, then how badly do you want to get better? You see, if you sort of want to get back where you need to be spiritually, it probably won’t happen. You have to go after God if you want to change because your default setting is selfishness and procrastination.
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