Do we . . .? ?

Do we who call ourselves the children of God, the followers of Jesus, grasp what this means? Do we consider every day what type of spirit must be in us if we truly are to be followers of Jesus Christ and call Him our Lord?

I know for me I am still learning this every single day of my life. And so far I have been enjoying the journey that God has given me.

Jesus was not on the cross because He was forced to be on it, but because He submitted Himself on it. Jesus' work was obedience to His Master and did the will of the One who sent Him. Like Christ we must be willing to become the lowliest to that others might have life. Jesus said in Matthew 10:39 "he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." So here is the choice you have to make: do you seriously want to lose your life for His sake or continue to fight it and struggle on your own?

Another thing that needs to be brought up is submitting to God...the definition of submit is to give over or yield to the power or authority of another. God is calling us to submit ourselves to be used by Him in whatever place He sends us (for some it might be overseas while others it might be in their own neighborhood). We might not know right now what God is calling us to do, however, the more we seek Him the more He will be able to guide us in the direction we should go.

"Christians" need to find his or her gifts or calling by truly being "Christ's follower". Christians need to submit to His authority and take our place as His servants. Until then, He cannot reveal the greatest mystery, which is Christ in us, to the world!! Neither will God entrust us with gifts, callings, or revelations until we die to our self-centeredness because with these things comes responsibility. The responsibility to lifting up others by spirit until they, too, see God and worship Him and follow Him.

I feel lately that I am at the point where I want to strive to find what my true gift and calling is. And I do not want to just call myself a "christian" but I really want to live it out and follow Christ. It is not an easy task and sometimes I have to take a second to think about things before I say them, care about them, think them, or do them, but I am sure it will be well worth it at the end of my journey. If we leave our cares to God, we receive grace to lift others' burdens. It is then that we find the joy that Jesus found when God empowered Him with the Spirit to pour out His soul for others. "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12

(Most of this is from the book "The Low Road to New Heights" by Wellington Boone.)