Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Memory of the month: Isaiah 41:13 For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Today's reading: GENESIS 16-17 MATTHEW 5:27-48
Our Call To Something Higher
God wants us all to internalize-to take His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to make it part of the life that continuously flows in our consciousness.
Matthew 5:48 But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
This comes on the heels of what we call the sermon on the Mount. It comes after Jesus says for us to not fight against those who work evil against us and He tells us to turn the other cheek when stricken and to actually pray for those who persecute us-to love our enemies. How can that be done?
We have the written Word of God that outlines the way God thinks, so, think about what God goes through each moment. Again, time is in God but we will use moments as our reference(a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day, 2 Peter 3:8).
God gets a thousand years worth of thinking done in a day. He sees all the pain in the world, every moment of our lives-every person on earth. He has no time for respect or accolades for man(Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, 35but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right, Acts 10:34,35).
Any of our time spent out of God's will is sin. This is the world's way-the way human beings feel they must go.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Let's get back to God's heart for us. God is the capacity to deal with it all and the Holy Spirit is our guide. His heart and the mind of Christ are ours. It is not just an idea but a reality very few ever realize much past the scratching of the surface. But God wants us to see and learn His patience.
2 Peter 3:9 ►The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God will deal with a thousand years of hard hearts today. He will take a thousand years worth of repentance and lock the sin away in His memory permanently.
He lifts a thousand years of burdens today. He heals a thousand years of broken hearts. He pulls a thousand years of hearts to Him for salvation.
The world is a big place but it is just another thousand years a day to God. It is in our hearts that we must really see God and His higher calling for us. His higher calling for us is to be perfect as He is perfect. Again, that word 'perfect' translates 'complete'. So, when we read:
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus," Philippians 1:6, the Bible tells us ,then, that seeking completion-trusting Him to complete us and living in obedience is our higher calling.
You may not feel as God has called you to anything. You may feel small for one reason or another but remember:
"Being small on your knees before God means you are a mountain of love before the world."
God has called us all to not just love. He will not call us to something without covering us with in exhaustible resources. So, He has called us to realize His eternal, all-powerful love. His love never gets weak in our weakness or lessens when we fear or are sick or depressed. God never stops and is unstoppable.
What is your calling for this thousand years?
Repeat: My calling for this thousand years is to love, trust, listen to and obey God.
So, see, this day is not just in a new year, it is a new thousand year day.
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven,
Forgive me for not humbling myself in front of You. Right now I empty myself before You. I want to obey for this next thousand years.
Endlessly loving, inexhaustible God.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen
Father in Heaven,
Forgive me for not humbling myself in front of You. Right now I empty myself before You. I want to obey for this next thousand years.
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