Group: Adult

Many of the commands that Jesus gave are contrary to my natural inclinations. At first I would try to rationalize and justify my thoughts to accommodate my rebellious attitude. My resistance to living my life God’s way repeatedly put me in conflict with Him. Invariably my desire to follow Jesus and my tendency to gratify my carnal nature made me duplicitous and the inner conflict robbed me of His peace and joy. The only remedy I found, that worked for me, was when I began to live in surrender to the Lord. I began to practice putting the commands of Jesus into action, even though they were difficult. The discipline of staying on track, even when I temporarily derailed, eventually made my life simpler and I began to experience a greater abundance of peace and joy. I pray for His light to expose those hidden areas of my heart where I continue to ignorantly resist living my life in harmony with Him.

One of the things I am learning to recognize as a tremendous blessing, in addition to the peace and joy I experience when I am walking in fellowship with the Lord, is the purity of the thoughts that surround me. The light of God’s presence exposes evil concepts, ideas and forms that try and penetrate the calm and serene environment that is associated with His kingdom. As I meditate in passages of Scripture, I frequently don’t understand the depth of meaning in what I am reading, yet I am able to sense a strong and abiding awareness of the Lord’s presence. Nothing this world has to offer can come close to every precious moment I spend in the simple comprehension that He alone is sovereign and has complete mastery over everything. I thank God for revealing Himself at Calvary as the gracious, life-giving and loving Father He always is.

I want to live the rest of my life in the continuous mindfulness of God’s presence in every moment and abide in Christ. When I am able to do that, change often comes in unusual ways without the need for a great deal of effort on my part. Circumstances become helpful and cooperative instead of burdensome. When inner feelings of fear, guilt and doubt prevent me from doing what I need to do, they dissolve in the light of my conscious awareness of the Lord. Nothing is more powerful in my life than simply surrendering to Him in every situation and letting His Spirit guide me in the way I should go. Because of His faithfulness I am able to live in a state of gratefulness and appreciation that He is always with me. The most important thing I can do for those around me is be consciously aware of God’s presence.

When death takes away someone I love, the void that is left leaves an aching in my heart that is never completely healed. When a friend loses someone dear to them, I am reminded of my own losses all over again and the tremendous comfort I received through those God brought into my life. No matter how many times it happens, the feeling of helplessness is a reminder that every breath I breathe is a precious gift from the Lord. I am so grateful that in those moments of grief, He is present to sustain me and give me an enduring hope and confidence that nothing will ever separate me from His great love. As painful and final as death is, His promise of eternal life brings assurance that I can endure my loss and rejoice in His goodness, mercy and grace. I live my life, knowing that no matter what the Lord allows to happen to me or those I love so dearly, I can look unto Him for the strength I need to uphold me in every situation.

I haven’t always been a child of God. I was raised by wonderful parents who were very active in a local, traditional church but my heart had not experienced the reality of spiritual regeneration. I can recall making a conscious decision to reject God’s call for me to follow Jesus because the pleasures of this world were too attractive to me. As I reflect on my life and the outcome of that choice I started spiraling downward in a path of depravity. It did not stop until I had to face the consequences and fruit of living my way instead of God’s way. When I finally believed the gospel of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and encountered his mercy and grace, I made a conscious decision to turn my life over to him. It was then that I began following him and I became a child of God. I made the awesome discovery that truth was more than an abstract idea or philosophical concept; the truth was personified in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now he lives in me and through me as I surrender everything I am and have to him. By walking day by day and moment by moment with him, I experience the same peace and joy that his followers did two thousand years ago.

I thank you, Lord, for making the gospel real to me through your mercy and grace and adopting me as one of your children. I wasn’t worthy to be brought into your Kingdom of light, but through the cross of Jesus Christ, you made me worthy by not counting my sins against me. Hallelujah!

God created me with the ability to communicate in different ways. One of the most powerful things that I have at my disposal are words. They can bless and they can curse; they can encourage and they can discourage; they can destroy or give life. On many occasions I have spoken words that have been harmful and had a negative effect on people. Many times, the damaging words I spoke were unintentional. I was insensitive because I didn’t put much thought into what I was saying. Sometimes, what came out of my mouth in a few moments has taken days, months and even years to heal. I want my words to bless and encourage others so I pray that the Lord will help me guard what I say by being much slower to speak so that I can give earnest thought to what I communicate. With His help and by His grace I believe I will be able to do that.

When I want something, thinking it will bring me pleasure, it doesn’t take long after I get it that I discover it wasn’t able to give me the gratification for which I was seeking. This is a recurring scenario every time I look to anything other than the Lord for my delight. He made me for His pleasure and it is only when I am content in His presence that I am able to experience lasting happiness. No matter what my situation is, if I am not aware of Him, I am vulnerable to all kinds of negative thoughts that annoy, frustrate or irritate me. When I am consciously thinking about Him and His kingdom, I realize that, no matter what the circumstances are, awareness of His presence always brings me peace and joy. The fellowship I enjoy with Him is a continuous light that shines in the darkest condition.

Where is the center of the universe? I’m not a scientist so I don’t have a credible academic answer. Nevertheless, I can ask the question and not be ridiculed for inquiring. As a matter of thought, from which my question originated, I can imagine all kinds of concepts and theories. Another option I have, as a believer in Jesus Christ, is to look into Scripture and inquire of the Lord. I do believe that He created everything and that He is the one who holds it all together. Therefore, it stands to reason, from my perspective, that God is the center of the universe. At the very least, He has become the center of my world and everything in my life revolves around Him. It hasn’t always been this way for me, but now that it has become my reality, I am amazed at how easily everything is becoming increasingly simpler. The greatest evidence I have that this is true is the peace and joy that emanates from within me.

For many years after I started following Jesus, I was very resolute. I thought that determination and decisiveness were important attributes for being a leader. Now, I realize that many times I was simply being stubborn and opinionated. With this new understanding that I have about myself, in all of life’s situations, I need to simply wait and let the Lord guide me in the process. I don’t have to have an answer to every question. I have found that humbly asking God for wisdom and understanding becomes a doorway into intimate fellowship with Him. The answer I was looking for is no longer what is important but the fellowship with Him is wonderful. Complete surrender to His will is the most important decision I can make. I have found that by being willing to do or not do something gives me flexibility. My major responsibility is to trust Him in every situation and let Him guide me in the way that I should go. Now, the decisions I have to make are whether or not I am willing to make the adjustments that are necessary to join Him in His Kingdom activity that I see happening around me. I pray that He will continually help me realize how weak and ignorant I am when I am not relinquishing everything over to the Lord.

“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

“Little children, let us love, not in word or speech but in truth and action.” 1 John 3:18

May you be blessed today with the knowledge that you are deeply loved. You are loved by God, who is the very definition of love. And in Him and through Him, you are loved by His children. And in Him and through Him, you are free to love as He loves.

One of the most wonderful things we can do as we enter this new year is to walk in Christ’s love for the world around us. What an adventure!

Father, we are so grateful for the love You have shown us in sending Your Son to redeem us and the Holy Spirit to comfort, teach, and guide us. We would be so lost without Your love. Fill us up, Lord, that Your love may overflow from our hearts to those around us. May we love as You have loved us, not only in words but in action. Help us to seek ways to extend Your love to others daily. We take Your hand; please lead us in Jesus’ precious holy name.