One Step at a Time

Just take one more step. Laurie’s lecture this week really hit me between the eyes because well…I just give in to my flesh all the time. I decide to sit or lay down instead of taking the next step, or look at the million steps I need to take and become paralyzed by fear. I wonder what all I have missed seeing the Holy Spirit do when I am at the end of myself because I usually just quit and give up, instead of taking one more step by faith.

I am a feeler, so I run by my “feeling” radar so much of the time. If I “feel” tired or sad or happy, I just go with it and don’t really consider that perhaps I am indulging my flesh. Let’s take tonight for example. I really “felt” like I needed a glass of wine. My 2 year old seems to be getting in a gagillion teeth and has turned into the Temper Tantrum King the last few weeks. My husband worked late, my other children were fighting…yada, yada. By nine o’clock all I wanted to do was sit on the couch, read a bit of my book, and drink a glass of wine.

BUT, there was this thing called a fast that I had committed to and agua was to be my only beverage. The flesh was trying to rationalize the sin: “But you have had a long day, it’s Thursday night, you deserve it, you have been so diligent the last few weeks, what is one drink?”

Then I remembered my prayer as we initiated the fast several weeks ago. “Lord, I want to be emptied of self so I can actually be filled with You.” And as Laurie so aptly pointed out this past week in her lecture, MOTIVE MATTERS. Am I following my fast out of strictly duty or because my Bible study leader has asked me to, or in pride so I can check off another box on my religion list proving I am a legit Christian? Or is it out of humble love and devotion for my Savior?

So I confessed to the Lord that I really desired that glass of wine, BUT I desire Him more. I want Him to be my all in all. I want the privilege of seeing Him work in my weakness and frailty and for Him to increase my faith and love. I want my heart to be truly FREE to follow Him and not entangled by the world and its empty pursuits or my flesh and its desire for a temporary fix.

I need Him to increase my vision and lift my gaze from this world and help me to see His Kingdom that is being established here and now in my heart as I turn from my desires and trust Him ONE STEP AT A TIME. One glass of water instead of wine, one denied piece of chocolate or dessert, another day off of social media or without makeup. Each decision to turn away from self and choose Christ matters!

Peter’s words this morning brought me to tears as I considered once again the good news of the gospel and this amazing privilege we have of living for Christ. May they encourage you as well!

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

 You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. (1 Peter 1: 3-5, 13-21 The Message).

Rooted in Christ