Living Life for Christ Alone

The thin figure caught my eye as the team and I gathered back together from evangelizing on the pier in El Salvador. I didn't know if it was a he or she, but this person walked in a rather strange way. He wore tights and a green trench coat. His hair went to his shoulders, and he wore a hat that seemed to fit his look. In his hand he held a blonde doll.  The people I was with also noticed him, and we all watched as he walked by. Suddenly, he turned and saw us watching. "Don't make eye contact," someone warned us. He took a few steps toward us. In his eyes, evil danced, a grin spread across his face that seemed to say, "I see you watching..."

This morning, I was spending my time alone with the Lord, and asked Him, "where do you want me to spend this time?" I had been meditating on 1 Peter, but for some reason found myself in the first chapter of 2 Peter. I got stuck on verse 3 and couldn't seem to leave it to read the rest. I took out my pen and began to write one phrase at a time... "According as His divine power..."  It is God, not man, that has all the power that we need. It's all about Him and what He can do. His power is divine. Nowhere else but in Him can we find it.

This morning, as I spent my time alone with God, I sat in the van, doors shut, sun rising over the horizon, starting to warm up the place where I sat. One question seemed to dominate my thoughts... How do I know I'm useful in God's opinion?  For the past 24 hours, a feeling had been threatening to dominate my actions. "I don't really matter in the bigger scheme of things." That's how I felt, and I knew that there was only one place this lie could melt away. That would be in God's presence. So, here I was, sitting in the car before God, asking Him my question, waiting for an answer.  I knew that whatever God gives me to do is important. Nothing can change that. But, for some reason, I felt unseen, unimportant to everyone else.  As I opened up my bible to search for His answer to my question, my eye fell upon several different verses that talked about Jesus. 

Imagine a crowd of about 5,000 men, plus women and children milling around. You cannot see the edges of the crowd, and they are pressing in on you.  Then imagine with me the twelve disciples, looking at the sizable crowd, unsure of what to do with them. Lunch is approaching, and stomachs are feeling empty. Hunger is gnawing at them, and then it dawns on them: "we have nothing to feed them!"  A little boy walks up, appearing excited. "I have some food! Would you like to use it?" The disciple looks at it, at first impressed with the gift, and then realizing that it is not nearly enough.  "Lord, there is a boy here with five loaves and two fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then, Jesus tells the crowd to sit down, breaking a loaf in two as He gives thanks, and then giving it to the disciples to pass on to the crowds. Imagine the disciples' surprise as the five little loaves and two fish don't run out after the first couple of people! It is...

Serve to be seen --not of men, but of God. Sacrifice, but not so others will love you; do it so they will know God's love and love Him, that He may be pleased. Smile, not to draw attention to self, but to reflect God's great love for you. Give, not expecting anything in return, so that others can know how generous our God is, and that He may satisfy you more with heavenly things. Don't show off your righteousness -you have none of your own anyway. Wear Christ's righteousness, aware it did not come from you, and God will pour His joy into your life. Pray, not to be seen of men. They can't reward you, and God doesn't answer selfish prayer. Pray to God alone with His interests in mind. Fast, not so you can be something great, but so you can have Someone great in your life living out impossible things through you. Love, not expecting love in return. God promised to reward sacrificial love. Do all things without complaint, for His glory, knowing that your r...

The Glory of God: Life's purpose, His plan, Our everything. My prayer has been, "God, make your glory to come down on me! I want Your presence to be real in my life!" Several mornings ago, God showed me a prayer of Asaph, which he repeated three times in Psalm 80: " Turn us again to Yourself, O God. Make Your face shine down on us. Only then will we be saved." (Vs. 3,7,19) " Turn us again to Yourself.. ." Sometimes we are too weak to turn ourselves to Him. Might we ask Him to turn us to Him? Don't you think it will be a prayer He will answer? Are you "willing to be made willing"?