There are always a few times out of the year that I like to sit back and reflect upon ME! Take a little inventory of who I am, what I am doing. I enjoy these times for the most part but then there are times where I feel that I am not measuring up in all areas of my life. I like to ask questions to myself like most people usually at the days end as I'm laying in bed thinking.... Did I have a productive day? Did I represent God well today? Did I honor God in all I did? Was He the center of my attention and affection? Unfortunately more times than not I fail in a lot of these areas. I am a selfish person, I have negative thoughts towards people, and desire to work apart from others a lot of time (including God). I have to make a deliberate decision to invite God into what I am doing, and ask Him for His insight. It is frustrating to day after day struggle with the same thing of offering myself fully to the Lord. However I know that if I was perfect at this everyday I wouldn't need God or I wouldn't come to Him as often throughout my day. I was created for the relationship and a relationship demands reliance upon another. I have been struck these last few days with the thought of being a living sacrifice for the Lord. Letting all I do sing praise to Him, and reflect His beauty and love at all times. Romans 12:1 says "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him." This is what we must do, we must daily present ourselves to God as a sacrifice. It is our response to His amazing unfailing love. God desires for us to be a living testimony of who He is. He has worked in all of our lives and we all have opportunity daily to show the results of that work in us. Whether He has rescued us from addictions, attitudes, lifestyles, whatever it is the way we present ourselves, talk, act will all reflect our hearts of worship. This is a challenging verse for me, it takes me to a place where I have to confront myself. Check myself and my motives. Am I genuinely being nice to people I meet or work with because it is an overflow of God's love in me or is it because I want something from them. Do I sacrifice areas of my life for God. For example do I take time daily to spend time with Him, hearing Him speak to me in my prayer time. Or speak to me through the word, do I meditate on the bible. Do I make myself available for Him to use in different situations, constantly turning to Him and asking Lord what would you have me do in this moment? Again I wish I could say that every time I am perfectly following, listening, understanding, and seeking Him but I'm not. There are always areas of my life that God does not find acceptable and even though I see these areas I mustn't focus on those areas because it will cause me to continually drift apart from Him. I must realize that I am in the process of sanctification and it is just that; a process. Something that doesn't happen right away or even over night but slowly over time I am working towards the fully transformed me! God doesn't ask us to be perfect, He just asks us to come to Him, and invite Him into our daily lives. We must look at all we do as an act of worship and not only do it but do it well. We should desire to please the Lord and take delight in the activities that He has placed for us to do each day and look for what He may have for us in those. He always has more than we can see in these times, and sometimes the simplest, and what we think are meaningless tasks are sometimes the most profound and intimate times with the Lord.
This week I want to challenge you to just think about what you are doing. Try and offer whatever activity that you are doing to the Lord. Let it become a time of worship, for you to connect one on one with Him. Take time to just be alone with Him so He can speak to you, lead you and tell you how much He desires time with you. And remember it isn't that we have to do this is is an opportunity for us to thank God for all He has done for us. We should want to worship Him, not because of Him blessing us and giving us all these things, but because of who He is. He is God, the Creator of all we see, and Lord over everything and He truly deserves all that we have to give Him and more. The least we can do is offer our lives and all we do to Him as a thank you offering! Be blessed this week as you discover ways to worship the Lord in great and small ways! There is no perfect way to worship all that matters is that your hearts desire is to glorify the Lord!
This week I want to challenge you to just think about what you are doing. Try and offer whatever activity that you are doing to the Lord. Let it become a time of worship, for you to connect one on one with Him. Take time to just be alone with Him so He can speak to you, lead you and tell you how much He desires time with you. And remember it isn't that we have to do this is is an opportunity for us to thank God for all He has done for us. We should want to worship Him, not because of Him blessing us and giving us all these things, but because of who He is. He is God, the Creator of all we see, and Lord over everything and He truly deserves all that we have to give Him and more. The least we can do is offer our lives and all we do to Him as a thank you offering! Be blessed this week as you discover ways to worship the Lord in great and small ways! There is no perfect way to worship all that matters is that your hearts desire is to glorify the Lord!
