Have

The following was derived from thoughts and conversations that I have with my son. I'm grateful to God for these experiences.

Christians tend to develop a preoccupation with showing devotion; We make sure that our religious do’s are in order - A good understanding of theological terminology, pray, read the Bible, give money to church get involved in a ‘good fit’ ministry, one that garners encouragement and appreciation but doesn’t take up too much of your time. This eagerness along with the needs of local congregations take a toll. It’s not uncommon for Christians to end up feeling like we’re on a hamster wheel. And there’s most certainly more than one reason, but today, we’ll look at how we understand the idea of His place in us, or our place in Him.

We hear, "Thy will be done" and we start trying to accomplish what we believe His will to be, and that’s where things get tough. Have you ever tried to figure out what God’s will is for your life?
Do I drop everything and head off to Africa or China? OR in unspoken avoidance to option A; do I just start praying that His will is to give me the job where I can have a Bible on my desk and no one bothers me? Maybe that’s just me, but I doubt it.
There’s more than a few books written by notable authors with that singular goal in mind – Finding God’s will. Maybe its not as easy as we wish it were...but why?

I think a big difference between living free in Christ and living frustrated in a kind of religious carnality is how we see the relationship: Are you trying to have God, or are you trying to let Him have you?

When you let God have you, remembering to read your Bible is less of a fight than it is when you’re wrestling with your schedule and looking for time. When God has you, you know that His Spirit illuminates His word and your desire to know Him drives you. You may not find a consistent time and place but that doesn’t stop you from taking time and finding a place to get to know your Father.

When you let God have you, you no longer have to remember to make time for prayer. When He has you, it becomes wonderfully apparent that the dialogue between you rarely ever stops. I’d like to say never, but God does do “silence” on occasion – it proves, grows and strengthens our faith. Things that often confuse and frustrate us, serve real purposes for Him that we don't realize "in the midst".

And Oh yeah….that money thing. The bible says money answers all things- Eccl 10:19, and as important and impactful as money is, when you let God have you, He has all of you: Your time, your resources and your affections and you become a wonderfully less burdensome giver because ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’- and He is your treasure because he has your heart.

Here’s The Word:

Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Psalm 4:3 But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building

1 Corinthians 3:23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

None of us start off pursuing God. Even now, we don’t pursue Him without His help. We love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) He initiated it all. It can be confusing if we say “He wants (or wanted) us”, our knee-jerk reaction can make us think too highly of ourselves. It really boils down to His compassion and mercy having pity on our helpless situation. Everything worth ‘wanting’ is in Him and everything He has is perfected in Him.

Now I know that this may sound like a little play on words or a cheap twist of logic, but that’s not the intent. Am I saying that it’s wrong to want God? Absolutely not. In the same way that children need repetition and rules, new Christians need the fundamentals of faith: This includes learning what the Bible is, and how to read and understand it, the attributes of God, the concepts of Salvation, atonement, substitution and all of that. However, all of these lessons should provide for the eventuality that this learning is not for us to make good use of God, but for Him to make good use of us. Too often, we stay in the elementary teachings and our efforts are to become demonstrably better than the other children rather than to truly grow into maturity IN Christ.

God help me. Help me to recognize where my efforts are misguided. My desire is to appreciate your goodness but I know how easy it is to fall into trying to earn it. Rather than being up, down or worried about having your attention, help me to understand the truth of your word and humbly let you have me.

In Him,
Cros