"I know, O'Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." (Jeremiah 10:23)
..........
Is the above Scripture actually very realistic at all in today's world? Is man's life really "not his own", or is that just a play on words?
The point of this post is that us humans have been taught from adolescence that we are "the authors of our own destiny and that WE are the masters of our own fate.", right?? Actually, the REAL fact under scrutiny here is, "Us humans want our freedom. We want the power to shape the events in our lives."
Yes, we CAN be self-reliant, we love to tell ourselves! We CAN break ranks from the Almighty and live in our own independent way! We can!
Yeh, right.
The problem is, us humans who depend upon our own strengths, trust in a value system that has virtually made this world miserable. I say this because, anyone who thinks that they have control of their world, EVEN IF THEY ARE MILLIONAIRES, are winners only on external appearances. Yes, the fate of a self-reliant individual is that he or she have turned their heart away from God, no matter HOW they happen to act in church, no matter HOW successful the world may gauge them to be.
The so-called "independent human" is never able to satisfy his or her thirst for significance and purpose, except in the physical, workaday world.
Yes, this post surely wants to point at the fact that the difference between the person who trusts in God, and the person who trusts in themselves IS NOT IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT IN THE RESPONSE. Please think about this, if you will, OK? Two people can get the same kind of cancer or very close to the same injuries in an auto accident, but both people can (and usually will) respond TOTALLY DIFFERENT to the circumstance they find themselves in. We who trust in God have a different attitude about the world and our role in it, than the person who doesn't have this trust.
..........
Dear God, if it is Your Will, please wake me up from this illusion that I am in control and not You. Even if I can feel that I have a measure of control in my everyday affairs, I must continue to remember to remember that it isn't I who created the world, and that it isn't I who guides the future. I am just so lost in all this, Father. Without Your Power, Dear God, the leaves on all the trees of the world would literally fall off, if not for YOUR Will and YOUR Grace. Thank You God.
..........
Matthew 5:26 has told me that us humans don't have the power to even change ONE hair on our heads, and Matthew 6:27 has told me that I do not have the power to change ONE MOMENT in my life. Acts 27:20 has told me that I can't really save myself from disaster, and in James 4:14, I am told that I can't even have the certainty about what will happen TOMORROW !!!! Whoa ! Heavy stuff, huh? But, so true.
.........
So, just where IS our power, anyway, if we have no genuine control at all??
.........
MY faith screams at me to realize that the turning point in MY life came when I finally realized that I had to stop seeking the God I wanted, and to start seeking the God Who IS !!!!!! All of my substitute gods; money, career, influence, prestige, education, physical strength and appearance, possessions, children, home, lifestyle ....... they all required a HUGE investment of my time and money to maintain. All of these pursuits and so many more, however important that I wanted to make them, only reduced my time spent with the ONE TRUE GOD. You see, my Friends in Jesus, the Only Savior is our ultimate Escape from the treachery of us humans trying to live a life independent of God, and to start seeking God as He really is. When we begin to know WHO God is, He will help us decipher His Mysteries and show us how to attain the pinnacle of trusting TOTALLY in Him. Do you also begin to see this?
Are you ready to stop seeking the God you want and to start seeking the God who IS ??? Then, RIGHT NOW get down on your knees and ask God the Father to help you, through the Holy Spirit, to forsake your unconscious desires to live independent of Him, OK?
.........
Dear God, my friend who is reading this right now needs help, whether he or she knows it or not. Just like me, she is lost in her thoughts and is believing satan's many lies about what is REALLY important in this world, in THIS life You have so Graciously afforded her. Forgive ALL of us, Dear God, for clinging on to the illusion of power and control which the devil has convinced us that we have. Please, Father, I confess the many ways I have sinned against You and ask Your forgiveness and to help me, and anyone who reads this. Please open the door to our lives to receive You. Thank You, Lord.
..........
Is the above Scripture actually very realistic at all in today's world? Is man's life really "not his own", or is that just a play on words?
The point of this post is that us humans have been taught from adolescence that we are "the authors of our own destiny and that WE are the masters of our own fate.", right?? Actually, the REAL fact under scrutiny here is, "Us humans want our freedom. We want the power to shape the events in our lives."
Yes, we CAN be self-reliant, we love to tell ourselves! We CAN break ranks from the Almighty and live in our own independent way! We can!
Yeh, right.
The problem is, us humans who depend upon our own strengths, trust in a value system that has virtually made this world miserable. I say this because, anyone who thinks that they have control of their world, EVEN IF THEY ARE MILLIONAIRES, are winners only on external appearances. Yes, the fate of a self-reliant individual is that he or she have turned their heart away from God, no matter HOW they happen to act in church, no matter HOW successful the world may gauge them to be.
The so-called "independent human" is never able to satisfy his or her thirst for significance and purpose, except in the physical, workaday world.
Yes, this post surely wants to point at the fact that the difference between the person who trusts in God, and the person who trusts in themselves IS NOT IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT IN THE RESPONSE. Please think about this, if you will, OK? Two people can get the same kind of cancer or very close to the same injuries in an auto accident, but both people can (and usually will) respond TOTALLY DIFFERENT to the circumstance they find themselves in. We who trust in God have a different attitude about the world and our role in it, than the person who doesn't have this trust.
..........
Dear God, if it is Your Will, please wake me up from this illusion that I am in control and not You. Even if I can feel that I have a measure of control in my everyday affairs, I must continue to remember to remember that it isn't I who created the world, and that it isn't I who guides the future. I am just so lost in all this, Father. Without Your Power, Dear God, the leaves on all the trees of the world would literally fall off, if not for YOUR Will and YOUR Grace. Thank You God.
..........
Matthew 5:26 has told me that us humans don't have the power to even change ONE hair on our heads, and Matthew 6:27 has told me that I do not have the power to change ONE MOMENT in my life. Acts 27:20 has told me that I can't really save myself from disaster, and in James 4:14, I am told that I can't even have the certainty about what will happen TOMORROW !!!! Whoa ! Heavy stuff, huh? But, so true.
.........
So, just where IS our power, anyway, if we have no genuine control at all??
.........
MY faith screams at me to realize that the turning point in MY life came when I finally realized that I had to stop seeking the God I wanted, and to start seeking the God Who IS !!!!!! All of my substitute gods; money, career, influence, prestige, education, physical strength and appearance, possessions, children, home, lifestyle ....... they all required a HUGE investment of my time and money to maintain. All of these pursuits and so many more, however important that I wanted to make them, only reduced my time spent with the ONE TRUE GOD. You see, my Friends in Jesus, the Only Savior is our ultimate Escape from the treachery of us humans trying to live a life independent of God, and to start seeking God as He really is. When we begin to know WHO God is, He will help us decipher His Mysteries and show us how to attain the pinnacle of trusting TOTALLY in Him. Do you also begin to see this?
Are you ready to stop seeking the God you want and to start seeking the God who IS ??? Then, RIGHT NOW get down on your knees and ask God the Father to help you, through the Holy Spirit, to forsake your unconscious desires to live independent of Him, OK?
.........
Dear God, my friend who is reading this right now needs help, whether he or she knows it or not. Just like me, she is lost in her thoughts and is believing satan's many lies about what is REALLY important in this world, in THIS life You have so Graciously afforded her. Forgive ALL of us, Dear God, for clinging on to the illusion of power and control which the devil has convinced us that we have. Please, Father, I confess the many ways I have sinned against You and ask Your forgiveness and to help me, and anyone who reads this. Please open the door to our lives to receive You. Thank You, Lord.
