1 John 2:28 --- And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
My Saturday was crazy awesome and non-stop go, go, go busy. I wouldn't change a single thing I did, a single person I met with, the time spent surviving the aisles of Walmart with my wife, working on my parent's computer, or going to dinner with family, but I know by the time I laid my head on the pillow at 11:00 PM last night I was completely worn out.
I think sometimes we get so fired up to run out and do things for the Lord, we lose track of how fast and how far we are going. This isn't about going the wrong direction, that's a whole other issue which usually comes from not spending time with Him, or just doing Checklist Christianity Religion. No, this is when you KNOW that you KNOW Him and He's moving in a certain way, well you KNOW it! Sometimes we are just carrying too much, running too fast, going farther in the right direction than we should've.
We go to Him, ask for direction, and He points a certain way…BAMMO!!...we take off running without hearing if there was more to the instructions. At least we eventually run out of energy and strength, which results in coming back to Him saying, "Lord didn't you tell me to go this way or do this thing?" and He says, "Yes, I did, but I wanted you to do it this certain way, for this long, every other week, for only 2 hours… In no way did I want you to do it to the detriment of our personal time together or your marriage.".
I fully recognize, understand, and agree doing things for Him requires sacrifice, time, energy, and focus. We give up everything when we truly deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus, but in NO WAY is that our personal time and relationship with Him!
We must be absolutely certain we are prioritizing our relationship with Him first, abiding in, spending time with Him, getting to know Him more in word, prayer and praise. Being in His presence. Learning what His voice sounds like. Hiding His words in our hearts. Being absolutely rooted in Him in every way. AND if you're married you cannot forsake your relationship with your wife or husband. Anyone who knows me knows I see marriage as your first ministry, before you do a single other thing for Him, you had better LOVE YOUR WIFE LIKE JESUS LOVED THE CHURCH!
As I prayed over this just now, I was led to Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:6, Ephesians 5:25, Ephesians 5:28.
Genesis 2:24 --- Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Matthew 19:6 --- So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Ephesians 5:25 --- Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
Ephesians 5:28 --- In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Be the Berean here, go read these verses, along with the word before and after them to have full/proper context. See what God tells you in them about prioritizing Him first always, and if married your relationship with your wife or husband. For me it looks like this:
1. Ground to build upon must be The Rock. Dirt, sand, anything other than the Rock won't do. This ground is abiding in Him every single day. Reading His word, being in His presence, praying, worshipping Him, walking with Him… ABIDING in Him (2nd time for gusto and emphasis!). Rooted in and sewn together in Him.
2. If married read, this step. If not, skip to 3. LOL. The foundation laid down on top of the Rock is your marriage. If that foundation isn't laid down properly or fixed up (using Jesus approved slab jacking/piering methods), then anything you build on top of it will be unlevel, unstable and can eventually collapse. You can make whatever you build on a bad foundation look amazing. It can be big and beautiful and perfectly decorated, but eventually cracks will appear, doors will stick, etc…
3. With the proper ground and a solid foundation on top of it, you can now build upward into whatever ministries, callings, or direction the Lord has given you. Just make sure JESUS is the Architect, Contractor, and Foreman on the worksite and all instructions are from Him!
Okay Phillip, where are you going with all these words? Well, to be honest I studied 1 John 2:28 today and all of this came unexpectedly when I sought the Lord in recapping our intimate time together. However, the beauty of the Lord is it all ties together.
ABIDE IN HIM. If you will simply lay it all down at His feet. Sit in His presence. Live your life IN HIM. Meaning: everywhere you go, everything you do, everything you say, Jesus is with you and is in it AND when you mess up, which you will, when things go sideways, which they will, you bring your focus to Him at once. Sitting at your desk at work, in the aisle at Walmart, locked in a bathroom stall crying at Chili's, in your living room, backyard, walking down the street, driving in the car, HE is with you, and you are with Him.
I close in prayer: Lord you are amazing. I love you and just praise you this morning. I share all this in obedience to your direction for me, Lord. What I ask is please let anything that was of You be lifted up. Let those seeds find the places you intend them to be Lord. Anything that was of me, or my ramblings, let it fall to the floor, not to be remembered and swept aside by your love, mercy, grace, justice, holiness, and awesomeness! I only want You to shine through these words today. That is all that matters. In Jesus name, Amen!
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