MANY are called, FEW are FAITHFUL.
Living for Christ is being faithful to Him, obeying Him, and loving Him so much so that you share your relationship to the world by imitating His ways so that souls will be saved. We often think that just because we serve in the church that we are being faithful... No, you're serving, just doing your "due diligence". Sacrificing is being faithful! Obeying is being faithful! Developing and cultivating that one-on-one PRIVATE relationship with God is being faithful! It's not about what others see you doing. It's not about pleasing others. It's about pleasing God! When you're faithful to the call on your life and you're truly souled out to God, His ways become your ways, His thoughts become your thoughts, His desires become your desires... You then become transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2)
When I began this journey with God I was a homosexual, fornicator, manipulator, deceiver, attitudinal, and I cursed like a sailor. I was a depressed and hopeless little girl with daddy issues because my father wasn't around. I was shut tight like a safe meaning I had trust issues so I would never allow anyone to know who I really was. My perception of love was misconstrued because of my own experiences. I didn't know my own identity because deception allowed me to wear many masks and suppress many feelings that were at the very core of why I was the way I was.
BUT WHEN GOD got His hands on me and began to do a work on me!!!!!!!!!! *SCREEEAAAMMMSSSSSSSSS* I began to look in the mirror and see something different. After a while, I got delivered from homosexuality, my bad attitude and my profane tongue. Time went on and God began to unravel me to the core of why and how homosexuality entered my life, how I really felt about my dad (because I was like "F*** THAT DUDE. I DON'T NEED HIM" - if I can just be real with y'all), and the bondage I had been living in for years that dated back to me being a kid. As I got to know God more and began to understand just how much He really loves and cares about me, I began to love Him and trust Him which in return allowed me to face a lot of issues and see myself the way that God sees me and I eventually began to love myself (because there were times when I would look in the mirror and cry at the very sight of my face. I hated myself). After a while I began to enjoy life! I began to enjoy waking up (because there was a time when my prayers would be "God I'm about to go to sleep but you do not have to wake me up tomorrow if you don't want to". Then I would wake up the next day PISSED). The more time I spent with God, the more He brought about a change and TRANSFORMATION in me that I desperately needed and WANTED. (And there's more but ima let y'all go, lol!)
I dedicated my life to Christ December 02, 2012 and today is November 10, 2015 and I NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER would have IMAGINED that I would be the person I am today. (GOD IS SO AMAZING! GOD IS SO AMAZING! HE GETS THE GLORY!)
So now:
Romans 6:1-2 NKJV "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"
Think back to the day you dedicated your life to Christ... how long has it been? (Seriously, answer that question to yourself). Now, is there any evidence of God in your life? Have you TRULY offered God your body as a living sacrifice? Are you making your life comfortable for God to dwell? Have you given God parts of you or everything? Our problem is we give God the things we don't want but hold tight to the things we do want when the things we do want do not glorify Him. If today I was still doing the things I was doing Dec. 02, 2012 then what would that say about me? Better yet, what would that say about God? (Because people will make their own interpretation about God based on how they see you acting! Don't be a misrepresentation.)Like for instance, I was getting off work one night and I was matching a blunt with one of my co-workers (OH Y'ALL GONE LET ME TELL THE TRUTH) and he said, "TiTi 'bout that Jesus life and that smoking life. Would Jesus approve of this session right now?" And he began laughing because he intended for it to be a joke but I felt like a joke and even more... I felt like I let God down. I felt like he was making a mockery of God! God began to deal with me about smoking. BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO STOP SMOKING. I was more than willing to let EVERYTHING else go...BUT SMOKING. I was like "OOOOHH NO GOD! WHAT??! WHAT!!!!!!!!! I DON'T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT!!" But God asked, "Why won't you trust me?" I was like "well... I do trust you. But I just don't see anything wrong with me smoking. That's all." He then said, "If My Spirit lives on the inside of you...why won't you provide a comfortable place for Me to dwell? I just want what's best for you." I then began crying because being that God and I share the same heart, I feel what He feels. Therefore, as I continued to combat with Him, I was breaking His heart. And the more combative I got, the more I would cry. So I finally surrendered and my prayers were a little bit different from then on. I would begin to speak His desires into existence: "God thank you for taking the taste of smoking out of my mouth. I will no longer be able to stomach the smell nor the taste, in the name of Jesus. I will no longer have a desire to smoke weed nor blacks nor do any other drugs that are meant to damage my body and my perception, in the name of Jesus. I just want to please you. I just want to make you smile." Then I kid you not, one day I just stopped (which was the beginning of August 2015 - this year, a couple of months ago, yeah, it wasn't too long ago and I ain't ashamed to tell it).
God allowed me to parallel it this way...every time I smoke it's like I'm suffocating the Spirit that's on the inside of me. Just like when I was fornicating I was raping the Spirit that was on the inside of me. HOW DO I WANT GOD TO USE ME WHEN I'M NOT FULLY AVAILABLE TO HIM? How can I be fully effective in a ministry if I am still doing what I want to do and I'm not fully available to Him?
If we are to be "set apart" why are we trying so hard to be like the world and do what the world does? Did you really count the cost when you said "yes" to Christ? No one said that it would be easy!!!!
We will never be perfect but that does not give us an excuse to not strive to be Christ-like more and more every day. Are you really "souled" out? Does your faithfulness to God have limits? Present your bodies as a living sacrifice... remove the limits and give God full access to what is reasonably His.
Until next time,
I LOVE YOU!
No comments:
Post a Comment