From the Journal of...
Each week we will feature an inspiring devotion that was shared at our New Hope staff meeting. These scriptures are taken from the daily Bible reading which can also be found at: www.enewhope.org/bible For information on journaling you can check out: www.enewhope.org/firststeps/journaling.
August 15, 2006: Layers and Decisions
Scripture
And this is eternal life, that they may know You. John 17:3
Observation
The initial decision we make to follow Christ is so exciting and new - so much potential lies ahead of us. The peace that rules in our hearts is like nothing we’ve ever experienced.
And then, some time later, another decision must be made. The options are the same: God or something else. But it’s a bit harder because it usually means letting go of something or someone that keeps us from fully serving God.
Application
More and more decisions just like that will need to be made if we want to fully walk with Him.
They’re painful. They make us lonely. Vulnerable. We’ll think about giving up, because we don’t see the whole picture.
We forget in the midst of those really hard decisions, that the LORD is actually doing us a favor. He loves us too much to let us keep living without fully giving ourselves to Him.
Like Jeremiah, there will even be times that we wish we had never been born. We will feel like everything has been ripped away from us and there is NOTHING left. Which is exactly where He wants us to be. Back at that place where nothing is more important than Him. And if all was taken away, we would still have everything we need.
Prayer
LORD...I’m not at the point Jeremiah was. But, I sure feel like I’m in a place where You are removing layers - layers that are comfortable to keep and painful to lose. Ambitions. Dreams. Long-term plans. Friends. But I know that in peeling these off, You have something so much greater - You. And in You is all joy and peace and freedom. I know that when I’ll look back, I’ll be so very grateful that You have removed every last bit of those things that keep me from serving You.