God is interested in my absolute surrender to Him as Lord.
p.163
Share to the group a statement or scripture that resonates with you from today’s reading and a responding prayer…
Kinds of Adjustments
God is interested in my absolute surrender to Him as Lord.
p.163
Share to the group a statement or scripture that resonates with you from today’s reading and a responding prayer…
Adjustments are needed in many aspects of our lives so that God can use us for His purposes. When you act by faith, the major adjustment in your life will come at that point. It is really easy to decide to do something in our mind, but when it comes to action, it is really hard for us to focus and take action that demonstrates our faith. We should pray and ask God about what aspect He wants us to adjust. Adjusting our lives according to God’s will is a sign of obedience. God frequently asks us to adjust areas in our lives that we have never thought about them before. Any adjustments God expects us to make are for our good. That is the reason why we cannot stay where we are and go with God. We need to walk together with Him and obey Him.
One thing that stood out to me is the adjustments that we have to make from the 4 big areas (our own way of thinking, our purposes to work, our way of doing things, and our values) are all major adjustment to shift into God’s view. It’s a gradual thing that happens overtime. But it’s essential because by holding on to those, we are not letting God to work through us. For me, moving from my way of doing things to God’s way of doing things is difficult because I am still having self-centered thoughts on things I want to do. But it requires absolute surrender to Jesus, to take up my cross and follow Him everyday. So I pray that God will help me everyday to give up my selfishness and to be like Jesus as I continue to follow Him.
“When you are willing to surrender everything in your life to the lordship of Christ, you, like Elisha, will find the adjustments are well worth the reward of experiencing God.” Sometimes the head knowledge makes so much sense to me, but it’s so much easier to read and understand than to put into practice. I stopped and considered – What does surrendering “everything” look like? Will I ever accomplish that? – but then am reminded it’s more about my heart and willingness to do so. I may not ever “have” to literally give it all up, but I’m called to surrender everything to adjust to His ways, knowing that things will be good because He loves me. I think my biggest adjustments that need to be made are with my commitments. God, thank You for being patient in Your love for me as I have committed to things that don’t glorify You. Help me to choose to commit to You and Your Kingdom even when other good options may try to pull me away
To follow Christ, we have to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. In doing that, we make adjustments in our lives. All of these adjustments are major but it comes over a season of progression over time. None of these adjustments are instantaneous. I can see how there have been adjustments in my life from the past and I see how God is challenging me to make further adjustments to my life for Him. It’s difficult tho. There are so many things in my life that I want to hold on to or dream of, but God calls me to let go. I know God is good. I pray that I will be able to have that belief and have actions that show that truth.
From Ciara
The most meaning statement today was God is NOT looking for ways to make your life difficult. His will is always best. He is seeking absolute surrender.
Dear Lord, thank you for today’s bible study, I hope you will help us know that your not looking for ways to make our lives difficult. I hope you would help us know that we cannot stay where you are and go with you in obedience to your will. -Amen