Our story HAS been written BEFORE we were born. https://www.openbible.info/topics/days_of_life An amazing fact!
We are born having commands/rules to follow.
A study of scripture will reveal a host of possible rules for life. We must each define for ourselves what we will choose to lift up as non-negotiables.
A study of scripture will reveal a host of possible rules for life. We must each define for ourselves what we will choose to lift up as non-negotiables.
2. To resist the temptation of control by instead placing my confidence in God’s promises
The serpent’s offer in Eden rings in our ears every day whenever we are tempted to grab control for ourselves. To ‘be like God’ is the defining passion of our old, sinful nature. This rule of life requires us to take seriously the need to
‘trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on your own understanding.’ Proverbs 3:5
Paul pleads with us like he did the church in Colossae, “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules?” Why indeed!
For followers of Jesus the first step in the victorious Christian life is surrender. It starts on our knees where we daily renounce the desire to play the owner and grasp control. Instead we seek for the heart of the steward who joyfully manages what he does not own and rests securely in the Master’s promises.
This rule of life requires us to acknowledge both God’s sovereignty and God’s love. He is big enough to handle every situation, and He loves us enough to do so in our favor. Why would we not place our full confidence in Him?
3. To resist the temptation of idolatry and trusting in money or possessions rather than God
Let’s face it, money makes us feel secure. The more we have the less we tend to worry about paying bills and surviving unexpected crises. Yet both Jesus and history have taught us that money is a fickle foundation for true security. And worse, when we make it an idol it causes us to look at it and away from Jesus. That is the nature of idols, they demand our attention. How much time do you spend focused on issues related to money; how to earn it, invest it, protect it, spend it and earn more of it…? Jesus was clear, ‘where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’
For followers of Jesus, we must be tenacious and merciless when it comes to tearing down every vestige of this idol in our lives. We replace it with a joyful trust in God’s abundant provision. When He is all we need, we will always have all we want.
This rule requires us to be brutally honest in identifying our idols and unrelenting in destroying them. In their place we seek first God and His kingdom in full trust that all else we need will be ‘added unto us’.
4. To resist the temptation of pride by finding my identity and affirmation in Christ alone
We all love applause. It comes in many forms and it always makes us feel valued, affirmed and appreciated. At face value it seems innocent enough, but behind it lurks a powerful enemy. Like all sin, pride comes into our lives quietly, dressed in acceptable garb so as not to draw our attention or raise concern. Then it works its way through our mind and heart like yeast through dough until our rule of life becomes shaped by our desires to hear applause from every other source than the hands of our Savior. As we do, we tie our identity to those sources and then wonder why we have lost a sense of who we are.
For followers of Jesus we have but one triune source for our identity. We are children of God, disciples of Christ and heirs of salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit. If that is the source of our true identity, it will also be the one place we look for the applause and affirmation we seek.
This rule requires us to check our heart and identify the pride that lurks within. It then commits us to find our identity solely in Christ and to seek only the sweet applause that comes from nail-scarred hands.
5. To submit to the Father and be filled, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit
This may seem basic as a rule of life. After all, to whom else would we submit but God alone? Well here’s a few options. We could submit to fear, submit to pride, submit to ambition, submit to despair or submit to our passions. To submit means simply to come under the power and influence of another. When we fear for our future, let our pride rule our lives, drive ourselves through unbridled ambition, wallow in despair or yield to our base passions, we submit to some power other than God’s.
As a follower of Jesus submission and filling are two sides of the same coin. By submitting we empty ourselves that we might be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. That infilling provides us with the guidance and power we need for victorious living as a child of God. Just like dying to sin gives birth to rising to righteousness and living in Christ, so emptying ourselves through submission gives birth to the infilling of the Spirit and living the joyful, purposeful life in Christ.
This rule brings us to our knees in humble submission then lifts us up to the heights of life and service for which God created us.
What are the absolutes in your life? What behaviors and attitudes will you commit to as the foundation for your witness and work?
Follow them, Love led them to be written for us. This life we live is a ‘brief’ twinkle in the eye of existence. We learn our FOREVER here on Earth.
The promises of God have never failed/fallen! In faith, possess them, Amen.
https://biblereasons.com/trusting-god/
