As The Fog Lifts

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Roman’s 12:1-2 ESV

Paul appeals to us to offer to God daily, our will, our choices, and desires as an act of worship. Then, he promises that by following this new way of thinking about life that we will gradually be able to make out our surroundings as the fog lifts (discern). Then we will see clearly what is good in God’s eyes: what is acceptable to Him and how He would have us take the next step towards becoming perfect like Christ.

A Morning Prayer

In our Bible reading together we have recently been going through the life of the prophet Samuel and how he was instructed to anoint Saul as king over Israel. We encounter Saul as a nice young man full of hope and potential. How sad it is that once given high position and the blessings of God that he soon failed, broke Samuel’s heart and missed the path that God wanted him to walk.

Saul’s failure was that, while he was respectful and well liked, he never had a personal connection with God. He was always just trying his best to serve Samuel’s God. How different the heart of David, who longed to know and serve God long before he was called to be king. Watching over his father’s sheep while he was still a teenager, David prayed to really know God and learn the path God wanted him to walk. Sure David had plenty of his own failures but he never stopped longing to know and please God. These verses from Psalm 25 are often central to my own morning prayers. A few years back I wrote this song based on those verses and I pray the words and music may awaken your own hearts to really seek God and His ways today. Only He knows the path on which each of us are called to walk today!

The Missing Piece

When the puzzle was almost together we noticed something missing…. It was the final piece! Ten minutes of searching yielded our prize which had discovered a hiding place under the table! But our victory was short lived because surprisingly even though there was only one open space left the piece we found didn’t fit!

That is when my wife’s sharp eyes picked out the problem. One of the other puzzle pieces had taken its place. The same is also true in the church. Two bad things happen when we try to be something we are not. The place God chose for us remains empty and we also steal the spot that God designed someone else to fill!

Let God fit you in where you belong and the puzzle will show the world the face of Jesus Christ!