Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offeryour bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2
Recently our pastor has been saying that we need to be excited about God. There is the excitement we can muster and there is excitement from being stirred by God. Even then excitement is temporal and lasts a short time. However excitement can be repeated everyday just by meeting with God and allowing his character to change your hearts, your thoughts and your actions. Paul said the transformation of your mind leads to a change of your heart, a change of character and a changed life.
transformation 1.a. The act or an instance of transforming. b. The state of being transformed. 2. A marked change, as in appearance or character, usually for the better.
Nothing excites me more than God revealing a new truth to me. With all my unstructured thoughts he manages to get a word or two when I am able to focus on him. Most people are like me when I say my thoughts never find time to be silent but I am excited when God is able to interject his thoughts through the hullabaloo going on in my mind.
From my viewpoint one thing excites me more than getting into the word to know my father and Savior. Most of the time, the words of God don’t excite me unless they jump off the page to get my attention. Let’s remember that God cannot command your attention unless you are willing to listen. I have found that my thoughts are temporarily halted when God speaks to me because he has a way of commanding my attention or is it that I consider God’s influence of great value.
Strange as it seems the phrase pay attention is found 28 times in the NIV and hearken is found 153 in the king James. Throughout the bible giving God the attention he deserves is an issue that concerns God.
Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. Proverbs 4:1
As a child my father’s wisdom was from a fuddy-duddy which wasn’t up to date with my generation. As an adult my father’s wisdom was worth giving my full attention and consideration. For in that time I began to recognize that my father’s wisdom came from experience. By the same token God has always been and for all we know may have experienced the majority of problems that we face today through Jesus Christ. It’s a choice to deduct that wisdom coming from experience is far more valuable than guesswork.
We should understand that we do not get excited by knowing what to do as much as when God changes the problems we are facing into victory. I get excited when God acts on my behalf and when I can see the wonderful things God is doing for me. It makes me like David who said who am I that you are mindful of me?
One area of my life with God almost always excites me. When I meditate on God’s word and the answer I am seeking comes to me in a number of ways. Some of the answers that I have been asking about come to me in a manner that I know the answers did not originate in my mind. Sometimes the answers come during meditation, sometimes while I am thinking about other things. And sometimes I wake up with the answer in my mind. It doesn’t really matter how many times or the way I receive an answer from God it is the recognition that God has spoken to me that thrills me. Like I said, who am I that God is mindful of me enough to speak to me!
At the same time the answer is just what I needed. And I know the answers were not my thoughts because the answer stood out at the time. Contemplating the answer is when I realize it came from God is exciting because I know it is the truth. From my experience I ask God a lot of questions when I meditate. Sometimes I haven’t finished the question before I have an answer. At other time it may take a week or more before I hear the answer.
Asking questions and getting answers is how I converse with God and by way of meditation have established a two-way relationship. God is not partial because he has given every person the same means to communicate with him.
What I am saying is that excitement is temporal but establishing a relationship with God contributes to a number of exciting moments over your life time. Some say relationships call for continuous work to keep them alive and they are right. People fall away from relationships with absence and not taking time to be with them. The people you haven’t seen for six months are not as close as those you see every day.
There is a differencebetween finding time and making time for God. The difference is the priority of using the time you have to know him. Seems like finding time for God is always a struggle for there is always something going on in your life that demands your attention. Those things become less important when you make time for the Lord. The reality is when you make time for God you will always have time to be with God.
Making time for God shortens the intervals between spending time with God. When you spend time regularly with God you become closer and more intimate. The frequency of spending time with God helps to make his reasoning sound and his character noticeable.
Because his reasoning is sound it changes the way you see life. A changed life is what God specializes in because over time you cannot know God without a change of heart. Changing the way your heart makes decisions depends on whether you treasure the foundation of truth found in God’s word.
Logic tells me the way God thinks govern his ways. Sound reasoning is just one reason for spending time in God’s presence. In spending time with God you will be bathed in his love, be saturated with his encouragement, be sanctified by the truth. Be strengthened in Christ and empowered to do all things because he moves us to obey him.
God makes grace abound and he builds you up to become a child he can be proud of. God is able to exceed your expectation and is able to deliver you from every trial. God is able to fulfill His promises and guard the good deposit in you. Even greater you have the knowledge that if you should die before he returns you will go to be with him in heaven.
God is awesome, just being in his presence will change your heart forever. The reverence or worship of God is the beginning of knowledge but to worship God from the heart starts with a changed attitude and the application of living by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus said;
I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." John 12:50
This form of worship (devotion) originates from consistently being in God’s presence. What Jesus said regarding his life was based on his life’s experience and from knowing his Father from the beginning! Let’s give Jesus’s life some thought as he also said I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Life is such that we may not feel like giving our devotion to God all the time. Jesus knew what was going to happen to him the night before he died on the cross. Yet he said; not my will but thine. When you look at the life of Jesus his devotion to our Father is an example that we should live by. By the same token we can honor God by following the path Jesus is taking. 2/24/2014
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