It is truly exciting to see things unfold before us as the plans designed uniquely on our behalf come to pass. Jeremiah 29:11-13 reminds us of the LORD’S plans for us:
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
So, you see, there is much to shout about and much less to pout about!
It is very easy to become distracted by the appearance of circumstances and things that are not in their completed form. We are under construction as well. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
We expect and desire that others will be understanding as we make decisions or say things that might not ‘fit,’ and our Heavenly Father expects us to do the same with regard to our lives as a whole. After all, we are His. First Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us:
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
He is the Master Crafter . . . and He created us in His image! Can you even imagine creating someone like you and having them turn out as willful as we are? He allowed that to come to pass. He did not choose to make us robots.
The excuses are a glimpse of those made by individuals who are noncommittal in serving and trusting our Master without compromise. You can replace any of them with your own, and Jesus’ response would be the same. As we look at the passage in Matthew, we understand that if we are to serve Him, we must model and imitate Him.
If that is to be the case, we must understand that we will be treated as He was . . . and also we shall be viewed favorably by our Heavenly Father as He is.
Fear the one who has the power to destroy the soul, not the body only. We are worth more than the fowls of the air . . . because Jesus said so! Let our lives and ministry reflect our commitment to our Savior. Let us think of ways we can manifest that commitment.
Take a look at eight qualities that reflect being like Jesus . . . all taken from the Book of Matthew. Check out the verbs here, the action words:
1. To accept our roots (1:1-17)
2. To engage the world’s pain and struggle (1:18-2:23)
3. To commit ourselves to other believers, no matter how “weird” they appear to be (3:1-17)
4. To admit our vulnerability to temptation (4:1-11)
5. To openly proclaim the message of Christ (4:12-25)
6. To commit ourselves to changed thinking and behavior
(5:1-7:27)
7. To serve others, especially those who are oppressed or without
Christ (8:1-9:38)
8. To affirm or have confidence in others in leadership (10:1-42).
The St. Louis American is accepting inspirational messages to run in this space. Please send a message of approximately 500 words (as a Word document, with text pasted into the email) and a photograph of your face (as a jpeg photo file) to cking@stlamerican.com.
