NEVER UNDERESTIMATE IT!

“He has saved us and called us to a holy life -- not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”  (2 Timothy 1:9-10 NIV)

Never underestimate the love of God to accept you. And never underestimate the power of God to change you. The cross demonstrated God's love. The resurrection demonstrated God's power. The only thing stronger than God's love and power is our human will. God will not overwhelm us with His power, or even with His love, unless we invite Him to. Once we do, we will be amazed at the extent of His love in Jesus Christ and of His power through the Holy Spirit. Never underestimate it! 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson

#5334

COMMITMENT – AN ACT OF THE WILL

[A few years ago there was] a caricature of commitment in that of a haughty grande dame, looking sternly through her spectacles, saying, “My mind’s made up, don’t confuse me with facts.” In a culture in which open-mindedness is the greatest virtue, the corresponding vice is, of course, “closed-mindedness.” And this has become confused with commitment. Yet, actually, far from being closed, committed thinking is the product of intellectual vigor. Very often, the lack of commitment indicates the wishy-washiness of intellectual laziness. It is the uncommitted person who lacks the rigor and discipline to really examine, really decide, really make up his mind.

Without commitment, one can acquire knowledge. It is only through commitment that one can apply that knowledge to life and gain Solomon’s desire, an understanding heart. Far from being a retreat from reason, commitment is the most rational thing a person can do. Recognizing the brevity of life, it makes the best sense to survey the options and then make choices; to choose and exercise a set of beliefs that will pattern and give meaning to life; to choose a person with whom a lasting, deepening, and truly intimate relationship can be established; to answer to a vocation with dedication…

Commitment is an act of the will, based on both reason and faith. As such, acts of commitment mark us as most fully human.

“Choose this day whom you will serve,… but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  (Joshua 24:15 NRSV) 

-- Maxine Hancock in “Re-evaluating Your Commitments: How to Strength the Permanent and Reassess the Temporary”

#5284

I THINK I CAN’T

[In John chapter 5] Jesus asks the simplest kind of question -- the kind that can be answered with yes or no. “Do you want to get well?”

The man’s answer is none of the above. “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” (John 5:7 NIV)

Jesus has just been briefed on this situation, probably while the disabled man sat and listened. So when Jesus looks down and asks if he wants to be well, the man know his motives are being called into question. And he launches into his well-worn excuse.

The book “Happiness Is a Choice” by Frank Minirth and Paul Meier is devoted to overcoming depression. In it, the authors discuss the tendency of Christians to say “I can’t” when they find themselves confronted by obstacles. They write about how they cringe when patients use the words “I can’t” and “I’ve tried,” which the two doctors identify as “lame excuses.” Instead, they insist their patients use the words “I won’t.”

When working with a man who says, “I just can’t get along with my wife,” the two counselors would make him rephrase that as, “I just won’t get along with my wife.” “I can’t control my spending” would become, “I won’t control my spending.” They believe that the sooner people understand the place of their own free will, the sooner they can begin to move toward a cure. 

-- Kyle Idleman in “The End of Me: Where Real Life in the Upside-Down Ways of Jesus Begins” 


#4541

SEEKING GOD’S WILL

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”  (Philippians 2:13 NLT)

The first thing to do as you seek God’s will is to deny yourself. Examine your heart for any selfish or worldly motives -- come to the point where you are certain your only desire is to know and to do God’s will…

God will never lead you to do something that contradicts His written Word. If what you sense in prayer runs contrary to Scripture, it is wrong. For instance, God will never lead you to commit adultery, to steal, or do anything that goes against His biblical precepts. Watch for God to use the written Word to confirm what you are sensing in prayer. Don’t play games with God. Don’t look for a Scripture that seems to say what you selfishly want to do and then claim it is God’s will. That is dangerous. Don’t do it. 

-- Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby and Claude King in “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God”


#4530

CHOOSING TO FORGIVE

Forgiveness Is a Choice: Jesus puts forgiveness on the level of personal decision, not emotion. "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions." (Mark 11:25) This is a command, made to the will. Emotions, feelings, cannot be commanded. I must choose to forgive even when all my feelings cry against it. Often when I have struggled with forgiving someone, I've stood in my office and said audibly, loudly, "I forgive him, I forgive him, I forgive him." When I have set my will and heart in that direction, feelings of forgiveness follow and I can then say to the person involved, "I forgive you." It may take a while for all the hurt to leave but your choice releases the hold and time begins the healing process.

-- J. Alan Peterson in “The Myth of the Greener Grass” 


#4413

AN EFFORT OF THE WILL

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”  (Colossians 4:2 NIV)

Prayer is an effort of the will. After we have entered our secret place and have shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray; we cannot get our minds into working order, and the first thing that conflicts is wandering thoughts… We must have a settled place for prayer, and when we get there, the plague of flies begins -- this must be done, that must be done.

-- Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest”


#4248