I grew up in a family where Disney movies were a staple; they were pretty much my whole childhood. And if you know anything about me now, they are still pretty much the only movies I will watch. I was recently watching Aladdin—a movie I have watched countless times—but one part of it really stood out to me this time around.
After Aladdin tricks the Genie into getting them out of the Cave of Wonders, he [Aladdin] asks the Genie what he would wish for if he had the chance. Genie says he wishes for freedom; to not have to answer to various ‘masters’ every 10,000 years.
“You’re a prisoner?” Aladdin asks. And then Genie says something interesting: “It’s all part and parcel of the whole genie gig: phenomenal cosmic powers, itty-bitty living space.”
I heard that, and I wondered if that’s how we see & treat God sometimes.
I mean this is the God who parted the Red Sea for the Israelites (Exodus 14), who leads his people through the wilderness as a cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). This same God who caused the walls of Jericho to fall after soldiers marched around them for 7 days (Joshua 6), and protected 3 young men from the fiery furnace (Daniel 3). He laid the foundations of the Earth (Job 38:4), upholds the universe by His words (Hebrews 1:3), and still offers us salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). The list of His wondrous works goes on and on.
And yet, so often, when we come face to face with God, even after we’ve seen and heard of His ‘phenomenal cosmic powers’, we still only give him a tiny space in our hearts. “Just this one corner,” we say. “I’d like to keep the rest for myself.”
We tell Him it’s okay for Him to inhabit one part of our lives while we still live our own way in other areas. We go to church on Sundays, but our Monday-Saturdays look no different than the next person. We know scripture, but it doesn’t really sink in enough to transform the way that we live our lives.
We effectively live our lives without Him, and then when the going gets rough we, as our last option, resort to prayer. Just like in this movie, we rub our preverbal Genie lamp and expect God to pop out.
I say all of these things because I’ve been there. Heck, sometimes I still feel like I’m there.
But instead of acknowledging this as a reality & simply leaving it the same, I’d like to present you with a different way to approach life with God. The right way.
Step One: Acknowledge and accept the gift that you have been given with humility and gratefulness.
- 1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.” (MSG)
- Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (ESV)
How crazy is it that you were chosen by God? That before the foundations of the world, He had in mind good works for you to walk in? How amazing that God offers us salvation as a gift? How cool that He knew our lives would never measure up to His standards of perfection, so He paid the price for us? Even pondering the reality of these questions should turn our hearts toward thankfulness. We in no way deserve this abundant generosity, but He gives anyway. Look at God!
Step Two: In light of the gift you’ve been given, turn around and give your whole life back to God. He doesn’t need you, but he wants you. And that’s even better.
- Matthew 16:24-26 “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (ESV)
- Psalm 19:7-10 “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.” (ESV)
Maybe you are weary of giving your whole heart to the Lord because you have heard that His rules are too strict. That the life you live as an ‘all-in Christian’ isn’t as fun as the one you get to live while you’re half-in/half-out. Let me tell you this: that is a lie that the enemy so often whispers in our ears to keep us from fully committed to a life with Jesus. There is nothing scarier to Satan than a person whose heart is fully set on living the life that God has called them to.
Proverbs 14:12-13 says this: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.” (ESV/MSG)
Step Three: Allow scripture to inform and transform the way you live your life. Spend so much time reading the word and talking to God that you begin to look like Him.
- Romans 12:1-2 “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (MSG)
- Galatians 5:19-23 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (ESV)
I’m not sure about you but I’d pick fruits of the Spirit over the works of the flesh every single time. And the great thing about these fruits is that they are not dependent on your circumstances. Because they are produced by the Spirit, and the Spirit is not swayed by the waves of our lives, neither are His fruits. That means in the midst of the chaos of this world, a life lived fully for Jesus offers you constant peace, constant joy, constant patience. Who wouldn’t want that?
Step Four: Pray continually, not only as a last resort. There is an open line of communication with God, why are we not taking advantage?
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (ESV)
- Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)
- John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (ESV)
You see, the more time we spend in God’s presence, the more we start to look like Him. As we transform into His likeness, our heart’s desires begin to align with His. When your desires line up with the Father’s desires, it is a beautiful thing.
Step Five: Taste and see that the Lord is good!!
- Psalm 34:8a “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.” (ESV)
- Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (ESV)
Taste and see, friends. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
