There comes a point in our walk with Christ that we have to ask ourselves if we are trying to live a life of faith or a life of sanctification and holiness. It’s a tricky thing to think about because at first glance we should strive for all of those things. However there are times that our choice to to be surrendered to Christ is based off of our wanting to gain sanctification and personal holiness. That is where the problem lies. It becomes motivated by our person benefits. This topic is brought up numerous times in my Devotional, Utmost for His Highest, and the good ‘ol Oswald gives an example of that… “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from my sin, because I want to be made holy.” He goes on to say, “Our motive for surrender should not be for our own personal gain, being delivered from sin and being made holy is a result of being right with God.”
That is where I struggle in my walk for Christ. I feel like I need to reach this ‘bar’ of Christianity and so I fight and fight and fight and for what purpose? To reach that bar? Through those battles I have thinking I should be in a certain place spiritually results in a series of mountaintop experiences, which leads for inconsistency and exhaustion in my walk.
As, I just finished that last word of the sentence above, I realized how perfect it is that I used the word ‘walk’. Walking is even paced, and consistent, you don’t get weary and when you walk you can go that furtherest for the longest amount of time. I believe I have made my ‘walk’ with Christ a run. A run up those mountaintops and back down, and then back up, then find myself exhausted and disheartened.
So some food for thought… maybe this life of sanctification and holiness we have all been told to obtain is really, and truly a life of faith. “Living a life of faith is means never knowing where you are being led, but loving and knowing the ONE who is leading you.”
I lately have been at a strange amount of peace with my relationship with Christ. I think at the beginning of my ‘Race’ I was, quite literally ‘racing,’ and now, that I am at rest in who I am in Christ my ‘race’ has turned into a ‘walk.’ (I purpose they change the name to THE WORLD WALK )And through that, I find myself taking in the small things God does for me in the day. I take joy in small moments that I feel God romancing me as his daughter and love of His life. What a testimony to faith when a person stops expecting their faith to be built ofn HUGE moments of God yelling in their face to hearing God’s gentle whisper and trusting in His time of sanctification in your life, one small step at a time, the closer you get in your life of faith.
I catch myself naturally operating in a way that is pleasing to Christ rather than wondering all the time if I am doing God’s will. Here’s the catch with that…
John 17:22 “That they will be one just as We are one.”
“When we stop short of our true desire in prayer and say, “Well I don’t know if this is God’s will,” then we still have another level to go.”
“When you have the right standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty and delight, you ARE God’s will.” (WHHHHHATTT crazy thought right!)
Think about that word delight…
The first verse that pops into my head when I see that verse is, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Often times, that verse is misinterpreted. God is not going to give you, YOUR desires of your heart when you delight in Him.
HIS DESIRES NATURALLY BECOME YOUR DESIRES WHEN YOU DELIGHT IN HIM.
“That they will be one just as We are one.”
Short Update:
I was in Bulgaria for only two weeks because our contacts had previous plans, which we were sad about because Nasko and Eireen were amazing, I we loved their family! We did classes in English at the School and helped with a Scouts program. The city we were in was Hisarya. THAT TOWN is fasinating. It was part of Roman territory so there is still ruins all over the place. So far, one of my favorite town we have been in.
NOW…. drum roll!!!!!!!!
We are in Croatia. So this is exciting for a few reasons, one, now many racers have been here, BAM. Two, we were not planning on going here. AND THREE, we will be here for a month and a half, due to leaving our last country early. We are in Slavonski Brod working with a church plant here and helping fix things up, and help at a Christian internet cafe.
