Yesterday's devotional seemed so familiar that I went in search of the archives to see if I had looked at it another year. It turned out that I looked at today's devotional in 2012, which is very similar.
What am I going to pull out of it this year?
Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. (Chambers)
My mind. My heart. My mind works overtime quite often. It rants and raves about things I can't do anything about. Things I can't change. My heart is often disappointed when I have higher expectations in my life. I often feel like I have a right to hold on to these rants and disappointments, but the Lord has shown me that I do not have that right. I must yield it to Him.
It's really hard to yield sometimes, but you know what? It's even harder to live life not yielding it to Him.
“Sell all that you have…” (Luke 18:22). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. (Chambers)
Selling all I have isn't enough. He wants me. And what does that mean? What does it truly mean to give myself fully to Him? I can't give myself fully to Him until I "sell all that I have." What do I need to sell?
- Anger
- Bitterness
- Memories that bring regret or grief
- Pride
- Resentment
- Brokenness
- Disappointment
- Expectations
- My time
- Mental health issues....and pride again
- Secrets
That is just a quick list the Holy Spirit has just shown me. Each of these can be broken down. I need to be authentic and transparent. I haven't always been this.
Here's another thought that Chambers adds to the end of the devotional.
Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.
Loving Jesus is the ultimate goal. I can't do that without selling the "junk in my house." The junk listed above. All that stuff is the fruit of self-love.
Loving Jesus is the ultimate goal. I can't do that without selling the "junk in my house." The junk listed above. All that stuff is the fruit of self-love.
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