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Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.               

~Romans 12 1-2

 

Good morning dear sister!

Many moons ago, when I finally opened the door of my heart in response to Jesus’ persistent knocking, I did indeed rise from my knees, offering Him my life, my whole body, as a living sacrifice to Him! I knew I had been reborn; beginning a new life, a transforming life that would be nurtured by a renewed mind tuned to God’s good, pleasing and perfect will! 

I didn’t quite have those words for it then, but Jesus is a faithful Shepherd who understands the language of our hearts. I trusted Him to lead me where I did not know where to go. Think about your own experience, dear sister. How has the Lord led you when you did not know how to get where He wants you to be?

As years went by, I kept growing in maturity, knowledge and eagerness to do God’s will, but somehow, somewhere, I got distracted onto a parallel path…. serving God, but perhaps not according to His perfect will. I didn’t have the discernment to see that I had stopped moving forward on the path the Lord had set for me until things really started going downhill. Truthfully, I am kind of shocked when I think about it now and it’s made me wonder if other saints have experienced the same thing!

The fruit of going ‘my way’ made me unhappy in my service to the Lord. I felt ineffectual, like I was stuck in mud, spinning my wheels. Through the years I had held many different positions of authority and responsibility in a church, always doing my work as unto the Lord, always trying to please Him. Looking back, I see that I mistook my own thoughts for God’s wisdom and it resulted in constant frustration with my peers. I even grew suspicious and judgmental of my fellow coworkers. I moaned and complained constantly (just ask my husband).

The lesson? I’ve learned that usually when you think that you’re right and everyone else is wrong, there’s a problem. The problem was me!! I was trying to get people to conform to my pattern of serving the Lord (which was God’s will for them IMHO) which resulted in frustration and friction between everybody. ”From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My sisters, these things ought not to be so!” (James 3:10) 

This is not a confession that I’m proud of, but the Lord, in His everlasting mercy & grace, has renewed my mind as I repented of all that, praise God! He has helped me to forgive those I had anything against and to leave them in peace. It’s been a couple of years now, and I’m very thankful to feel once again that I am useful to the kingdom of God and fellowship of the brethren.

Dear Sister, I share this with you in the hope that if you are feeling unhappy or complacent in your walk with the Lord or with the church, you may examine your heart, check out those ‘humble opinions’ that may be lurking there in the Light of Jesus Christ. He is waiting to renew you in His love!

Don’t let the devil steal your zeal!

 

With love, your imperfect sister, Celeste