The Choice

Romans 8: 10 - 14, And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors -- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. NKJV

Do you find it difficult to trust the Lord? It often seems easy to answer a vague question such as this; but sometimes God gets very specific with His questions, and it is in those times that trusting the Lord can become deeply challenging. How is it that we can trust God with our eternal salvation and then struggle when He instructs us to do something that goes against our desires, our own wills, or our comfort levels? The answer is extremely simple; however, the process of walking out the answer in our daily lives can be very daunting.  

All humans enter this world having a carnal nature and mind. This nature originated from the fall of Lucifer and was perpetuated in humans through Adam and Eve's decision to sin. The carnal nature is all about "self," and it being in control, not God. Therefore, when we come to Christ, we are required by the Lord to die to self and place our complete faith and trust in God.  

Since we have no control over eternity, it's easier to trust God about it. However, when it comes to the life which we live now, it becomes a different story. We want to have control of this life, so we use our gifts, talents, desires, and our influence in order to sustain the will of self. As a result, it can give us a false sense that we are in control of our lives; but in reality, we move, and live, and have our being because of God's love and mercy.

This brings us to the reason for today's word. We will either be led in this life by our desires and decisions, or we will be led by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We make decisions everyday that can alter and affect the rest of our stay on earth and not think anything about it. Nevertheless, when God asks us to do something by faith that aligns us with His will, we can begin to question Him about His reason or the motive behind His direction for our life.  

Here lies the problem with believers allowing the carnal mind to control their new life in Christ. Though we have confessed our faith and devotion to Christ as believers, we still need to have our minds renewed and begin to put on the mind of Christ. Until we learn how to become like Christ and trust our heavenly Father in the same way that He did, we will continue to resist God's will and direction for our lives.   

God not only sent us His Word, but He has also given us the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we can access the presence of God; consequently, we build our faith in Christ through an intimate fellowship with our heavenly Father. You see; Jesus knew His Father, but we must come to know Him for ourselves. When we don't know our heavenly Father through personal time invested in His presence in prayer, it can cause us to waiver in our faith when He instructs us to lay something down and walk away from it.

I've said it many times; but it still bears repeating. You can't trust someone that you do not know. Consequently, how can we say we fully trust in God when we do not know Him or His ways? We're told in Daniel 11 that those who KNOW their God shall be strong and do great exploits. Therefore, we are to become acquainted with our heavenly Father so that we will be able to trust in Him and obey His will over our own will. After all, it is the plan of God to prosper us and to give us a hope and a future.

The process of dying to self begins with us taking the time needed to know God as our heavenly Father. Just listen to people who say they're Christians; how many call the Father "God" and how many refer to Him as "Father?" I don't call my father Frank; I call him dad because I know Him. Who is God to you? Make the right choice; get to know God and allow Him to become your heavenly Father.

Trust is key,

Pastor Asa Dockery