Sometimes I am not very good at being me, at least not the me that God created me to be.    I’ve noticed as I get older that my physical vision begins to not be as good and my spiritual vision seems to be getting better.  One of the things that my spiritual vision reveals, is that there is much in my life, in all of our lives that we need to give more attention to and a lot that we need to give less attention to.  We seem to worry about all of the wrong stuff and never really show any concern about the stuff that really matters.

I am on a journey, as we end this year and begin a new year to see what I really need to see and do something, the right something about it.  God created us for progress, growth, accomplishment and fulfillment.  I want to do and be what I was created for.  I want to feel and experience, not the success of the world, but the success of my Creator.

Over the next several weeks, I will attempt to unfold some of the raw, ugly and sad things that I have and am discovering about myself.  This is not to depress or discourage, but hopefully to help all of us know that this “mess” exists in all of us and God did not create us to live in bondage, but freedom.

Stop right now and take a moment to think about your life.  Have you accomplished all that you were created for?  Is there anything in your life that does not need to be there, anything that is getting in the way of your moving to the next phase or place that your Creator has for you?  Take the time to think, think honestly and you will discover that there is indeed much work to be done, but it is good work, worthwhile work and if you take the time to do it, then you will be glad you did!

There Are Many Ways To Know God!  Here are just a few that I have noticed folks putting into practice recently!

Some people know God as Untouchable!  He is far off and the best we can do is try and understand Him!  We can’t get close to Him and if we do, then He always seems to move.  He is so big, grand and vast that our limited minds can’t grasp much of anything about Him, except for His big vastness.  These folks believe in God, but don’t really understand that it’s possible to have a real and meaningful relationship with Him!  God is big and vast, but He is also close and personal, don’t miss Him!

Some people see God as an Enforcer!  They think:  He is out to get me and can’t wait for me to mess up!  Because we all mess up and sin, we think that the enforcer God is going to punish us by getting us back for our bad behavior.  Whenever anything bad happens in our lives, we tend to blame it on ourselves and some mistake we’ve made. God is righteous and holy, but He is also loving, merciful and gracious.  He loves you and is not out to hurt you, but to help you.  Trust Him and you will be amazed!

Some people see God as Father!  And this is exactly Who He wants to be seen and understood as!  God loves you and wants what is best for your life!  You have made mistakes and probably gotten caught up in some pretty big sins, but God the Father still loves you, wants to forgive you and has a pretty amazing plan for your life!

Matthew 1:23 it says:   23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 

That is exactly Who and What God wants to be in your life – WITH YOU!  Open your mind, heart and spirit and receive Him – you will be glad you did!

I hear a lot of people say:  “I would if I could!”, but I am not really sure that we mean that, because the truth usually is we can, but we won’t!  We are good at making excuses, often when we say: “I would if I could!”, we are really just being to lazy to come up with a real excuse.

Stop living a would have, could have, should have life!  Figure out what God created you for and understand that He has specific things for you to accomplish today.  Go after those things for His glory and man’s blessing!

Colossians 3:23 says:  “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…”  You know what you need to do, now go do it and you will be glad you did!