I want to want...

I want to want only what You want and only for the reason You want me to want it.

13 Who is wise and has understanding among you? He should show his works by good conduct with wisdom’s gentleness. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t brag and deny the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace. 1 What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires. James 3:13-4:3

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. 3 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:1-4

After speaking with a pastor I met recently, one who has been teaching and shepherding for 50+ years, he asked me to consider this question about myself: "Why are you so impatient with imperfection?" He also asked me something to the effect of "What is it that you are striving for?" Both of those questions have been haunting me for nearly a week now.

I don't know that I fully understand the answer to either of those questions yet, but I have come to realize that distinguishing between that which is objectively wrong and that which is subjectively "sub-optimal" is a lot more difficult that I ever imagined, and far too often I place entirely too much in the first category when it belongs in the second, or even in a third category of "different, yet equally as good". And the ugly truth of the matter is that I have placed some of what I have in the first category because of an attitude of rivalry and conceit, of "you shouldn't do it that way because I can do it better."

In recognizing that God has given me gifts that He wants to use for His glory, I must also realize that when, where, and how they are used are up to Him as well, and even whether or not they are used at all.

God, give me a heart of true gentleness, wisdom, and humility. Teach me to truly submit to Your will whenever it may be, wherever it may lead, and however it may look.

Just for today

Give me strength, God, just for today
When life's troubles come to call
For on my own I tend to stray
And by myself, I quickly fall

Give me wisdom, God, just for today
Teach me hunger for Your Word
My foolishness is on display
When my own counsel my mind prefers

Give me grace, God, just for today
In response to insults flung
Let all my words and actions say
That I lived for You when today is done

Give me love, God, just for today
For the hurting souls I see
Let them see You, I desperately pray
Whatever it takes, Lord, shine through me

Reveal my steps, God, just for today
Teach me daily to rely on You
And should tomorrow come my way
Give me the strength to pray this anew

A Study in Ephesians: Pt. 5, Ephesians 1:3-14

The Centrality of Christ

In just 11 verses, Paul refers to various aspects of our salvation and the Father's plan as being "in Christ" or "through Christ" 9 times.

• We have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens (Eph 1:3)
• We have been chosen in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in the Father's sight (Eph 1:4)
• We have been predestined to be adopted into the family of the Father through Christ (Eph 1:5)
• We have been favored in Christ with the glorious grace of the Father (Eph 1:6)
• We have been redeemed in Christ through His blood (Eph 1:7)
• The Father has revealed to us the mystery of His will, which He planned in Christ (Eph 1:9)
• This plan of the Father is that, at the proper time, all things in heaven and on earth will be brought together (or brought under one authority) in Christ (Eph 1:10)
• We have received an inheritance from the Father in Christ (Eph 1:11)
• We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit* through faith in Christ (Eph 1:13)

Have you ever noticed how easy it is for people to either talk about or look past talk about "God," but that those same people are either uncomfortable with or offended by the name of Jesus? Jesus Christ is the central foundation of the Father's plan to bring glory to Himself through our redemption. Jesus is the One in whose name we pray, and He is the One that cults twist and misrepresent. Jesus is the One to whom every knee will one day bow, and He is the One the world seeks to denigrate as a mythological figure. Jesus is the One who will one day defeat satan and all the evil in this world, and it is only in Jesus that salvation for our sins can be found. Everything of any eternal significance in this world is centered around Jesus Christ.

Even in the centrality of Christ, we see a picture of something that is not normally found in those who are at the center of anything. Christ is central, and yet He is not the first Person of the Trinity. Jesus said He came not to do His own will but the will of the Father (John 6:38). In the ordering of roles in the Godhead, we see in Jesus a submission to the Father. I think the lesson we can learn from this is that submission of our own will to those in authority over us is part of the Christ-likeness we should be striving for. We see that in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to claim the name of Jesus Christ. No one can be saved apart from Jesus Christ, the historical man, the second Person of the Trinity, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, our Savior and our Lord. I encourage you to be bold with the name of Jesus. I also encourage you to emulate Christ in His submission to the Father, submitting to the leading of your spiritual leaders as they themselves submit to God (Hebrews 13:7).


*See slight correction here.