“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'” Matt. 16:24
As we consider and honestly answer the question of what we want and what He wants us to want (click on the links if you missed them),
may we not find ourselves stuck in an attitude of
“I want what I want!”
What can that attitude sound like?
I don’t want to deny myself.
I don’t want to surrender.
I don’t want to follow, when I don’t know where I’m going.
I don’t want to be vulnerable.
I don’t want to take risks.
I want to protect myself and stay in control.
(Ha! as if we are ever really in control.)
YET…..
all that we really want is on the other side of each of those very steps.
On the other side of surrender, there is LIFE and freedom.
Oh to follow Him!
To deny self and find Him so faithful.
To break out of the prisons (even of our own making and vain imaginations- 2 Cor. 10:5) of fear and insecurity and control
and fight for breakthrough into freedom and POWER and life abundant and adventure and the hope and peace and the deep longings of our hearts, already made available and paid for at the cross.
May we lay any “I want what I want” and all the ‘fears to commit’ aside, to follow Him.
May we daily (and even moment by moment) surrender, seek Him, and allow Him to deliver us from all our fears.
“On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.” Psalm 138:3
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With pen in hand (expecting Him to answer), here are a few things to talk to God about:
-Lord, show me right now where I may be stuck in a “I want what I want” attitude rather than wanting You above all things. What am I striving for and have put ahead of what You have already freely given and lavished upon me and is enough?
-Lord, show me what those steps (of denying myself, surrender, vulnerability, risks, following You and You alone) practically look like for me today, in this season? What are you calling me to and empowering me to do?
-Lord, YOUR truth sets me free. Speak the truth I need to hear right now in my present circumstances.
Friend, do you have no idea where to start in answering one of those questions?
Just start writing and tell Him about how you don’t know, and let Him begin to show you.
Just put pen to paper.
I am praying for you, and Jesus is too (Romans 8:34, Heb. 7:25).
This is part of a small series of posts that began here with A Question to Consider.
Thanks for stopping by. I would LOVE to hear from you and to hear your thoughts! Click on the title of this post and leave a comment in the comment section or email me at traci@tracishinnick.com.
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