I feel a little bit better this week.
A little.
At least I don’t feel like a total flop as a follower.
Some of the thoughts I’m chewing on…
We can’t decide to make Him Lord because He already is.
It’s our job to submit to His lordship.
It’s not our job to personalize Jesus.
It’s His job to revolutionize us.
We can’t customize Him so we are comfortable with Him.
We can’t decide to follow Him and at the same time dilute the cost or disregard His words.
As a follower, it’s not about letting go of things we love to embrace what, “if we’re really honest, we loathe.”
It’s about letting Him embrace us and cause us to love what He loves.
We can’t play near the edge of the fire.
As His disciple, He compels us to go into all the world and make disciples.
It is the epitome of hate to not sacrifice your very life to spread this Good News among every person you know and every people group on the planet. ~p. 90
Ouch.
We don’t need to fret about His will for us.
We don’t need to resort to turning fleeces or seeking signs.
This is God’s will in the world: to create, call, save, and bless his people for the spread of his grace and glory among all peoples. This will is not intended to be found; it is intended to be followed. We don’t have to wonder about God’s will when we’ve been created to walk in it. We have no need to ask God to reveal his will for our lives; instead we each ask God to align our lives with the will he has already revealed. ~p. 135
To walk and talk the gospel at home, at work, at play.
Platt emphasizes that the Spirit’s filling is to empower us to speak.
He also emphasizes that when Jesus said in John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you,” he wasn’t promising a new job or house or car or vacation.
It’s a promise, Platt says, to give us everything we need “to spread your truth from wherever I live to the ends of the earth.”
Even if I live in an old farmhouse in the country and am unable to travel to the corners of the world.
I have a computer and the Internet. My readership is miniscule in comparison to others. But in the last month, I’ve had visitors from every state and Washington, D.C., as well as from 39 other countries. Something or Someone compels me every day to sit here and type words. I sacrifice sleep and time–and yet it never seems like a sacrifice. I love it.
I’m shedding more and more “stuff” because I love it less and less in order to do more and more of what I love.
I’m not hiding in any catacombs, and my voice is out here forever now.
If persecution ever comes, I’m pretty easy to find.
And if you’re spilling words into this darkness, so are you.
So yes, I feel a little bit better this week.
I don’t feel like a total flop as a follower.
Oh, and did I mention that if you’re His follower, you’re His child, and He delights in you?
We’re discussing chapters 4-6 of David Platt’s, Follow Me: A Call to Die. A Call to Live. over at The High Calling this month. My dear friend, Sheila LaGrand is leading us this week. Come on over and take a peek at how this book is affecting others.
Stilled,
Sandy
I feel a little better this week too :). This is a big picture book, don’t you think? Sometimes I need that. But sometimes I need just what you ended with too.
Big picture, yes. You just can’t stop with those first chapters.
Oh, I just hate that you ever felt like a flop, Sandra, cause it certainly isn’t/wasn’t true. Have you ever heard Platt speak? I think that sometimes it’s easy to read a harshness into his words, but listening to him speak, I get the sense that he is a very humble and compassionate man who desires for all of us to live in the abundance that comes from living in God’s will. He inspires me, helps me see my own blind spots, so that I can be and make desciples and grow to “love and live like Jesus” – my church’s mission statement.
And that chapter on knowing God as Father was very meaningful to me.
xox
I’ve felt like I’ve failed from day to day, but never really felt like I might be a flop until I read those first chapters. It’s kind of like he ripped out the foundation. But he’s building it back up again. 🙂
Hmmm, interesting discussion in the comments. I’m sensing some condemnation, some needing to measure up, which isn’t the same as conviction. Hopefully, it will end with conviction from a place of inspiration. Honestly, books like this one don’t make me want to rush out and buy them. But obviously, I’m in the minority.
I would call it more conviction than condemnation for me, Shelly. And as I read past those first chapters, I have to say that I’m starting to feel more freedom and rest. It’d be easy to not let myself feel a little discomfort. It’s definitely stretching me a bit and making me think. And there’s the whole section about His Fatherhood in this section that Patricia writes so beautifully about. And the thing about finding His will, that gave me a whole new perspective. He does emphasize that it’s not just about praying a prayer. Have you been reading the discussion over at THC?
Hi Sandra. Came over from IP. I’m not sure what book you were quoting from but I really liked that line:
We have no need to ask God to reveal his will for our lives; instead we each ask God to align our lives with the will he has already revealed. ~p. 135
Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.
We just need to pursue Him, do what’s in our hearts, but submitting it all to Him and His timing.
My brother recently told me about this book. Reading about it here, and that quote from page 135, (OUCH!), I do believe I better buy this book. Thanks!
Extremely powerful post, Sandy. You had me saying, “ouch” more than once . . . I would love to read this book.
Blessings!
Strong words! God’s standards are so high, aren’t they? And yet so incredibly achievable by his grace… thanks for this
Dear Sandra
Yes, my friend, it is not our decision to be like Him; rather, it is our privilege to allow Him to live His life in and through us! Visiting via Bonnie’s.
Much love
Mia
not hiding in any catacombs…YES and amen! visiting from dear emily’s this week, and i’m so glad that I did!
We’re all flops, now and then! Isn’t it wonderful that He loves us too much to care about our stumbles and hang-ups?! Yes! None of us can live-up to Christ. We are washed clean, by His Blood, only. We are flawed, but healed and forgiven. You see, His arms are stretched open wide for the all of us. We just need to go into His arms. We’re free to bask in His love. Found you through Faith Barista!