New Rockford Transcript - Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

People believe many different things about God and spirituality. Some are convinced that it is arrogant to assume that we can know God’s will or walk with the Lord personally, however, what most people never stop to consider is how could the creator ask his creation to accomplish something without knowing who he is or what he expects from them? The divine reality of absolute truth includes the concept that God sincerely desires to share his mysteries and to work alongside his children to help them accomplish his will. I do not believe like the deist who are convinced in their theology that God does not intervene in the affairs of humans. I personally embrace the conviction that our maker wants to help us and walk with us every second of every hour and patiently waits for us to ask for his assistance.

Have you considered that deists do not look to prayer as an answer but rather turn to their own intelligence to find solutions to their problems? It can also be noted that when deists do succeed from their labors, we generally know who receives the glory. For those who are proud to pull up their own boot straps, these individuals relate to God through logical reasoning and the observation of nature, but not by revelation or supernatural manifestations, such as miracles which is a phenomenon they regard with skepticism. How sad that many live a lonely and miserable existence as they believe that humans are unable to have a personal relationship with the God who loves them more than anything. Like many of you, I’m grateful that we are not living on our own or need to rely on our own strength for everything. The deeds that have been manifested to the glory of God are spiritually empowered and accomplished by the very one who inspired them!

So, how can we learn to draw closer to God in this new year? The first step is to understand that in order to do his will, we must surrender ours. We hope and pray that everyone would want to fulfill the destiny that God has made for them, but sadly we know this is not going to happen. Yes, we can be energetic and have a certain amount of worldly success, but this is not the same as following the blueprints of God’s perfect plan for our lives. You see, I believe that God has a general will and a perfect will for each of his children. His general will is our obedience to the truth of his written Word, while his perfect will is the unique individual direction that he has chosen for each of us. Every person has been called and a specific design has been drawn by the one who knew us before we were born. When we fall at his feet and surrender our mind and heart to him, the light of his glorious presence can illuminate our path and then we make the decision to follow or refuse. To those who respond to his voice they can look forward to hearing him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your Lord” Mathew 25:21. For the ones who ignore their spiritual calling and would rather follow their own imaginations, they have not only wasted this life but are in danger of missing their heavenly invitation.

Is the Lord seeking someone who is perfect? I hope not, because it’s not going to happen. Jesus is the only perfect one. However, He is searching for an individual who wants to be transformed into what Christ died for them to be. Why do we have such a hard time with this? Because our level of determination has not risen to the conscious state of complete surrender to God’s demands. “We will only succeed for Christ when our desire to change becomes greater than our desire to remain the same.” Until we develop an attitude that we will not compromise with carnality, we are a “sitting duck” to defeat. Personal change does not happen with a “whim” and being controlled by God’s Spirit is a wonderful and noble suggestion, but it will take more than charisma, intelligence, or happy thoughts. Spiritual advancement requires a complete transformation as Jesus replied in Matthew 22:37, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

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