Giving up.... the Right Thing.
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Luke 23:46 NKJ And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.
It is hard to imagine where we would be if Jesus had not given up! He gave up all selfishness, all self-centeredness, and self desire to control His life. He lived to please God in the face of all His concerns for His ministry, He gave up any self-will and lived in God's will. This is counter to our desire to control our life. We go beyond concern for our lives and far too often live in worry, when all we should do is give up the worry to God, seek His will for our lives, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in that Will. Jesus is the perfect example of giving up personal will and doing the Father's will. Here is a personal story on the beginning my journey of worry and giving up.
Too long ago when I was thirteen, I took a lifesaving course (water lifesaving) that would be three hours each night for thirteen consecutive weekdays. I was the youngest, scrawniest one in the the group of about twenty amazon like teenagers. Most of them were there to get their YMCA (Y) lifesaving course to be hunks at the beach.
I quit after the second night, or I tried. Upon leaving school that third day, instead of walking to the Y, I started walking home. Well, my daddy just happened by driving to town and picked me up. He had a conversation about quitting..... while he was driving to the Y. He ushered me out of the car and told me, “You go in there everyday until the instructor kicks you out.”
I did what my father said. Eleven days later was graduation. After graduation, one of the amazon swimmers came to me and said, “You know everyone in the class was pulling for you for we could see you struggle through the requirements, but we learned, pound for pound, you are the strongest swimmer in here.” My dad taught me a life-long lesson in just five minutes and that amazonian encouragement stays with me even today.
The important lesson to see here is that in perseverance of a goal, I did give up.... the right thing. I did not give up my task, but I gave up the worry of achieving the task. I went back to class believing what my daddy said about staying until kicked out, and gave up the worry of achieving the goal but working harder. It is most important to have a teachable heart even if it takes a kick in the pants to learn.
To this day, my perseverance continues, giving up right thing, and working hard to achieve the best life and God has to offer. I seek to leave to God the worry for things I cannot control and “just keep on keeping on”. All of us have to give up our worry at some point as we find ourselves in a wilderness, searching for and achieving our goals. We must remain concerned and work to achieve our goals, but worry is just a heavy, useless distraction. As we backslide on this worry issue, we have to remember how much better it is to return to God; we must ditch the worry, be concerned- yes, and in our concern, we do what we can do within His will to better our conditions, but leave the worry to God in submission to His will.
As Jesus did in the wilderness after his baptism, He was lead to the desert to determine His path and behaviors to conduct His Ministry. He then pursued His goals relentlessly. He knew His mission, but, in the face of all adversity He used His Resources Wisely. He knew and used scripture to defend Himself against the evil one but He did give up... yes, he did give up the right thing, His Worry. He had a plan- to do the Father's will, then He worked the plan, and let His Father take care of the consequences.
Jesus remained concerned about His mission but gave up His worry to God, knowing that He would complete His mission through God’s help. He set the perfect example and we must do the same. When we pray for God’s hold on our lives in the midst of our greatest concerns and distractions, we become even more authentic Christians and closer in the Spirit. This allows God’s light to shine through us and be a beacon to those around us. Just as Jesus did, in the worst of our adversities we must pray for God’s will in our lives... and give up the worry.
The scripture above shows us in Jesus’ last words from Luke were about giving up. He held on to God for his last breath and then gave up His Spirit to God. May we too do the same, hold on to God, KNOW Him and hand him our spirit in our last breath.
Choose your goals wisely and never give up to God the goal but leave the worry to God through seeking and living in His will.
There are consequences when we give our worry to God, an empty spot fills our thinking . When we give up the worry, when we seek and live in His will, when we pray daily for God to live in us, the Holy Spirit rushes in. Give up your worry, then allow Him and the closeness of the Holy Spirit rule your life and lead you to greater achievements in His name.
Thanks be to God,
He does have a plan for you (Jeremiah 29:11). It will define your life.
(c) Lonnie Coggins
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IMAGINE JESUS IN HIS LAST WEEK BEFORE THE CROSS AND the testing to avoid the agony of the cross. But, our Perfect Leader, Jesus shows us the way and the results of living in God's will for our lives. It may not be an easy path, but giving up our will and living in His will is the example Jesus gives us. It truly leads to the greater Glory God as for us in His Plan for us. Click and read on for more. .... PLEASE SHARE THE MESSAGE on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications. For other messages like this, visit my FB page, or on FB visit-"A Daily Thought Group".
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