Not Finished Yet - I Am a Work In Progress - Be Patient With Me

I was sitting in the church few weeks ago and to be honest I don’t remember anything from the sermon. The truth is if you are a church attending person, in your lifetime you will attend thousands of church services and it’s absolutely normal that you will not remember all. You don’t even have to. God uses your church time, your daily ordinary events, and all of your circumstances to personally talk to you and by doing so he is transforming you one step at a time.

But while you will listen to thousands of sermons and you will forget many of them, I find it amusing that I never forget when God talks to me personally. I can recall every time God talked to me: tell you exactly what I did, what he told me, and the impact it had on my life. Whether God talks to me at church through a pastor, a song, a book, a dream or just simply when I don’t even expect it, those moments and words all are imprinted in my mind forever. I treasure these sentences more than anything in my life. God, the God of the universe talks to me, little me – personally.

So going back to the Sunday, I remember the pastor asking: “Do you love Jesus?” And of course in was a grooming yes in the room - well we are in the church setting - of course we love Jesus. But then the next question came: “Do you obey him?” and after this I can’t remember the sermon anymore because God, started to talk to me personally.

I am studying Joshua as part of Life Journal Readings. This is not the first time I went through this book, yet I found many deep life messages. Here is Rahab, the prostitute and here proclamation about God.

„For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and earth below”- Joshua 2:11b

This is a prostitute’s declaration after hearing all the things God did in the Israelites lives and the journey from Egypt.

People around you  are watching your life: the way you talk, the way you respond in different circumstances, how you handle stress, how you face difficulties, how God delivers you or sustains you in difficult times, how you handle success and who gets all the glory in your success all those daily choices you make, talk laud about who God is in your life.

How People see Your God? Do you give God the deserved glory? Being God’s child doesn’t mean that you won’t face difficulties. To be straight with you, if you haven’t noticed yet, then you will sooner or later, that as God’s child you WILL face difficulties. The more I see it, these times are times of miracles! Whether God is doing a miracle IN you or FOR you it is absolutely visible for those around you. Whether he changes circumstances or changes your heart and attitude while in a circumstance, those who are around you WILL notice, even if they don’t verbalize what they see.

“Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you” – Joshua 7:13

You know your life and you KNOW what the things are, what should be set apart for the Lord.

“They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must set apart for me” – Joshua 7:10b

What are the things God wants for himself, things that should be set apart for him, yet you stole them?

Your time, your tithe, your attention, your obedience, your love…Do you love God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, ALL your mind and ALL your strength? Or is your heart, mind, and strength divided between your selfish wants and his ways?

This is a really tough question to ask ourselves.  As I was reading this chapter I had to stop and ask God to search me. Like David I cried out:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” – Psalm 139:23-24

Please understand, God says that you will NEVER defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you. Are you defeated? Do you feel your enemies are defeating you? Do you struggle again and again with the same problems? Don’t take it lightly. We can’t rob God and expect his blessings over our lives. We can’t live our way and expect him to give us the desires of our heart.

There are times in our life journey, when God comes so close to us and challenges us to slow down, step back and take a look deep inside in our hearts and answer the most important questions of our lives. One of the most important questions of your life is:

“Then he (Jesus) asked them:”But who do YOU say I am?” – Mark 8:29

It doesn’t matter what other people say about Jesus. It doesn’t matter what they think. It doesn’t matter where their relationship stands.

When it comes to YOUR relationship with God, what YOU believe about Jesus is THE most important thing about you. You will live YOUR life accordingly to what comes first to YOUR mind when YOU hear the word: Jesus.

This question is so personal and so deep.