Commitment

Who or what are you committed to? Who or what has your attention? What are your priorities? Well the standard answer in most Christian circles would be, personal relationship with God first, family second, personal ministry third if applicable and job fourth.

If that is the way you would answer does it always hold true? Do your commitments and priorities change, should they change?

How are you allocating your time? This time last year I would have said my personal relationship with God was first, but I wasn’t committing the time to Him that I should have. My job unfortunately held a pretty close second tied with my family. My personal ministry, or Gods call on my life was last.

You see I was neglecting the thing I love the most, which is serving God in the purpose and plan He has chosen for my life, because my priorities were wrong. I was too focused on my job, oh yeah, and I forgot. To unwind I’d fill my weekends with watching all the television programs I’d recorded throughout the week. Thank God for His mercy and His grace I’m also grateful as we read in Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

I believe our first commitment should be to God. He says in all our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our paths. He also says but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

He is telling us when we do things His way we need not be concerned about the cares of life, what to eat what to drink what to wear. He will take care of not just the small things, but everything that matters to us. Who knows us and the things that we need better than the One that created us?

Sometimes we can get so caught up in the cares of our lives that we are unable to focus on the things, or purpose God has placed us here to serve.

The job of the enemy is distraction. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but because of the hedge of protection God has around you the enemy will distract you with the cares of this world. He wants you to worry about your finances, your health, your family; any and everything that you hold dear, or that that you think is needed to survive. Notice the emphasis here is on the word you.

God says take no thought for these things. He knows we have need of them. If He takes care of the lilies of the field surely He can take care of you.

To listen to the message in its entirety click on the link below and select Commitment

http://www.gretahillman.com/#!audiovideo/cd8l

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Puppet or Clay?

We read in Isaiah 64:8 but now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

God is the potter and we are the clay. We are shaped and molded by our life’s experiences. The experiences God allows to occur in our lives that make us into the vessel He has created us to be.

Notice the use of the word allow. God doesn’t make things happen in our lives but He does allow things to occur. In Job chapter 1 we read the account of Satan walking to and fro in the earth. When God asks Satan if he has considered his servant Job he basically responds are you kidding me. Job doesn’t serve you for nothing. You’ve placed a hedge of protection around him, his household, and everything around him. You’ve blessed everything he touches and cause it to increase.

Well that same hedge of protection is also around you and me. Yes things touch our lives just as they did Jobs, but these things when we come through them, and yes we do come through them make us stronger, give us a testimony to help someone else and believe it or not work together for our good, because we love God and we are the called, according to his purpose as we read in Romans 8:28.

Oftentimes when we are in the midst of going through we don’t know how we will make it through yet alone how what we are going through could possibly work for our good.

Years before my mother passed I always thought if anything ever happened to her I would not survive. We were very close. We shopped together, had the same taste and enjoyed each other’s company. We talked to each other on the phone every day.

In The last few months before her death she was in and out of the hospital. My two sisters and I took turns caring for her. We were with her when she took her last breathe. One of the last things she asked was that we keep our family together. Little did any of us know what was soon to occur. Both my sisters and I now live in the same subdivision within walking distance of each other and are closer than we have ever been.

When we allow the things that occur in our lives to shape and mold us we become stronger. Contrariwise when we allow the things that occur in our lives to adversely affect us the enemy has us just where he wants us.

Have you ever seen a puppeteer skillfully manipulate his puppets? He pulls the strings and maneuvers the puppets as he chooses. Satan tries to do the same thing with us, but he can only do what you allow him to do. It’s up to you to choose how you react to what you encounter and experience in life, whether your reaction is spiritual or carnal.

It’s only human for your initial reaction to be carnal because you are reacting based on emotion. Once the emotion has passed your reaction should be spiritual as you recognize that in the flesh there is nothing you can do.

A carnal reaction enables the puppeteer, Satan to manipulate your emotions, prolonging your victory.    

We also read in Jeremiah 18:4 and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. The Potter is willing and able to reshape you, to smooth out the marred places, to remove the flaws…are you willing to let Him?

As we read in Galatians 5:16 this I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Are you yielding to the puppeteer or to the Potter?