Living Responsively
Words from Jesus
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“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”—Hebrews 1:31
Beloved, because I am your Creator, I am the Initiator of your very life. Your first cry as an infant was a response to the life I provided. Many people think they can live independently of Me, but that is an illusion. I sustain everything by My powerful word! When I cease sustaining someone’s life, that person dies. So, living responsively is a matter of aligning yourself with ultimate reality: My sovereignty over the universe. The fact that I am sovereign over every aspect of your life can increase your sense of security, to the extent that you trust in My perfect love. Thus, the art of living responsively rests upon a foundation of trust—in My absolute goodness, My infinite wisdom, My loving presence.
To build on this trust foundation, you need to be perceptive: seeing things from My perspective as well as yours. Search for what I am doing in the big picture as well as in the details of your day. Living this way requires concentration, because the world is rigged to distract you from Me. However, the times when you do succeed in living responsively will be the best in your life. You will feel fully alive and richly connected with Me at such times. This is a foretaste of what awaits you in heaven, where you will respond to Me perfectly—throughout eternity!2
More blessed
“Blessed are they that have not seen‚ and yet have believed.”—John 20:293
I want to remind you of this promise because I know you struggle with not always feeling My love. You wish it could be tangible and more real at times. You wish you could feel My presence when you need comfort, and hear My voice audibly when I talk to you when you are lonely. But you have believed by faith that I am with you, and I will reward you for your faith and bless you with manifestations of My love and care.
One way you can feel My love more is by giving it to others. When you do that, you can feel My love being channeled through you. If you’re pouring out, you will in turn be filled to overflowing. So if you’ve been feeling unloved and empty, start giving love and My love will pour into your life.
Your world will be full of beauty as you pour forth My love to others!
Thankfulness
“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.”—Psalm 40:34
Whenever you are tempted to grumble, come to Me and talk it out. As you open up to Me, I will put My thoughts in your mind and My song in your heart.
There are so many things you would like to be different: in yourself, in others, in the world. Your natural tendency is to brood over these matters, rather than to talk them over with Me. The longer you focus on these negatives, the more likely you are to become disgruntled. Even when you control what you would say out loud, your thoughts tend to be full of complaints.
Let Me help you think My thoughts.
Trust Me by opening up to Me consistently. Don’t wait till you’re already discouraged to bring Me your concerns. As we talk about these matters, remember to thank Me. In spite of how you’re feeling, you can thank Me for listening and caring; also for loving you enough to die for you. Your gratitude will provide a helpful framework for the things that concern you. As we talk about these things, let the light of My face shine upon you. Eventually the heavenly light will break through the fog in your mind, enabling you to see things from My perspective.
Your communion with Me will bless you in another way also: you will find in My presence irrepressible joy. Whether or not I change your circumstances, you will discover I have given you a new song—a hymn of praise.5
Go the distance
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”—Matthew 10:29, 316
If I care for each sparrow and not one falls to the ground without My knowledge, and if I provide for the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field, I will surely care for each of you. The very hairs of your head are numbered. So don’t worry and fret about what’s to come. I won’t allow more to come your way than you can manage. The things you face in life might stretch you, and might seem more than you think you can manage. But that’s where faith comes in. If you think you can do it in your own strength, where’s the faith in that? You need to trust that the victory is in Me. And as long as you keep fighting to overcome, I will keep overcoming through you.
There are changes to be experienced and victories to be won at every stage of your life. Your human determination and resolve will only get you so far, but the energy and power of the Spirit—coupled with your will and steps of determination—will help you to climb the mountains before you.
Why just hold on when you could actually climb and scale peaks? Why tread water to survive when you can swim and really go places? Why sit and simply enjoy the scenery when you can run and explore places you’ve never been before? Give your all to what I have shown you is My will! Go the distance, and see if I won’t meet you and guide you upward to the top of the peak and new vistas of possibilities.
It’s the short-term earthly vision that can really get to you, when you aren’t seeing things through My eternal vision. Your time on earth is just a small pinpoint in eternity. It’s a tiny train stop of a few years when put into the timeline of infinity. And yet this stop is one of the most important times in your existence. It’s the only place that you will be able to do certain things and learn and grow in certain ways.
Don’t let the earthly vision cloud your eyes or get you looking at this time in your life as “all you’ve got.” There is hope and a future. So take heart and put your full weight behind the new things I’m bringing into your life, make a commitment, and claim the victories I want to give you.
Published on Anchor September 2015. Read by Jason Lawrence.
Music by Michael Dooley.
1 ESV.
2 Sarah Young, Dear Jesus (Thomas Nelson, 2007).
3 KJV.
4 NIV.
5 Sarah Young, Jesus Lives (Thomas Nelson, 2009).
6 NIV.
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