Monthly Archives: August 2012

We have all heard seen the letters ~ WWJD…and heard the phrase “What would Jesus do?”  But, let me present something I heard in a revival a couple of years back…Can we REALLY do as Jesus would do? No.  Why? Because He walked on this earth without sin. We sin every day.  So, here is the new version(as given by the preacher) of WWJD…Walk with Jesus DAILY.  Can we do this? YES!!!

I have been challenged over the last couple of months regarding the concept of really walking with Him and our true purpose in life.  Why are we here? To GLORIFY him in all we do! Going to the grocery store, going to soccer/football games, running, working, hanging out watching TV, using social media, being with our families, EVERYTHING…not just church, not just Bible study…but IN ALL WE DO, we are to put Him first and glorify Him.

This is so for ME! God has been tapping away at my heart and soul.  He has used some very trying circumstances as well as some very joyful ones to help me see HE is in control of all of them.  He wants the glory for all of it and the outcome.  He wants us to show Him we love Him and we are willing to live “out of this world” for HIM.

We are called to a higher purpose.  Higher than Facebook and Twitter.  (I am going to park here for a little bit because of where I feel God has been pounding on my soul.)  Here are two scriptures that deal with us and how we as Christians are viewed by the world and how we are to live in this world:

John 15:19

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God. 

Dealing with some of the recent circumstances in life, I have really come to see how social media has consumed many of us. I took a month off to try to prioritize my thinking…or as the scripture says to renew my mind. I am now back on with a new perspective.  Now, don’t get me wrong…I do not have it all together by any means…but I do have a new way of thinking as I approach my use of the world’s social media. (It is in the world…)

In this world, we seek approval of others.  With the emergence of the internet and the instant connectivity of our society these days…it is easy to get instant feedback and seek that approval.  We are almost slaves to it. We have made it our god.  We worship it before we worship or Lord.  How many times do we check Facebook as compared to the amount of times we open our Bible? Guilty as charged here!!!  So all of this got me thinking…and then the Lord placed this scripture in front of me tonight during our evening sermon:

Joshua 24.14-15

¹⁴ “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” ¹⁶ Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! ¹⁷ It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord,because he is our God. ”¹⁹ Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” ²¹ But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.” ²² Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses, ” they replied. ²³ “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” ²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”

I had notes written next to part of this selection from a sermon I heard long ago. The points were:

• Pursue devotion to God! – Serve God in sincerity and faithfulness; Devotion is key to faithful living; It must be renewed daily.
• Pursue separation from the world! – Remove the values of the world from our lives; We must “stick to it” to remove ourselves from the world; God does not want to fit in to our lives – but to RULE our lives!!!

Then in the commentary below the scripture it read:  The covenant between Israel and the God was that the people would worship and obey the Lord alone.  Their purpose was to become a holy nation that would influence the rest of the world for God.  The conquest of Canaan was a means to achieve this purpose, but Israel became preoccupied with the land and lost sight of the Lord. This can happen in our lives.  We spend so much time on the means that we forget the end – to glorify God.  Living Bible Commentary

Again, this blog is for ME! It has been heavy on my heart for a couple of months. God placed the above scripture and commentary in my path today to bring it full circle.  His challenge to me is to:

• Daily renew my mind using His word to prepare for the daily battle of life.
• To consciously GLORIFY Him in ALL I do…when using Facebook and Twitter think to myself, “Would Jesus post this or tweet this? Is it glorifying Him and making an influence for Him in a lost world?”
• To live ‘of’ this world, not ‘in’ it…my home is being prepared for me by the KING…why wouldn’t I want to shout that daily???
• To influence others for HIM and show them how they too can experience an everlasting love unlike any other!

Thanks for reading…the Lord has been very present in my life and this issue has not gone away. I felt His hand as I wrote.  Now for me to listen and obey…will you join me? 🙂