As we grow in our relationship with God, we will discover many subtle changes that are taking place within. One of the things that have stood out to me of late is the way in which God thoroughly changes our agenda. With all of our modern technology and fast paced life styles, everyone has an agenda. For most people there are not enough hours in the day for them to accomplish all that they think they need to do. Between work and family demands, there is seldom much time left to read the Word or steal away to your prayer closet. Time has become a valuable commodity that is in very short supply.
If we are walking with Christ, we are no longer following our own agenda. This takes place gradually, as we draw nearer to our Lord; our priorities begin to change. Instead of finding pleasure in the things that once occupied our time, now we would rather sit at Jesus' feet and learn from Him. Religion makes knowing God difficult, when in fact it is very simple. To know God does not require years of theological study, or working every spare minute for some group or organization dedicated to doing good works. [God does not want 'good works'; they come from the flesh realm. God wants obedience]. To know God simply requires an open, honest heart. Be willing to accept every word that our Lord spoke, and allow the Holy Spirit to open your understanding and transform you from within.
One of the major stumbling blocks today to our walk with God is where our focus is placed. Our focus is usually directed at outward appearances. The Lord called the religious leaders of his day 'white washed sepulcher's"; they looked good on the outside but inside they were full of dead men's bones. Most of us don't realize that God literally knows every thought we think. It doesn't matter how holy we try to appear on the outside, to others. Our focus needs to be directed to our inner man; bringing our inner man into conformity with God. In and of ourselves this is totally impossible to accomplish, which is why we have so many white washed sepulchers everywhere we look. It is far easier to wear a religious face, than to actually be a Son of God.
God alone can change and transform us. And this happens only as we keep our eye focused on knowing Him. Not just all the things that have to do with God, or that use the name of Jesus, but to actually come to a personal knowledge of God that is alive and life changing. Most of us are not in a position where we can afford not to work and support our families. It would be nice not to have any demands on our time and be able to read and seek the Lord full time. This is the perception that our natural mind comes up with as what we need to grow in our relationship. God is not limited in any way when it comes to changing us into his own likeness. We can commune with God at any time, in any place and any situation. Jesus said that He and the Father would come to us and make their abode with us. We have the Godhead dwelling within our hearts. We need to look within as we go about our daily tasks. Stop trying to anticipate what we 'think' our response to a situation should be, and just learn to trust that your response is proper as long as you are connected to the Father; as long as your response is honest and from the heart.
We cannot accomplish turning the other cheek; being kind to those who despitefully use us; loving our enemies in our own strength. This is where the beauty of our relationship begins to manifest itself. There are multitudes of frustrated Christians who are attempting to follow the Lord's directives in their own strength, and continually feeling like failures because they can't do it. Jesus never intended for us to do it in our own strength. Jesus desires above all a personal, living, connected relationship with us. He desires for us to come to an understanding of Who He Is; to trust Him completely; and to lean on His strength in total acknowledgment that we have no strength of our own. When I was a little child, I thought that my mother's life revolved around me. It came as a shock to me one day as I approached adolescence to realize that she actually had a life of her own, and I was just a part of it. I had to begin to grow up. I had to learn that my relationship with my mother would not always remain the same way as when I was a little child. We go through a similar growth in our relationship with God. When we first come to the Lord and experience His cleansing love, we must come as a little child. We are only acquainted with one aspect of Christ, His incredible love. God desires for us to grow up in Christ, and be AS HE IS in this world. That requires that we mature beyond just wanting to sit in his lap whenever he is near. God desires for us to walk in the fullness that Christ walked in, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and do the work in this generation that has been ordained for us to accomplish.
We need to come to the understanding that God does not need or require our help in setting His agenda. His agenda has been set from before the foundation of the world. Nothing has ever been accomplished to promote the kingdom of God that originated from the efforts of man. Spiritual change requires the power of God. The anointing that comes forth from the throne of God will accomplish more in a moment of time, than a hundred years of man's efforts.
How do we walk with God? The same way that Jesus did. John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Jesus walked this earth just as we do today. He experienced the same limitations of the flesh that we face. Jesus maintained communication with God while in a fleshly body. He did that which he saw the Father do. His judgments were God's judgments. Jesus made it possible for us to walk in the very same relationship. As we grow in our own relationship with God, we too will learn to live by the dictates of the Spirit rather than the dictates of our flesh. Our minds will be renewed. We will no longer be limited by our carnal understanding. We will be content to let God be God.
Our hearts desire will be that we be found pleasing in His sight. The more we grow up spiritually, the smaller we become. It is no longer important to us to have all the answers. It is of preeminent importance to know the One who does have all the answers. Jesus said, "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, no man cometh unto the Father except by Me." All we need is to KNOW Jesus. As we walk with God, we come to realize that when we thought we were making decisions, in reality it was God that was directing our steps. God opens and closes the doors in our lives. God leads us down the paths we take, that we might learn the lessons we need to learn; that we might be purged of our wrong ideas and attitudes and be brought into conformity to His will.
We will no longer have our own agenda. Our sole aim will simply be to be where God wants us to be, doing what God wants us to do, when God wants us to do it. Whether it is ministering to His body, or patiently waiting hidden away in obscurity. As we walk in the Spirit, we are privileged to see the plan of God unfold before our eyes, and to participate in it's coming to pass. In John 15:15 Jesus said, Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you. We are members of God's household, and can be privy to foreknowledge of God's agenda. Because of the lateness of the hour in which we are living, it is of extreme importance that we get with God's agenda, and let go of our own.
