This Beautiful, Beautiful Planet

"It is Jesus' church."

WHAT DOES God want? This is what we, the church, must ask every minute of our day. What does God want of me? What should I say? Where should I push forward? And the opposite, where do I pull back? What do I stop saying? Where am I wrong on this doctrine, this topic, in my behavior? We should ask and in humility, fall on our faces and seek His Presence. We should stop trying to “feel good” outside of His will.

To be in His will, to be exactly where He has placed us individually and corporately will give us joy and peace, but it will be far different from self-published agendas, even if initially we thought they were God. He is longsuffering (2 Peter 3:15). He is forgiveness. He adores our personalities, our talents. They come from Him. But when it’s us and not Him, it isn’t worth it. In the long term, we will not grow to the level that He desires, and to disappoint Him should break our heart. We are flippant about this, but the devil broke God’s heart. We have seen it as God giving a heavenly “pssht” and moving on. Nothing is further from the truth. He created him for a purpose, to do a mission on behalf of the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14), and not only did he not do it, he chose to destroy those he was given to aid (John 10:10).

Jesus defeated sin and death, He rendered the devil useless and dissolved all his “works” such as they were (Hebrews 2:14;1John 3:8). God is so HUGE in comparison. But all around us are the evidences of what sin introduced into what was a beautiful, beautiful planet. God has a plan to fix it, to restore it to His glory. There will be no more death, no more pain, sickness, or sorrow, and God, who has said it will happen, is the One the most excited about it (Revelation 21:4). For it is who He is. He is Creator and Sustainer.

We are made in His image and after His likeness. Not to do our own will, to say as Israel said in the prophecy of Ezekiel, “We’ll just worship however we please and take the consequences (Ezekiel 20:32).” But we are to follow in His footsteps, to see like Him, speak like Him, and be mirror images of Him.

It is Jesus’ church. He is the Head of it (Ephesians 1:22). We are all buttons and levers and gears that make it work. That make it reflect who He is. We must lay down ourselves at His altar and set down our agenda. Stop being the church we’ve envisioned and become the one He designed, that He hungers for. We should know Him as the bridegroom, who is constantly looking for the one who fills His heart. But I assure you, we don’t. We don’t know Him. We see bits and pieces, wavering reflections, and stumble ahead. We are told to PRESS FORWARD CONSTANTLY (Philippians 3:14, Remedy). This is dedication. Dedication to righteousness, to holiness. To repentance. To salvation and the SO LOVE of our beautiful Father, our gentle Savior, and the sweet Holy Spirit, who gave all They are to put us here in this condition.

We’ve settled for less.

“I press forward, constantly toward the goal of Christlike perfection—one day to experience the ultimate prize for which God has called me heavenward—the joy of seeing him face to face.” (Philippians 3:14, Remedy)

Photo by Gantas Vaičiulėnas on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com