Reality #6 Joining God Requires Major Adjustments
Luke 9:23-24
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
"And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.'"
Major Adjustments
Many of us want God to speak to us and give us an assignment. However, we are not interested in making any major adjustments in our lives. Biblically, that is impossible. Every time God spoke to people in the Scripture about something He wanted to do through them, major adjustments were necessary. They had to adjust their lives to God. Once the adjustments were made, God accomplished His purposes through those He called.
2nd Critical Turning Point
The first turning point in your knowing and doing the will of God was the crisis of belief--you must believe God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do. Without faith in God, you will make the wrong decision at this first turning point. Adjusting your life to God is the second critical turning point. Making the adjustment of your life to God is also a turning point. If you choose to make the adjustment, you can go on to obedience. If you refuse to make the adjustment, you could miss what God has in store for your life.
Once you have come to believe God, you demonstrate your faith by what you do. Some action is required. This action is one of the major adjustments we are going to focus on. Your obedience also will be a part of the action required. Your adjustments and obedience will be costly to you and those around you.
You can't stay where you are and go with God
When God speaks to you, revealing what He is about to do, that revelation is your invitation to adjust your life to Him. Once you have adjusted your life to Him, His purposes, and His ways, you are in a position to obey. Adjustments prepare you for obedience. You cannot continue life as usual or stay where you are, and go with God at the same time. That is true throughout Scripture.
1. Noah: Could not continue life as usual and build an ark at the same time. (Genesis 6)
2. Abram: Could not stay in Ur or Haran and father a nation in Canaan. (Genesis 12:1-8)
3. Moses: Could not stay on the back side of the desert herding sheep and stand before Pharaoh at the same time. (Exodus 3)
4. David: Had to leave his sheep to become king. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
5. Amos: Had to leave the sycamore trees in order to preach in Israel (Amos 7:14-15)
6. Jonah: Had to leave his home and overcome a major prejudice in order to preach in Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-2; 4:1-11)
7. Peter, Andrew, James, and John: Had to leave their fishing businesses in order to follow Jesus. (Matthew 4:18-22)
8. Matthew: Had to leave his tax collector's booth to follow Jesus. (Matthew 9:9)
9. Saul (later Paul): Had to completely change directions in his life in order to be used of God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-19)
Enormous changes and adjustments had to be made! Some had to leave family and country. Others had to drop prejudices and change preferences. Others had to leave behind life goals, ideals, and desires. Everything had to be yielded to God and the entire life adjusted to Him. The moment the necessary adjustments were made, God began to accomplish His purposes through the individuals. Each one, however, learned that adjusting one's life to God is well worth the cost. You may be thinking: But God will not ask me to make major adjustments. If you look to Scripture for your understanding of God, you will see that God most certainly will require adjustments of His people. He even required major adjustments of His own Son: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus emptied Himself of position and wealth in heaven in order to join the Father in providing redemption through His death on the cross--that was a major adjustment!
If you want to be a disciple--a follower--or Jesus, you have no choice. You will have to make major adjustments in your life to follow God. Following your Master requires adjustments in your life. Until you are ready to make any adjustment necessary to follow and obey what God has said, you will be of little use to God. Your greatest single difficulty in following God may come at the point of the adjustment. Our tendency is to want to skip the adjustment and go from believing God to obedience. If you want to follow Him, you don't have that choice. His ways are so different from yours. God says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). The only way to follow Him will require an adjustment of your life to Him and His ways.
2 Examples: 1 Refusal to adjust and 1 Major Adjustment
The Rich young ruler refused to Adjust
The rich young ruler wanted eternal life, but he didn't make the necessary adjustments to Jesus (Luke 18:18-27). His money and wealth were more important. Jesus knew that he could not love God completely and love his money at the same time (Matthew 6:24). Jesus asked the young man to put away the thing that had become his god--his wealth. The young ruler refused to make the necessary adjustment, and he missed out on experiencing eternal life. The rich young ruler's love of money and his greed made him an idolater (Ephesians 5:5). He missed coming to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom God had sent. He wanted eternal life, but he refused to make the necessary adjustment of his life to the true God. Many people may face some of the same struggle today. Prosperity and the love of the things of the world may tempt you to refuse to adjust your life to God. The love for money and things can become a substitute for a love relationship with God. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24). This will be a major adjustment that many must make in order to be rightly related to their true Mater, the heavenly Father.
Elisha made the Major Adjustment
Elisha responded very differently (1 Kings 19:15-21). Elijah was told to select Elisha as his successor. He found Elisha in a field plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. When Elisha heard God's call through Elijah, he made major adjustments. He left his family and career (farming) in order to follow God's call. You have heard the phrase about "burning your bridges behind you." Well, Elisha burned his farm equipment and killed his twenty-four oxen. He then cooked the meat and with it fed the people of the community. He was not about to turn back! When Elisha made the necessary adjustments, he was in a position to obey God. As a result, God worked through Elisha to perform some of the greatest signs and miracles recorded in the Old Testament (2 Kings 2-13). Elisha had to make the adjustments on the front end of his call. Not until he made the adjustments was God able to work through him to accomplish the miracles.
No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him! Do you want to be wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to God? When God invites you to join Him, the task will have such God-sized dimensions you will face a crisis of belief. Your response will first require faith. Faith will be demonstrated by action. The first action will involve the adjustment of your life to God. The second action will be obedience to what God asks you to do. You cannot go on to obedience without first making the adjustments.
In Christ,
David
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
"And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.'"
Major Adjustments
Many of us want God to speak to us and give us an assignment. However, we are not interested in making any major adjustments in our lives. Biblically, that is impossible. Every time God spoke to people in the Scripture about something He wanted to do through them, major adjustments were necessary. They had to adjust their lives to God. Once the adjustments were made, God accomplished His purposes through those He called.
2nd Critical Turning Point
The first turning point in your knowing and doing the will of God was the crisis of belief--you must believe God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do. Without faith in God, you will make the wrong decision at this first turning point. Adjusting your life to God is the second critical turning point. Making the adjustment of your life to God is also a turning point. If you choose to make the adjustment, you can go on to obedience. If you refuse to make the adjustment, you could miss what God has in store for your life.
Once you have come to believe God, you demonstrate your faith by what you do. Some action is required. This action is one of the major adjustments we are going to focus on. Your obedience also will be a part of the action required. Your adjustments and obedience will be costly to you and those around you.
You can't stay where you are and go with God
When God speaks to you, revealing what He is about to do, that revelation is your invitation to adjust your life to Him. Once you have adjusted your life to Him, His purposes, and His ways, you are in a position to obey. Adjustments prepare you for obedience. You cannot continue life as usual or stay where you are, and go with God at the same time. That is true throughout Scripture.
1. Noah: Could not continue life as usual and build an ark at the same time. (Genesis 6)
2. Abram: Could not stay in Ur or Haran and father a nation in Canaan. (Genesis 12:1-8)
3. Moses: Could not stay on the back side of the desert herding sheep and stand before Pharaoh at the same time. (Exodus 3)
4. David: Had to leave his sheep to become king. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
5. Amos: Had to leave the sycamore trees in order to preach in Israel (Amos 7:14-15)
6. Jonah: Had to leave his home and overcome a major prejudice in order to preach in Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-2; 4:1-11)
7. Peter, Andrew, James, and John: Had to leave their fishing businesses in order to follow Jesus. (Matthew 4:18-22)
8. Matthew: Had to leave his tax collector's booth to follow Jesus. (Matthew 9:9)
9. Saul (later Paul): Had to completely change directions in his life in order to be used of God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-19)
Enormous changes and adjustments had to be made! Some had to leave family and country. Others had to drop prejudices and change preferences. Others had to leave behind life goals, ideals, and desires. Everything had to be yielded to God and the entire life adjusted to Him. The moment the necessary adjustments were made, God began to accomplish His purposes through the individuals. Each one, however, learned that adjusting one's life to God is well worth the cost. You may be thinking: But God will not ask me to make major adjustments. If you look to Scripture for your understanding of God, you will see that God most certainly will require adjustments of His people. He even required major adjustments of His own Son: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus emptied Himself of position and wealth in heaven in order to join the Father in providing redemption through His death on the cross--that was a major adjustment!
If you want to be a disciple--a follower--or Jesus, you have no choice. You will have to make major adjustments in your life to follow God. Following your Master requires adjustments in your life. Until you are ready to make any adjustment necessary to follow and obey what God has said, you will be of little use to God. Your greatest single difficulty in following God may come at the point of the adjustment. Our tendency is to want to skip the adjustment and go from believing God to obedience. If you want to follow Him, you don't have that choice. His ways are so different from yours. God says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). The only way to follow Him will require an adjustment of your life to Him and His ways.
2 Examples: 1 Refusal to adjust and 1 Major Adjustment
The Rich young ruler refused to Adjust
The rich young ruler wanted eternal life, but he didn't make the necessary adjustments to Jesus (Luke 18:18-27). His money and wealth were more important. Jesus knew that he could not love God completely and love his money at the same time (Matthew 6:24). Jesus asked the young man to put away the thing that had become his god--his wealth. The young ruler refused to make the necessary adjustment, and he missed out on experiencing eternal life. The rich young ruler's love of money and his greed made him an idolater (Ephesians 5:5). He missed coming to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom God had sent. He wanted eternal life, but he refused to make the necessary adjustment of his life to the true God. Many people may face some of the same struggle today. Prosperity and the love of the things of the world may tempt you to refuse to adjust your life to God. The love for money and things can become a substitute for a love relationship with God. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24). This will be a major adjustment that many must make in order to be rightly related to their true Mater, the heavenly Father.
Elisha made the Major Adjustment
Elisha responded very differently (1 Kings 19:15-21). Elijah was told to select Elisha as his successor. He found Elisha in a field plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. When Elisha heard God's call through Elijah, he made major adjustments. He left his family and career (farming) in order to follow God's call. You have heard the phrase about "burning your bridges behind you." Well, Elisha burned his farm equipment and killed his twenty-four oxen. He then cooked the meat and with it fed the people of the community. He was not about to turn back! When Elisha made the necessary adjustments, he was in a position to obey God. As a result, God worked through Elisha to perform some of the greatest signs and miracles recorded in the Old Testament (2 Kings 2-13). Elisha had to make the adjustments on the front end of his call. Not until he made the adjustments was God able to work through him to accomplish the miracles.
No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him! Do you want to be wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to God? When God invites you to join Him, the task will have such God-sized dimensions you will face a crisis of belief. Your response will first require faith. Faith will be demonstrated by action. The first action will involve the adjustment of your life to God. The second action will be obedience to what God asks you to do. You cannot go on to obedience without first making the adjustments.
In Christ,
David
posted by Mark 1:17 at 7:01 AM
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