What's This Is All For

so, i'm 26 years old, been a Christian for quite a fews years, and only recently have i begun to understand what Christianity is all about. so last Tuesday night a group of people from our church went to a worship service called 7:22. the speaker was Louie Giglio, who is known throughout the world for his gift of speaking Truth to young people. enough of the commercial. Louie's topic was on the Christian life is not easy, tho some people may tell you it is.

so we as Christian are taught to put our faith in Jesus Christ and by His grace will be set free from the sin of death. we'll be giving the ultimate reward, existence in heaven with Jesus, which surpasses any imaginable reward. this reward in heaven is greater than the loss of everything. even with that being said, our ultimate purpose on earth is not to just know God, but for our lives to give Him glory. and we as humans don't like to think that even if He leads us to death and torture and suffering, we are still to remain faithful to Him in order for Him to receive glory. this is profound to me.

the next time you are speaking with Jesus, ask Him if God will lead you thru hard times. i bet His answer will be, "He did Me." or ask Jesus if God may lead you to foreign countries. i bet His answer will be, "He did Me." or ask Him if it is possible for even your death to give glory to God. More than likely his answer will be, "Mine did." with that being said, how can we think that our lives are going to be easy? how can we always pray for our suffering to be taken from us, when that is exactly the place where God wants us to draw closer to Him?

Louie also made this point, "Hardship exists to break us free from the stuff that suffocates our lives." chew on that one for a while. James says that we are to consider it "JOY" when we face trials. where does this "JOY" come from? the Holy Spirit; it's one of the fruit which He gives to believers. {Gal. 5:22,23} another fruit is peace. and from my experience i've discovered that peace and joy often go together. Louie commented, "internal peace is the connection with Jesus which will pull us through the tough times."

i'm not sure about you, but i'm blown away by all this. God can use even my death to bring Him glory. God desires my pain and suffering to draw me closer to Him, which ultimately give Him glory. He may ask me to surrender my life to Him, in order for glory to be brought to His Name. but i've already given Him my life, so this shouldn't be surprising to me...tho it is. anyway, i could talk all day about this, but i better get to work.

Glorious Father,
where do i start? i'm blown away by this understanding. i know that You sacrificed Your Son to bring glory to Your Name. help me always to remember that i am not my own; i was bought as a price, the price to costly for me to ever repay. help me to always remember the moment i gave my life to You, so that i will never be tempted to steal it back. let me surrender my life to You on a daily basis. use it to bring glory to Your Name.
Through Christ's Blood for my Life, amen.