Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
11/9/2021
Is Life an Act of God or an Act of You?
What does that mean? Life is an Act of God? Did God create you? Our every breath is an act of God as is every heartbeat, every movement of every limb, our sight, and hearing.
Why are we here? What does it take to come out of the view of the natural to see something higher, something deeper, something supernatural? Didn’t you always crave that even when you didn’t know God? Didn’t you always know there was something more? Didn’t you feel a certain emptiness and yearning for something more heavenly, even after a night of fleshly satisfaction?
An Act of God gave us life in the form of a human body but we still carry the original sin of Adam and Eve that separates us from God and we need redemption to be reunited with God who is spirit. Justification is an act of God, not man. … For as Roman 8-2 says, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees us from the law of sin and death?. It was a divine decision to acquit the guilty, an Act of God, to give all the benefits of the children of God to us who deserve hell. Although many may have heard that scripture. Do they live like it’s true? Do they appreciate the depth of what it means? Or is this where life is an Act of You comes into play?
Paul says that even Christians can be, “in the flesh”, even though we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, 1 Cor 3:16 It is up to us on how much control we give him. Although we are commanded to “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh”. Galatian 5-16, 25. Here is the hard part for each of us. It is only by considering ourselves “crucified with Christ” Gal 2:19-20
that we can remain walking in the Spirit. Ouch!
I was speaking with a young person today and they felt they could hang out with non-believers and establish relationships regardless of whether they are saved or not. We had discussed earlier the concept of being unequally yoked and the dangers that presents even in our friendships. What does light have in common with darkness? But their thought was I feel I am a good judge of people and I want to make my our decisions about that. That sounds a lot more like an Act of Me than Life as an Act of God. That also doesn’t fly very well in the face of Romans 6:6-7 “Jesus did not come to reform our flesh, but to crucify it”. (Romans 6:6–7). But the flesh does not want to die as we can see here. When we are holding fast to our own desires, opinions, and agenda’s we remain the Lord of our own lives. Life is an Act of Me!
The truth is when we are not studying what God says, we are left with who we are as Lord of our life. It is not until we lay down our wills to what the Holy Spirit wants for us that we die to ourselves. THEN we will be “ filled with the Holy Spirit” And be controlled by a life that is an Act of God.
The goal to be accepted is at the heart of so many of our problems today. It is the greatest source of compromise for believers. What…to suffer ridicule or even isolations for how we believe, is very unpleasant naturally. But God’s word is abrupt and clear. James 4:4 says, “Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
Does that sound like God is ok with Life as an Act of You?
Bottom line: How old does one have to be to stop sipping on the milk of God’s word? Yes, I believe in God and that he died for me and I accepted all that so I can go to heaven. Really? Is that what it says? Does that sound like God is the Lord of one’s life? Might that look like you are obeying God, submitting to Gods’ wishes, and believing he has the best for us in our futures?
I wish I could give you a date or a year when one matures enough to see this. Even some of us are only flirting with the complete surrender and truth of this, even though we know, “We cannot serve both God and ourselves” (see Luke 16:13).
The flesh and its will just don’t want to die.
Until we know that, then we will never really comprehend that Life is an Act of God and we get to revel in the Joy of His calling. It is the time we change and feel it is an honor to serve and to seek and know His will for our days and our tomorrows and eternity. That means we have to die to our fleshly desires so we can discover the joy of the Lord and the freedom that truly comes with submitting to our Life being an Act of God.
That begins by reading the word of God and obeying it!
Loren Daigle Rescue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYR0xP1j4PY
