Who do you submit to? Who do you love?

Have you ever NOT wanted to do what the Lord is asking of you b/c it's going to be hard, but you know you need to b/c it's going to be really good for you? That's been me for the last week or two. At first I didn't want to do it b/c I thought it might just be me thinking these things, and I had to pray about it a lott. When God confirmed to me that it was Him and not me, I still didn't want to do it. I knew I would, but I knew that it would be really hard for me. I had to write out to God that I promise to do what He is asking of me, and every word hurt, but it was such a good hurt. We don't always want to do what He is asking, but we have to anyways. "This is where you CHOOSE  to do so because of obedience, not off of what you're feeling," (Claudia Rios). We may not always feel like doing something that the Lord wants us to do, but we still must choose to b/c of obedience. We are to live in submission to God. Out of our love for God we should be desiring to submit to Him, but if we don't truly love Him then why should we desire to submit to Him and His will? It's just like a marriage, if a woman loves her husband then she will want to submit to him. The husband see's what is right and what is wrong, whereas the woman doesn't always see this. A wife must submit to her husband so that he can help her to see and choose the right  choice, just like we as Christians must all submit to the Lord so that He can direct us to the right choices. But if the wife doesn't love her husband, then she will not desire to submit to him. Likewise, if we don't love the Jesus, then we as His bride will not wish to submit to Him. Also, if the husband loves his wife then he will give her wise counsel and Godly direction. God loves us and will therefore direct us according to His purpose and His will. If a man does not love his wife, and also love the Lord first, then He will not give wise and Godly advice to his wife. (Bottom line, God needs to be the center of your marriage if it's going to work.)

Look at the Israelites, some of the time they praised God and served Him, but they would often then decide that they love themselves more and therefore would submit to no one and each would do as they pleased. (Judges 21:25). When we do as we please and not as the Lord pleases, we cause ruin in our own lives.

We use the word "agape" to express our unconditional love, but what many don't realize is that this word doesn't not specify that it is unconditional love for another person outside of ourselves. You can agape yourself; you can unconditionally love yourself. But the word "philadelphia" specifies unconditional love for someone outside yourself. The Israelites expressed agape love, but do not appear to have understood philadelphia love. Do you understand philadelphia love? Do you truly love others unconditionally, and most important, do you love God unconditionally? Or are you still so wrapped up in yourself and your desires that agape is the only level of love you have experienced? We need to look beyond ourselves and see what God desires. Our decisions affect not only ourself, but also our relationship with God, God Himself, our friends, our family, everyone that we come in contact with, and our relationships with all these people. If you have true philadelphia then you will put all these people before you, and will make sure that your choices affect them in a way that will bring glory to our King. Do you agape yourself and therefore submit only to yourself? Or do you philadelphia the Lord and therefore submit to Him and those He has placed in authority over you?

We often see one clear way for things to be done, and when God has a different way of doing things we generally freak out to some degree. Jeremiah 29:11"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." His ways are always good but our ways generally aren't, even if we may think they are. He has known you since before you were conceived, so He definitely knows what you should do. He always makes the right choice, but sometimes, often in fact, we don't. God has only good in store for us. (Matt 7:11 & Luke 11:13). He desires good for us, not harm, and will bless us, never hurt us. Jesus=Love

Check your heart, see what kind of love you are offering. Have you been able to experience philadelphia, or are you only using agape? Make sure that love is the most important thing to you. God is Love.

God needs our trust

All I know is that God is love, and He is good. He will take care of us, lead us, and teach us His ways. We don't know where we will be 5 years from now, or what tomorrow will bring. But we don't need to. Our lives are not our own, they belong to God and therefore only He has to be in the know. All we have to do is be open and let Him take us where He pleases. "Take my life and let it be all for You and for Your glory"-Starfield. This is the only focus we should desire. If we give our lives as a sacrifice, then the future is not a worry. I've personally wasted a lot of time worrying about what to do after high school. I was first trying to decide for myself. When that didn't work I decided to leave it all up to God, which was the right thing to do, but I wasn't listening for His answer. I'd spent a good month or two thinking that He just wasn't answering yet and it was driving me crazy. But when I finally took a few minutes and really listened, He told me very clearly what I'm to do. When I'd come to a point where I wasn't worrying about what His answer may be, and I was completely fine with anything He gave me the answer. When I legitly went to Him about it in prayer He was happy to make it clear. We are so often wrapped up in ourselves without even realizing it, and it's hurting our relationship with Him. We worry too much about our needs and our desires, yet His Word says very clearly that He will provide for us. I'm definitely guilty of this. We worship Him for Who He is, but when He doesn't answer us the way we would like, then we look away from Him. But His ways are so much better than ours. We make things hard on ourselves for no reason.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matt 6:34
"Do not worry about anything but instead pray about everything." Phil 4:6
"But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you." Luke 12:31
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12:34
"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." Mark 8:35

When we put God first, He takes care of the things that we need in this life. If we glorify Him then He will bless us. It seems that we often try to make our own decisions, and find our own happiness. But we fail ourselves so much of the time. We seek our fleshly desires too much of the time, and don't seek God's desires enough of the time. Where is your heart? Joshua 24:15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day who you will serve[...] But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." Are you serving the Lord, or is your heart somewhere else? If your heart is in the Lord, and the things of Him, then your treasure will also be in Him, but if you are giving yourself to anything else then the treasures you receive will be worthless. When you seek and serve God above all else, forsaking everything of this world you are everything God is looking for. When you give your whole heart, and everything that you are to God, you become usable for Him and His glory. But when you hold on to things of this world, even the smallest of things, you are going to be spit out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). You may appear to many as a sold out Christian, but if you still are clinging to things of the flesh Jesus see's that. He will not accept you on judgment day if you are unclean (Matt 7:21-23). He requires submission. Submission requires trust. In order for a relationship to work, trust is necessary.

Just think about where your heart is and who or what you are trusting in :) And don't just take my word for it on any of this, but seek the Lord about everything in this