Jesus Knew the Sting of Rejection

“He was despised and rejected—

    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.

    He was despised, and we did not care.”

Isaiah 53:3

 

Jesus was perfect.

He was faultless.

He never misspoke and he never did the wrong thing.

Yet, even in His perfection, He still managed to offend people.

Imagine that!

These offenses caused Him to be rejected by those He came to die for.

Have you ever felt the bitter sting of rejection?

If you draw breath on planet earth the answer is probably an emphatic YES!

Who hasn’t tasted rejection – it seems to be part of every life.

And, as we read above, rejection was even a part of the life of Jesus – the sinless Son of God.

If Jesus couldn’t escape it why do we think we can?

Why do we falsely think that if we were just a bit thinner, maybe a little bit less homely, a tad more wealthy or had more brains people would readily accept us for us.

Often, but not always (and we will look at the exceptions this week) rejection has nothing to do with us as much as it has to do with sin.

People sometimes rejected Jesus because they found His message offensive.

While He did not set out to deliberately offend – His words had that impact.

When Jesus was rejected, how did He handle it?

What do we do when faced with rejection?

How do we overcome one of the more stingingly painful parts of life?

Let’s work through that process and answer that question over the next few days.

You may not be perfect.

You may not be faultless.

But with God’s help you can still get over rejection in your life.

Look for God in everything

Be blessed as you read todays' blog written by David Trotta

 

As discussed earlier in the week, Joseph went through a very difficult time in his life.  He was rejected by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely imprisoned, and the list goes on.  I can’t imagine the rejection, loneliness, and despair he must have felt.  Yet, in spite of it all, he chose not to complain, but instead, to look for God’s purposes in his circumstances.

Joseph had grabbed a hold of a very powerful truth, one that shaped his life and eventually allowed God to use him to save all Israel from a great famine and sure destruction (Genesis 45:7-8).  Joseph understood that God was in control and orchestrating the circumstances in his life.

As Christians, we too need to hold fast to that truth.  Nothing happens by chance in our life.  Remember, we are God’s special possession purchased at great cost (the life of His son) and He is the perfect caretaker.  If we look at the circumstances of our life through that filter, then we will begin to give thanks, even during the difficult times.

In her classic “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life,” Hannah Whitall Smith sums this truth up beautifully by writing “No man or company of men, no power in earth or heaven, can touch that soul which is abiding in Christ, without first passing through Him, and receiving the seal of His permission.  If God be for us, it matters not who may be against us; nothing can disturb or harm us, except He shall see that it is best for us, and shall stand aside to let it pass.”

I wonder how many times we have complained, only to be protesting at the very provision of God in our lives.  We challenge God’s wisdom, care, and goodness.

Instead, let’s be Josephs and choose to look for God in our circumstances.  If we do, our complaining will turn to thanksgiving, and who knows, maybe God will use our circumstances to bring great deliverance to the people in our lives.

Jesus Never Whined!

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”

Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.”

Philippians 2:14-15

 

 

It is a sad comment on our culture – or human nature in general – but if you don’t complain in the midst of a people who only and always complain then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.

They may even ask you what’s wrong.

Too many, complaining is normal.

It is a part of life and those who don’t complain just don’t fit in!

This is one time when it is to your benefit not to ‘fit in’.

Do you want to be a blameless and pure child of God?

Then stop complaining.

Complaining is unbecoming to the mature person of God.

Complaining prevents spiritual growth.

Go ahead and search the Gospels.

Scour all four of them.

You will find no evidence of Jesus complaining or whining.

He is, after all, our model – our elder brother- to whom we should not only look up to but desire to be like.

So often we complain (see, we’re doing it again!) that it is impossible to be like Jesus.

I think when it comes to complaining, it’s not so much that it is impossible, but rather we enjoy it too much!

Ouch!

We are to be a ‘peculiar’ people.

The Epistle of Peter tells us so.

How about being peculiar to others by being known as someone who is an encourager.

Don’t be shaped by the culture around you.

Let your big brother – Jesus – shape you instead.

His Holy Spirit will come alongside to help you!

 

Is That You God?

“But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on

earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.

He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”

Genesis 45:7-8

 

So how do we do it?

How do we stop complaining?

It is such an easy question to ask but such a hard habit to break.

It starts by recognizing that God is in my circumstances.

If you truly recognize that point and are willing to admit it; then complaining ought to cease.

Joseph recognized God in the circumstances of his life.

I don’t think you could argue that if anybody had a ‘right’ to complain it was him.

The words of Joseph quoted above; were spoken to his brothers.

Those were the very same brothers who hated Joseph and sold him into slavery.

Joseph was able to see God in the circumstances that put him in the pit.

Joseph was able to see God in the circumstances that put him in the prison.

Because of that; Joseph was prepared for the circumstances that put him in the palace.

Others might think; “How sweet my revenge can be against my brothers.”

Not Joseph.

He knew that each step of the way God had been with him.

He knew that God knew about the pit, the prison and the palace.

Perhaps he didn’t understand all things at the time they were happening to him.

Nonetheless, he did not bring a complaint against his brothers,

against Potiphar and, most importantly, against God.

Don’t take the easy way out.

That’s precisely what complaining does.

It circumvents the work of God in your life.

It fails to recognize that God is in all the circumstances of your life.

Look for God in those things occurring today that you didn’t expect.

Instead of complaining, ask God to show you His presence with you!

 

 

 

Start the Stopwatch…

“Help me, Lord, to keep my mouth shut and my lips sealed.”

Psalm 141:3 (TLB Version)

 

Take a look at the posts on Facebook.

Listen as you stand in line at the grocery store.

Strike up a conversation with someone about the weather.

And whatever you do, don’t talk religion or politics!

These are all places, opportunities and conversations where complaining seems so prevalent.

We established yesterday that complaining was more than just a bad habit – it is sin!

The believer who complains challenges God’s wisdom, His care for them and His goodness.

With each complaint we are telling God we know better than Him.

You disagree?

Oh, I see – “Your complaints aren’t directed toward Him” you say!

Does that really matter?

Think about it.

You are made in the image of God.

As a believer who desires to grow and mature is complaining moving you to that end?

Maybe you can study the scriptures to locate a place where God complains?

How about Jesus – complaining?

I think you would be hard pressed to find examples.

Here is a challenge we can all take.

Find a way to time yourself between complaints using a stopwatch.

Ask God to help you move from the stopwatch to a calendar.

When you’ve made it 24 hours without a complaint try putting two days together.

Then three.

Then four.

Then…

 

How Do You Score Sin?

“The Lord heard your complaints and became angry, and so he solemnly declared, ‘Not one of you from this evil generation will enter the fertile land that I promised to give your ancestors.  Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter it. He has remained faithful to me, and I will give him and his descendants the land that he has explored.”

Deuteronomy 1:34-36

 

 

I think sometimes we create this sort of sliding scale in our head to ‘rate’ the severity of sin.

We measure the place of our sin on them imaginary scale compared to more ‘grave’ violations.

For instance, a little white lie rates a “1” but murder is definitely a “10”.

While the impact of our sins on ourselves and others can be quite different the truth is that

 sin is sin.

We compare one violation (a more politically correct term than sin!) to another and we think we are doing ‘fine’ because our score is lower than others.

But it is only when we compare our sin to a holy and sinless God that we realize how we come up short!

Take complaining for instance; is it a sin?

 Clearly, as we read today’s verse it is evident that it is.

The Lord hears our complaints.

It is not music to His ears!

Are there challenges in each of our lives?

That’s a ‘no-brainer’ question.

All twelve spies who went into the Promised Land saw the same things.

But ony Joshua and Caleb didn’t complain – nor did they incite complaints from the Children of Israel.

Because of this, they were the only two, of their entire generation, that entered the Promised Land.

Don’t write off complaining because you ‘scale it’ as a less serious offense before God.

It will keep you from entering into the blessing and the rest God has for you.  

The next time you are tempted to complain – try trading it out for an expression of gratitude!

In one ear and out the other

Please be blessed by todays' post by David Trotta -

Many times, especially as a youth, my earthly father would ask me to do something, but his words did not produce any change in my behavior or action on my part.  Such times would often prompt my father to say his words “went in one ear and out the other.”  Sound familiar?  I’m confident we have all heard those words at one time or another.

If we were honest, how many times would God have been justified in saying that same thing about instruction he has spoken into our lives?  For me, it is more than I care to admit.  I have read far too much scripture and sat through far too many sermons without allowing the words to penetrate my heart, bring understanding, and produce lasting change in my life.

Hebrews 5: 11-14 says “Concerning him (Jesus) we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

The dangerous result of hearing, but not seeking to understand what was said and allowing those words to change us is that it dulls our hearing and stunts our spiritual growth.  The months and years fly by with no real change in our lives.  We continue to struggle with the same sin and give lip service to becoming more like Jesus, but never reflect any more of His character.

As stated in the above verse, maturity is the result of putting into “practice” what we hear.  Make a commitment today to take at least one truth from any scripture reading, personal devotional time, or sermon you hear from now on and apply it to your life until it takes root and produces change.

 

Lord, Make Us All Three!

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

John 4:31-34

 

 

I love the play on words because if you read this verse in the KJV.

The word food is interpreted as meat – Jesus says:

“My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me.”

Meat belongs to the mature!

We might paraphrase it this way –

Jesus says – I am on a steady diet of doing the will of God

Do you want to grow in understanding the things of God?

Then feed on a steady diet of doing His will.

I know – it sounds too simple to be true but it is.

Not just the – in the one ear and out the other – hearing on Sunday morning but the doing!

I wonder why Jesus chose to use the phrase “to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.”

Maybe, in part, as a point to us because we so often start well but don’t finish well.

The mature finish well.

They are on a steady diet of hearing, understanding and doing His will!

So many hear, fewer understand and fewer still do!

Lord, make us all three!

Let My Heart Be Callous Free!

For this people’s heart has become calloused;

    they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,

    understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”

Matthew 13:15

 

What groupings of people were ‘around’ Jesus when he walked on the earth?

The 12 disciples

His other followers, His friends and His family

The crowds

His enemies

So we might say there were roughly four different ‘groups’ of people around Jesus.

How many of these people had ears?

I know, it sounds like a silly question but hear me out (no pun intended!)

I’m quite serious about this - how many had ears? 

Well, of course all of them did.

Why then, do you suppose, in three of the four Gospels and in the Book of Revelation these often repeated words of Jesus are recorded:

“He who has ears let him hear what the spirit is saying.”

Obviously Jesus was speaking of hearing with spiritual ears – in other words – understanding what we are hearing, reading and seeing from God.

Is it possible to have ‘ears’ and yet not hear?

Sure it is!

Deaf people have ears that do not function.

Likewise, there are born-again believers, filled with the Spirit of God,

whose hearing has become dull.

You mean to tell me our hearing can be made dull.

Yes, it can.

How?

Dull means – slow in perception or sensibility; i.e. hearing but not really perceiving or perhaps we could say – seeing but not really perceiving.

So what dulls my understanding?

According to what we read above - A calloused heart.

A hardened heart.

A heart no longer tender or soft to the things of God.

The Greek words for dull or calloused in these verses speak of something thick, heavy or hard. As if our ears were so thick with hard wax that we could not hear or our heart had so often refused to listen or obey that it become calloused and hard.

Believers can go through their journey with God here on earth and never know the keen spiritual eyesight God wants you to have or the sharp hearing that is always tuned to hear His voice.

And that can happen to you even with the Spirit of God,

given without measure, living inside of you!

Lord:

Help me to remain tender and obedient to your commands.

Hearing and understanding your voice!

Moment-by-Moment or Once-in-a-Blue-Moon?

“However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,

and what no human mind has conceived”—

the things God has prepared for those who love him—

these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them?

In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

I Corinthians 2:9-11

 

 

You have the Spirit of God residing in you.

The Spirit of God knows the very thoughts of God, the deep things of God.

We often quote the verse in Jeremiah about Gods’ good plans for us;

His plans to give us a future and a hope.

That is a wonderful verse and when I understand it in light of the verse quoted above from

I Corinthians, I can begin to draw some very important conclusions for my life.

Certainly I will know how absolutely important it is to hear what the

Holy Spirit has to say to me.

God’s plans for each of our lives unfold moment-by-moment and it is so vital to have that moment-by-moment relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit.

Too many have what might be described as a “once-in-a-blue-moon” relationship!

“I’m in trouble so now it’s time to seek God!”

“I don’t know what to do next, I guess I can ask God!”

Not that God can’t and won’t hear our prayers in times of trouble or confusion but is that the abundant life we are supposed to be walking in?

Seeing what the Holy Spirit is doing in and through us, hearing and understanding what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us is essential for the unfolding of those plans.

The work God is doing on the earth He chooses to do through man.

He chooses to do through you!

Are you listening to Him?

Do you see His work in you?

 

“BY REASON OF USE”

“Those whom God had already chosen he also set apart to become like his Son, so that the Son would be the first among many believers.”

Romans 8:29 (Good News Translation)

 

Reading the verse above would you agree that God wants us to be like Jesus?

If you agree, then the question becomes: How does this happen?

How are we taken from where we are (Assuming most of us have a

ways to go to look like Jesus) to where we need to be?

How does God accomplish the work of conforming us to the image of His son?

Well, He uses tests, trials, purging, purifying, stretching, stripping away, molding and shaping by the Holy Spirit using the circumstances of our lives.

He will work with the triumphs and the tragedies; the mountaintop and the valley experiences; the routines and the extremes of life. 

All of these things can and are used by God to fashion us after His Son.

Let me ask you a few questions the Lord asked me as I was praying a few weeks back.

Answering these questions will be the focus of our blog this week.

How can we surrender to the cleansing, purifying and maturing work of the

Holy Spirit if we don’t recognize it?

How can we recognize it without revelation?

How can we receive revelation if our spiritual eyes,

ears and hearts are dull to the things of God?

The good news for us is that -

Eyes that see, can see better!

Ears that hear, can hear better!

A heart that feels the presence of God can be made more

aware of that presence and more tender in His presence.

The life, the walk, the journey we have from God should cause us to grow and mature. Speaking more specifically – our ability to both see and hear spiritually, our spiritual understanding, if you will, can also grow and mature.

God’s Special Possession

Note: What a joy to have Dave Trotta bring today's word!

A couple weeks ago we talked about finding that pearl of great value (knowing God) and giving up everything to possess it (pursuing Him with all our hearts).

Did you know God was the first to do that?  He found something of great value (us) and gave up everything to obtain it.  He left the glory of heaven behind, took on human form, and died on a cross to pay the price for our sins.

As part of that exchange, we became His possession, and not just any possession, but His “special possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

But, along with that distinction of being His prized possession comes a sobering responsibility – we must surrender our right to live life the way we want.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”  Instead, we now have a responsibility to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God and brings Him glory.

We are His trophy.  There is nothing nearer or dearer to His heart.  We can be confident of that because of the great price He paid to possess us.  So, let’s return the favor and show God that He is also our special possession by giving Him our all and nothing less.

The Story Doesn’t End There!

    “having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”

Colossians 2:14

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Jesus died on the cross for your sins and mine.

It was the ultimate act of love!

The Son’s sacrifice opened the way back to fellowship with the Father.

As wonderful as that was, the story did not end at Calvary.

As a matter of fact the next chapter was written three days later at the Garden Tomb.

It was the ultimate statement of victory!

The Son of God was raised from the dead, the first fruits of many.

As wonderful as that was, the story did not end at that empty sepulchre.

As a matter of fact the next chapter was written some 40 days later on Pentecost.

It was the ultimate statement of power!

The promised Holy Spirit was poured out on the 120 gathered in the Upper Room.

As wonderful as that was, the story did not end that day in Jerusalem.

They say the Book of Acts is the only book in the Bible still being written.

At great risk of sounding like a Valedictorian giving the Commencement speech, the cross was not an end for us but in so many ways – just a beginning.

We pass through the door opened by the cross to begin our journey of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

This, in no way, diminishes the work of the cross.

It points, instead, to its absolute necessity.  

There is only one way to the Father and it is through faith in the completed work of the Son.

We are not called to die at the cross.

Jesus did that once for all.

We are called to take up our cross.

That we do daily by living for Him and through Him.

His victory over sin was won, in part, by the fact that Jesus did not stay on the cross.

He conquered sin and the grave!

Let Calvary be the work God intended it to be in your life and then move forward in

the on-going work of sanctification through the Spirit of God working in you.

That does not offend God because He knows –

The story doesn’t end there!

In Him There is No Darkness!

    “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him

who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

I Peter 2:9

 

 

Darkness conceals but light reveals.

We are not called to be children of darkness but rather children of the light.

The Light of Christ reveals who He is to a world stumbling in darkness.

But the Light of Christ also reveals who we are in Him.

Our hearts, which were once in darkness, now have His light shining in them.

This light reveals the Glory of God through Jesus Christ.

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”

II Corinthians 4:6

We are called to no longer walk in darkness but in the light of His love.

As we do, His light in us shines out to others still in darkness.

We are the Light of the World as we allow Christ to shine through us.

The source of the light in us is not our piety, religiousness or good works.

It is Christ in us.

That understanding allows me to boldly, yet humbly, declare the greatness of His light.   

Any credit or praise I take for myself is unseemly because He is the source of that light.

As a matter of fact when I attempt to take His glory to myself I no longer walk in the Light.

Instead I stumble around in the darkness of self-centeredness and pride rather than the light of Christ centeredness!

Allow the light of Christ to shine through you to others.

As it does, it will point men and woman to Him.

Darkness conceals but light reveals.

In Him there is no darkness at all!  

Stolen Identity?

    “Who, being in very nature God,

    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

 rather, he made himself nothing

    by taking the very nature of a servant,

    being made in human likeness.

 And being found in appearance as a man,

    he humbled himself

    by becoming obedient to death—

        even death on a cross!”

Ephesians 2:6-8

 

Identity theft.

It is a fast growing crime in this day and age.

Someone gets hold of your social security number or other vital personal information and pretends to be you in order to steal your assets or destroy your good name.

One internet site claims 15 million adults fall victim to the crime annually in our nation alone resulting in losses approaching $50 Billion.

Yesterday we spoke of living as believers below our inheritance and allowing the enemy to define our identity instead of what the Word of God calls us to be.

It is like identity theft on a grand scale.

Only problem is that, sadly, we learn to live with (and accept) it.   

The enemy of our soul tells us we are supposed to live with poverty, sickness and torment.

Jesus was promised a “new identity” when He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.

With each temptation to ‘step out of character’ and identify Himself in a way that was not why He came to earth; Jesus declared – “It is written…”

He refused to give up His identity to the enemy. He willingly surrendered His place in heaven to come to earth, to suffer and die as a man, opening the way back to the Father for you and I.

Except in that case it was not a stolen identity, it was a surrendered one!

Do you know what is ‘written’ about you Child of God?

Are you secure in the identity of a believer purchased through the blood of Christ on the cross?

If so, that is wonderful.

If not, get in the Book.

It reveals our true identity in Christ!

Don’t Live Below Your Inheritance

    “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you

out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

I Peter 2:9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The headlines in the Denver Post are in 2” tall bold block letters:

“Peyton Manning Signs with Local High School JV Team”

            Why on earth would he do that?

You say: “That would be beyond belief and pretty ridiculous!”

Sure it would be!

After all, he is a Super Bowl winning NFL quarterback hailing from a legendary football family.

How much more ridiculous is it when we, as believers, live below our inheritance?

We are co-heirs with Jesus Christ.

Children of the Most High God.

So why do we so often play at the ‘JV’ level, so to speak?

It’s because we don’t know or fail to understand who we are in Christ.

We allow the enemy to define our identity instead of believing what the Word of God says.

We believe a lie instead of the truth.

Imagine all of the wasted potential; what could have been.

Do you live your life as God’s special possession?

You are you know.

That doesn’t mean you won’t face difficulties, trials and tests.

It does mean that in all of those things you are more than a conqueror through Christ who loves you!

The tragedy of not answering the door

Note: As we did last week, today's blog is written by David Trotta. May it speak to your heart and cause you to take action...

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)

Inevitably, in our walk with the Lord, there will be seasons where He will beckon us to come away with him; to go deeper; to put away the average and experience the extraordinary; a time when he desires to do a purifying work in our lives.

Do you sense such a season is upon you? Do you hear him calling you to put away lesser things and pursue him with all your heart?

If yes, something wonderful is at your doorstep.  You are at the cusp of something special.  The God of the universe wants to have fellowship with you and He will not leave you unchanged. 

However, this is often the tragedy that plays out.  We ignore the knock and leave Jesus standing at the door.  We say things like “I will respond tomorrow or when things are less busy,” but one of the characteristics of a season is that it will eventually pass.

Sure, we may still get to heaven some day, and Jesus may even come knocking again, but we miss a wonderful opportunity to be forever changed.  Instead, we continue to settle for the ordinary and leave our hearts unsatisfied and longing for something more.

Knock, knock.  Hi Jesus, come on in….

Step Four of Our Journey – Send Me!

    “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and

the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:1-8

 

We’re ready to go!

Or, are we?

The significance of the question God asks, and Isaiah responds to, is the destination.

No longer is Isaiah on a solitary, self-directed and self-determined journey.

The first step of revelation, the second step of coming face-to-face with the holiness of God and the third step of atonement were all steps of preparation.

Now there is a journey to take that will be directed by God.

A commissioning and a sending by Him for His purposes and not your own.

Are you perfect?

No.

Neither was Isaiah.

Think of this point in the journey like your graduation from high school.

Remember all of those speeches about it being a beginning and not an end?

It’s true here too.

God will continue to work in you as you progress in the journey He sends you on.

Keep in mind though that surrender is not a one-time-only proposition.

As we continue to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we continue on the journey.

I don’t know how many times and in how many ways Isaiah continued to respond

“…send me” but the Book of Isaiah is evidence that he did.

So step four – the “…Send me…” step of our lives is a step we repeat over and over and over.

Surrender and sent

Surrender and sent

Surrender and sent

The cooperative work between the Holy Spirit and you propels you forward on your journey!