Decide!
God’s Word.
WHAT DID GOD SAY TO ME THIS MORNING
In obedience, the On Assignment By God Blog, now has an audio feature where you can listen to this blog!! Thank you for your prayers as I continue to be obedient and do what God says! Happy Listening!!
Don’t play with me!
Are you serious? You’re really coming with me?
Stop playing?
For real for real?
Okay, look nah, I ain’t got time to play with you!
You serious?
You coming or not?
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This morning I was in full prayer mode and I was going IN, you hear me! I said I was going IN IN! And I heard myself say: Lord, help us stop playing Hopscotch with you!!! Oooh Jesus!!!
Y’all, when I tell you I felt that thang for real for real! I started writing in my journal:
Go all in with Jesus.
Fully Surrender
I felt it so strongly. I knew I was prayerfully interceding on behalf of those who still struggle with having one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God. I have been there myself. I even wrote my first book, a fiction novel entitled Back and Forth, with that very theme being the back drop. Paul talks about the struggle of sin within us in Romans 7: 14-25, and it is in verse 25 that he finally calls on Jesus to rescue him! Romans 7:24-25 says:
(24) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (25) Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25 Christian Standard Bible
I remember living a Hopscotch Christian lifestyle. I would always be in the church, but that wasn’t enough to keep me from leaving right up out of church and going back to MY WAY of living. But I always felt this conviction. I always felt this yearning to get it right. Do you know what I mean? It was literally like I felt the Holy Spirit tugging me and nudging me. Someone was praying for me even when I wasn’t praying for myself. But to be honest with you, I WAS actually praying for myself. I remember many many times crying out to the Lord to forgive me, to help me stop doing things that I knew He didn’t approve of. And after a while, I would cry even harder because I knew I kept disappointing God. I am so thankful that I never ever ever got so numb to my sinful ways, that I didn’t feel that nudge or that tapping. See the enemy wants you to just focus on the pleasures and not the conviction. But God is saying, come on my child, fully surrender all parts of your life to me. I forgive you. I will never leave you alone. I will be with you.
As I was listening to the Holy Spirit this morning, our conversation continued with Him saying this to me:
When you choose Me, you’re choosing My Way.
Don’t waste time going back and forth.
Make a decision. Don’t be indecisive. (Revelation 3:15-17)
I opened my Bible after I heard the Holy Spirit and the Scriptural Surprise was…MATTHEW! See y’all think it’s a regular coincidence, but I know that it’s the Holy Spirit that takes me right where He wants me to be in His word. As a side note: you really can trust the Holy Spirit to give you what you need when you need it. And if you flip to a scripture and don’t get it, keep flipping. None of us are perfect, but God’s Word is, and He will show you exactly what He wants you to see, if you keep reading and keep believing!
So back to Matthew. I began to read all over Matthew to be honest with you. I read the Beatitudes in chapter 5. I read about us as believers being the salt of the earth. I read about divorce. I read about telling the truth, and loving my enemies! The fifth chapter is quite full! Then I went into chapter 6 where I read about how to give, how to pray, how to fast, and the cure for anxiety! Listen, you better use that Bible. I mean it has everything you need to know in it! Like I always say, get you one that you can understand! And yes you need one that you don’t have to charge up!
But for those of you that have the Tony Evans Study Bible, please read the call out section on page 1103 in Matthew titled Seeking First the Kingdom. For those that don’t have the Bible YET…a few sentences that stuck out and were right in alignment with the hopscotch metaphor was this: …you can’t operate in two kingdoms at once. You can’t mix a little of God and a lot of the world. But when God’s Kingdom is prioritized, you get to see heaven both rule and overrule in your life! ~ Kingdom Living. Tony Evans Study Bible.
We all know Matthew 6:33 right? I have used it many times in this blog, but it’s essentially saying put God’s Kingdom first. How do you know if you’re putting God’s Kingdom first? When you ask God first before you ask anyone else.
Once again, I have to share from the study notes of my Tony Evans Study Bible, when you align yourself with God’s Kingdom agenda, your Father in Heaven will take responsibility for meeting all your needs.
Let’s me wrap this up in a nice bow for you. You either rocking with Kingdom agenda or you ain’t! You either choosing death or life. You either focused on the temporary or the permanent. You get to choose, but I pray you will choose God’s way fully and stop playing hopscotch or eenie meenie minee, moe on what areas of your life you want God to be in. You can’t just want his money or his blessings or his healing or his peace or his eternal home without giving Him your WHOLE life…yup…that part too. I am so thankful that He saw fit to give me more time to finally get it. I finally got it though when I started having conversations with Him everyday. The more we talked, the closer we got, and the less all that worldly stuff mattered to me. What’s funny is all the places I used to go and all the people I used to kick it with…was never peaceful anyway. Isn’t that something? The devil will have you out here doing the very thing that you REALLY don’t even enjoy. It’s like fake pleasure. Deep down, you’ve always wanted something with more depth. That’s the Holy Spirit saying…hey you…let me take you to deeper into the Kingdom of God. It’s way more to this Kingdom agenda that will blow your mind…if you just give me the time to show you.
Don’t play with me!
Are you serious?
Stop playing?
For real for real?
Okay, look nah, I really want more to life than this.
Well, grab my hand and come on then.
9“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NLT
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Check out your assignment for today. Take a moment to reflect and then answer the questions in your journal.
Pray. Listen. Write. Obey.
Your Assignment For Today:
What did God say to you in your conversation with Him this morning?
Have you fully surrendered your life to Jesus?
Today’s Scriptural Surprise is Matthew! Read all those chapters and get your whole life!!
SALVATION PRAYER
If you’re not a believer and have a desire to be, openly confess and declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you pray that prayer out loud, you are saved. Get connected with a good, bible-based church in your community and start having a conversation through prayer with God every day. And let me be the first to welcome you to your new life with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. YAAAAY!!!!! You made the best decision you could ever make! Feel free to email me at info@onassignmentbyGod.com and let me know about your newfound life or if you need prayer for anything.