https://www.facebook.com/groups/muchgrace/
(Philippians 2:13) "For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose."
Another gem from our sister Rita. NB - I know it's a tad longer than usual, but, trust me, IT'S WELL WORTH THE EFFORT ... "Philippians 2:13 resonates with me because I've recently come to believe that He will do it when I ask Him. The first time was about how to distinguish people from their actions. I regularly thanked Him that He was doing it, especially at those moments when I still couldn't. I even asked Him to show me if I needed to do anything and told Him I trusted Him to show me in the way that He created me to learn (especially after reading self-help books, even those by Christians, with zero results).
I have a strong desire to see justice done; however, I now know that I did not understand how God sees justice. There were times when He brought to mind some instances where I had judged people on what they did or said (this was how I mostly lived, but He only picked out a few to show me; He did not flood me with the lot, for that was not needed, and He is always so tender in helping us). On those occasions, I learned to thank Him for having already forgiven me, and I asked Him to restore to the person what I had taken away through my attitude.
If I needed to ask for forgiveness in person, I did so. I just trusted Him to guide me in it all, so I stayed at rest. I didn't strive, I didn't agonise, I didn't dwell on it, I didn't turn my mind on what was not right because I knew I was very willing to change, and I wanted to cooperate with Him. Anyway, after several months, a situation arose, and I found that my reaction to it had totally changed. I was now able to see the person, not their actions. (That didn't mean I liked what they did, but love and mercy were now greater than the negative). And this is continuing to develop in other areas as well, and it's a great source of thanksgiving and joy.
It's a question of not dwelling upon all the imperfections of our lives; we all have them. Still, if we let go of the 'need to be perfect', and concentrate on how God sees us (perfect in Christ Jesus), and with unconditional love, then we can reciprocate this love by choosing to align with Him, expressing our readiness to submit to His transformative ways in the areas where we need change. This allows us to shift into our true identity as beloved sons and daughters created in His image.
I think the 'daily death' is just that, not asking Him to show us all that's wrong, so we can change, but a daily declaring of our willingness, our surrender to the work He so loves to do in us, so that our relationship with Him deepens every day, so that we can stay in rest every day, so that the abundant life which Jesus promised us becomes more and more a reality. A total demonstration of His love.
By the way, sin is not what we do - the true meaning of sin is 'lost identity'. Anything we do in our own strength, in independence of God. And that is what Jesus has restored for us. And that is the Good News.
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Let us pray, "Heavenly Father, please help me to receive the Truth of all of this and act upon it." Amen!
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