At His Feet

Today's daily reading from "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers:

Come to Me . . . —Matthew 11:28
SELF-AWARENESS

God intends for us to live a well-rounded life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside. Then we tend to fall back into self-examination, a habit that we thought was gone. Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.

Never allow anything that divides or destroys the oneness of your life with Christ to remain in your life without facing it. Beware of allowing the influence of your friends or your circumstances to divide your life. This only serves to sap your strength and slow your spiritual growth. Beware of anything that can split your oneness with Him, causing you to see yourself as separate from Him. Nothing is as important as staying right spiritually. And the only solution is a very simple one— “Come to Me . . . .” The intellectual, moral, and spiritual depth of our reality as a person is tested and measured by these words. Yet in every detail of our lives where we are found not to be real, we would rather dispute the findings than come to Jesus.

The Lord is continually teaching me to lay everything at His feet including the very gifts He has given to me in answer to my requests. He gives to us that we may give back to Him. You may wonder why God would give you something so wonderful just to ask for it back...He wants us to trust Him. If we can't trust Him with the gifts He Himself has given us, how can we trust Him at all?

I think of Hannah in 1 Samuel who prayed for years to the Lord to give her a son.
"And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head."

She poured out her soul to the Lord and He soon gave her a son, Samuel. She goes before the Lord again in prayer,
"For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD."

She gives back to the Lord what she had prayed for.

This must be our pattern as well. We can trust the Lord with our lives and with what is most dear to our hearts.

Lay everything down at His feet.

I'm Alive

I enjoy getting out in the "fresh" air to run regularly when possible. I use this time to clear my mind, think, pray a LOT, and listen to music. I have a few songs that I particularly enjoy running to, and I wanted to share one on my blog that has a lot of meaning in my life.
The song is called "Alive" and is written and sung by Rebecca St. James. I believe that we're never truly alive until we know Christ, and when we do truly know Him we are very alive and He becomes what we most long for on this earth.

How true these lyrics are that it's only when we let go of what we most want in this life and embrace Christ that we find true joy and life. I praise God for giving me a new heart to know Him and to want Him so much. Through Him we can leave our past and ourselves behind and become completely alive in Him leaving us so fulfilled that we no longer crave earthly pleasures as we once did.

1 Corinthians 15:22
"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."

Romans 6:11
"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 2:4-5
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved."

2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Mark 8:34-36
"And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?'"



"Alive"
By Rebecca St. James


I always wanted to be free
‘Til I was bound and then
I always wanted my own way
‘Til I saw that I find my life when
I lose it

You make me come alive
You make me come alive
I found the secret
It’s only when I let go of what I want in this life
You make me come alive

I used to think that me, myself and I were all that mattered
But You’ve shown me all this world can give
Cannot compare to the joy that comes from
Giving away

And as I follow after You
Now I need to
Leave my past, myself behind
This I will do

I always wanted to be free
‘Til I was bound and then
I always wanted my own way
‘Til I saw You
‘Til I saw You


I also found a video if you're interested in hearing the song. :-)





As I was typing, I realized that I also have to share another song because it goes along so well with what I've posted. This is probably my favorite running song because it has awesome lyrics and it is perfect to run to!

Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Colossians 2:13-14
"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."


"I'm Alive"
by Jeremy Camp

I felt so overwhelmed with guilt
I don't know how many times that I'd fight it
Well, I tried it and barely survived it
I fell in the nearest pool of shame
Took the blame and everything that surrounds it
Well, I found it and I drowned in it

Oh, I never thought I'd erase this
Or replace this feeling now
Oh, but my whole life changed
When You saved me and forgave me now

I'm alive, I'm alive like I've never been
Been revived from the lies that were deep within
It's the past now, it's the past
'Cause Christ has given life where I'll never thirst again

I'm alive, I'm alive like I've never been
Been revived from the lies that were deep within
It's the past now, it's the past
'Cause Christ has given life where I'll never thirst again

I lost everything I had
But I'm glad 'cause I would never have found you
Well, it rings true, the words that spoke through
You've given more than I can say
And I know that I could never repay You
But I thank you, I can't wait to embrace You

Oh, I spun around for a long time
And I always felt so blind
Oh, I never thought I could feel it
Well, I feel it now

I'm alive, I'm alive like I've never been
Been revived from the lies that were deep within
It's the past now, it's the past
'Cause Christ has given life where I'll never thirst again

I'm alive, I'm alive like I've never been
Been revived from the lies that were deep within
It's the past now, it's the past
'Cause Christ has given life where I'll never thirst again

Oh, I can feel it now every time I turn around
Knowing I have been set free from the pain and misery
Oh, I will make the most of this hope I have

I'm alive, I'm alive like I've never been
Been revived from the lies that were deep within
It's the past now, it's the past
'Cause Christ has given life where I'll never thirst again