There is another thing on this "You Really Ought toDo" list. That's meditate. I don't mean sit with your legs crossed in a way that hurts me just thinking about it and contemplating your belly button. You do, though, need to think about what you have read and how it applies to your life. It really is amazing the way you can apply things when you stop...get quiet (physically and mentally)...and think about how God means this set of verses or concept to my life.
Ok, that brings us to what prompted me to do this blog today. I am in the process of doing an online devotion by Franklin Graham and it is very good (you know, "Gee, that's a great thought, I never thought of it that way" stuff). The venue that I'm doing it on is the "Bible" app by YouVersion (I'll try to add a link for it at the end.). They asked three, actually 4, questions and I don't know exactly how much space they allow to respond but when my response ended the little counter at the bottom said (-1035). I figure that means I said too much. So I'm going to answer them to you. Now this is my personal stuff but you might as well learn now that I'm a real person who has lived a real life. Here it comes...
Who in your life has been a mentor or role model for how to follow Jesus? What are some lessons you have learned from this person?
I have been fortunate to have had many good mentors over the course of my life. Surprisingly enough, a couple of them were young people from the youth I have worked with down through the years who came back into my life to teach me lessons or help me through difficult decisions. But if I have to pick a single best mentor, the most important, the one who had the most lasting impact on my life, it would be my father. He went home to be with the Lord while I was still a youth but in that short time he was with me he lived a life that showed what it really means to "be in the world but not of the world". Every day I hope that I can live up to the example he showed me.
What does it mean to surrender your will to God?
What are some ways you have made Jesus the anchor of your life?
I am a very good person to ask about surrendering one's will to God. The reason is that I have spent so much of my life bargaining my will against God's will. He would impress His will on my heart then I would explain to Him how He could work so much more effectively by letting me make my modifications or corrections to His understanding of what I should be doing. You could have no idea how many times that I told young people that "deferred or delayed obedience was disobedience", and yet it was working alright in my life, I thought. Finally, in the last few years, I am learning what it means to, not just surrender, but totally surrender my life to him. As I learn more and more about surrender I have first, the opportunity to do to do things that I never imagined I would do, and second, live in a world more and more filled with "peace that passes understanding".
What does God do when you surrender your life to Him?
I have retired with no retirement plans. I do not stress when money gets short or occasional meds go unpurchased. As long as God has a purpose for me He will keep me here.
https://www.bible.com/app
https://www.bible.com/kids
By the way, this blog does conform to all that new EU stuff. And if it doesn't somewhere, blame Google who owns all this stuff.
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