Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done. Luke 22:42

I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. John 5:30 In the above verse we see that Jesus—with all the free will of being fully human and all the wisdom of being fully God—didn't do anything in life without seeking the wisdom of the Father. The patterns of our lives should be likewise.

It is very critical that we not be impulsive—not needs-driven or squeaky-wheel oilers—but that we do what God is calling us to do.

At times, people may not understand the choices God leads us to make or when He leads us to make them. They may even say things like, "You don't care," because it appears that inactivity is prevailing; but we are to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, not the opinions of people. Now this is not some sort of excuse to slip into apathy. By no means! God has a plan for us, a plan of action.

What we must do is find out in specific detail what God's plan is for us as individuals and therefore as essential components of the Body of Christ.

This isn't just some kind of rallying call for a moment. Sure, the timing is relevant to what's happening in the world, and, specifically, our nation. However, we have shifted into another gear as a church, answering the call that God has upon us to help a hurting world and minister to those in need, not in response to the human cry of "Gotta do something and do it now!"

Pursuing God for His direction and following the leading of the Holy Spirit, both in times of great need and in the doldrums of this varied life, are the essentials of a relationship with God and a life of obedience that pleases Him.

In Jeremiah 29:11 God says, "For I know the plans that I have for you . . . plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." We are not haphazard beings here without purpose. God says that He has plans for us. It's up to each of us to seek God, to passionately pursue Him in prayer and in the Word and in times of quiet with Him. He will reveal to us by the Holy Spirit who He'd have us be and what He'd have us do.

Seeking the Lord,
Pastor Jeff