Believers are called to an uncompromising surrender of the will — period! All true followers of Christ eventually come to points of what might be called a crisis of the faith — an encounter with the Lord where we face a decision that must be made: “My will or His will be done.”
So much of what God has given us to enjoy has been corrupted either through overindulgence or hyper-legalism. I don’t want anything to do with either one of these! This is why I love the Bible so much: it is so realistic, balanced, and wisdom-filled. My dad taught me, by example, the most basic of all Biblical principles: Don’t be controlled by anything!
In the same way, the difficulties, losses, pressures, intimidation of this world cannot cause us to fear and fail if we’ll look up to Jesus because He’s already reached the top. He’s paved the way. He’s saying, “No problem. I’ve made it. Come on up!”
Things that facilitate celebrating the goodness of our loving God are good, inspiring music, revering our wonderful God by simply following His plans laid out in Scripture, acknowledging that overall, life truly is good, having a good laugh occasionally
If we say we’re intimate with God yet walk continually and deliberately in disobedience to Him, we are lying hypocrites. “God is light,” writes John. As light, He reveals to us right and wrong. To maintain our fellowship with Him, we are to respond to that light continually; we are to be open, honest, and sincere about where we are. The standard we are to conform to is the light God sheds on our path, day by day, through His Word and the promptings of His Spirit.
“This Bible is God’s Bible; and when I see it, I seem to hear a voice springing up from it, saying ‘I am the Book of God. Man, read me. I am God’s writing. Study my pages, for I was penned by God. Love me, for He is my Author, and you will see Him visible and manifest everywhere.’”