I NEED Jesus!
I NEED Jesus!
This morning the alarm sounded way too soon.I was not ready to get up.I felt tired and just wanted to pull the covers up high, snuggle with the pillows and go back to sleep.But then I remembered all that I need to do today.I immediately began to feel the muscles in my neck and shoulders tighten.Stress began to set in. I stumbled to the coffee pot thinking, “Oh coffee, how I need you!”I remembered my sweet husband picked up half and half last night so I would have it this morning.“Oh, half and half, how I love you and Tom for making sure I always have you.”I wrapped my hands around my mug as if it were a prized possession.I continued in my morning routine and made my way to my devotional and my Bible and immediately realized I was placing way too much value on the coffee. That wasn't what I truly needed. I NEED Jesus! I need a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.Can you relate?
We are so selfish by nature.We stress over our to-do list as if we are so important.We feel anger over traffic, hurt feelings, and unmet expectations as if the world should revolve around us.We feel disappointed and let down as we compare our life to the perfect life people post on Facebook, pin on Pinterest and present on Instagram.Fast food is never fast enough.We think we deserve far more than we have.We question God when He doesn’t answer our prayer the way we want and when we want.We focus on ME – my needs, my desires, my wants, my aspirations, my dreams, my bad day, my disappointments, my struggles and my lack of sleep.We lose sight of what is important and what our life should really be all about.
As I prayed and asked God to forgive me for whining this morning instead of counting my blessings and praising Him – I was reminded of a passage of scripture.Let’s read it together…
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”Philippians 3:7-11
Let’s break it down so we can apply it in our life starting right now.You see, in Chapter 3 Paul was writing to the Philippians and was concerned they might fall into the trap of heresy – placing too much value on themselves and what they had done.It is not about what we do or have done, is it?No.So Paul reminds us that all of the things we do that we think are so important really are not.The value of knowing and accepting and living for Jesus surpasses everything else in our lives.Let’s all say, “Amen!”It really does.We need to write that down and remind ourselves of it daily.Again…the value of knowing and accepting and living for Jesus surpasses everything else in our lives.The rest of it is all rubbish or we might say worthless.Remember, in Isaiah 64:6 God tells us that “our righteousnesses are like filthy rags”.We are nothing apart from Him.We could never be good enough.We can never do enough.What we need – is Jesus.I need Jesus.Don’t you?By counting all things loss and truly understanding what is important, we gain a relationship with Him.And it is through our faith in Jesus that we experience God’s righteousness. We are not righteous.So Paul tells us that when we understand that – once we get it - we will not only have an intellectual knowledge of Christ – but we will have an intimate knowledge, a relational knowledge.Yes!We will have what we need – Jesus.We will know Him as a friend.We will experience His power.We will partake in the resurrection.We will be with Him for eternity and that my friends, is what matters.
I need Jesus today…a little coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.I am giving Him my to-do list.I am handing Him my stress.I am trusting He will help me do what needs to be done and I am letting go of the rest.I am counting my blessings and praising Him for who He is and all He has done.It’s going to be a GREAT day!
How about you?
(If you can relate - comment below and let me know. I love doing life with YOU!)
Join us and subscribe to this blog. Click on this link and follow the instructions. http://masterwhatmatters.org/subscribe/#sthash.kkGWcqAx.dpbs