What moves the heart of God?
Life’s circumstances and making the right decisions can be so hard. Do this, but don’t do that….
To follow Jesus truly is to be okay not knowing the when’s, the how’s or the why’s, but simply trusting that our creator knows our every thought, our every step – the good, the bad and the ugly and Loves us anyway! He will love us through it. It’s not our efforts. It’s not our mistakes. It’s not our accomplishments. It’s none of this those things that matters. What God seeks is an intimate relationship filled with childlike trust. Trust that in Him all things will work together for good. Trust that in Him and through Him, we will find His hearts desire for us.
Saint Paul was a hugely accomplished scholar and man of God when Jesus apprehended him on the road to Damascus. It was then that he stepped away from it all and into his God ordained purpose.
He wrote:
Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book. The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.
Philippians 3:2-9 msg