JESUS IN ME

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

"Jesus be Jesus in me…

No longer me but Thee.

Resurrection power

Fill me this hour

Jesus be Jesus in me…"

I was chatting with a new friend from Kent, Ohio yesterday. He has taken on and developed another ministry for the addicted in his community, HOPE FROM OHIO. 

He is a passionate fellow, very insightful.

And as we were preparing for a recording coming up toward the end of the month, we got to talking about EGO and RECOVERY and how the two are incompatible, they just don’t mix.

For those of you who know me know that one of the biggest hurdles for me even today is to keep my EGO out of things; to keep my narcissistic tendencies and my needs for affirmation quieted in my heart and spirit.  I have learned that the best way to do that is to focus on serving others and by keeping as much “GREG” out of the equation as possible.  But it is a struggle.

And as James and I were chatting, we enthusiastically shared our gratitude for the FRESHNESS of GOD’s mercy and the sufficiency of His grace because we KNEW and KNOW we certainly NEED it for those EGO moments!

 

For one of the “toughest” things about RECOVERY is it asks us to SURRENDER, to relinquish CONTROL and for those challenged by addiction this is especially true.  We are tricked by the enemy and our own minds to believe we are the MASTERS of our universe and that not only does everything revolve around us, but we have a handle on it too.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

And it is only when we put our will and our false sense of control down, “let go of the EGO” if you will, that we truly find what we need and what we need to do TODAY and EVERYDAY!

let God work his will in you. 

Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. 

Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time.

James 4:7 (MSG)

That is why I shared that little lyric from an old chorus.

It is when we let JESUS be JESUS inside of us that we ARE letting GOD work His WILL in us.  When we freely admit that our power pales in comparison to that offered to us through Jesus’ resurrection will we find the STRENGTH, the INSIGHT, and the ABILITY to navigate the day.

“NO longer ME, but THEE”.

But the other key phrase and take away today is LET GOD WORK...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,

“Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will.”

So today let’s both remember.

NO longer WE but HE!

And let's LET HIM work HIS WILL in us!

I love you all!

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE