Daily Devotional September 15 - How Much Of What You Are Doing Do You Let God Have?

"Search Me O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:"  Psalm 139:23

This is a little brave. We are struggling at best just to keep our appearances up; to at least make it look like all is well and we are on the right path and now we are going to invite Jesus to look closely on our thoughts, and expose us for who we really are; our motives, intents and passions revealed. This is the sign of a man who has lost the battle with God. David has been there done that. He has been on his own, lead tens of thousands, lied, cheated, committed adultery, felt that God did not exist and now he gets it.

David now knows that if he exposes his whole self to God that there can be a connection that can't be there when we are hiding from God. Even though God knows everything that we are hiding, it is the hiding that keeps us from accessing and utilizing the power of God within. You are driving the 'how close can I get to God train.'

• If you exclude God from your everything, God will not be discerned when things go wrong.
• If you exclude God from some things, those things are under your power and protection.
• If you exclude God just a few things, those things will have to be brought to fruition without the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit.
• However:
• If you invite God into a few small areas of your life, those areas will be blessed an you will be able to see God at work.
• If you invite God into more areas of your life, those areas of your life will be purified and stabilized and you will see that God is alive and working in your life, for your good and the good of others.
• If you invite God into most areas of your life, most areas will reveal the power of God working in you and through you, you will see the hand of God at work.
• If you invite God into your everything, God will be noticeably involved in your everything. Your life will not be the same in any manner, because God will have burnt off the hay, wood and stubble of your affections, crushed your evil passions, built up your character, enhanced your skills and put within you a new direction. If you invite God into your everything, there will be some pain and disappointment, because not everything in your life acknowledges or serves God and you will lose the desire to keep those things around. They will lose their hold on you and you will lose your desire to service them.

But the rewards of this kind of knowing inside your soul has its own value, above and beyond the conspicuous. Giving yourself over to God in this way changes the why to it all. Instead of seeking to be filled and seeking gratification and seeking wealth, you will seek the overflowing of these things knowing that you have become a vessel of use where God can pour out His love, mercy, grace and wealth on others, through you. You realize that from now on nothing stops at you as if you are the destination, but all things go through you to bless others. You get the whole stewardship, not ownership concept and you love it.

The truth is that not everyone really has the interest in going deeper with God. They will have to give up too much of the world. They like the look of being spiritual as they stroke their ego from atop the precipice, but they don't like the depth of the deep where they hear the voice of God, calling them into the unknown.