Relent!

z RELENT! z

 I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please Him; it is the logical "Temple worship" for you.  In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the 'olam hazeh [this present world]. Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what He wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed.  ~ Romans 12:1-2 (CJB)

Are you having a tough time discerning the will of God for your life?  Maybe the problem lies in your ‘presenting’.   Many Bible translations read: ‘present your bodies as a living sacrifice’.  The Greek word is parastemi.  It is a compound word meaning ‘para’ - to be in the vicinity of, to be before, beside or nigh unto AND ‘histemi’ - to stand, to abide or to continue.  

In a nutshell, Paul tells us the secret of knowing His will.  We must ‘stand before, give presently, continue in being at hand and yielding ourselves’ to the Father.  This is of utmost importance if we are to ‘know what God wants and agree that it is good, acceptable and able to succeed’.

The Amplified version of Proverbs 16:3 reads:

Roll your works upon the LORD [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.  

That is a pretty powerful declaration!  

And as Followers in The Way, we can be confident that whether inside His perfect or permissive will, He is The Sovereign Elohim governing the good, bad, ugly and thoughtlessness of our lives.  In His permissive will, it just takes our plans (HIS plans) a little longer to achieve success!  HE has all the time in the world, we do not.

I offer to you today something I use as a reminder for myself in seeking His best for my everyday:  

RELENT! (Give Up!) REPENT! (Turn Back!) RECEIVE! (Take Hold!) and finally ACHIEVE! (Mission accomplished!)

I am beginning to understand that this has to be a part of my everyday living because I cannot achieve success until I have received something; and I cannot receive until I have turned back (around) to the Giver of what is good; and I cannot turn back until I have given up my futile plans for Carmen.  This discipline is all about learning to TRUST HIM with what He has already written.  HIS plans are eternally good, overwhelmingly satisfying and oh, so able to succeed!

 Father God, forgive us when we do not trust You fully.  Thank You, Abba Yahweh, for your GREAT PATIENCE with us and ETERNAL LOVE for us!  Help us in ‘our presenting’ that we may SEE what is truly good, satisfying and able to succeed.  We love You and we praise Your wonderful works!  Baruch Ha Shem ADONAI...BLESSED be Your Name, O LORD!!

In light of the observance of Rosh HaShanah, as a Christian you will be extremely blessed to know how this affects your life in the Mashiach!  Please go to Hebrew 4 Christians - Rosh HaShanah to learn more of your Jewish roots and taking part yourself in the Asaret Yemei Teshuvah (The Ten Days of Repentance).

Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim! (Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem - Psalm 122:6)