I can be overly zealous about things. Seriously passionate. Why is it that being passionate about other non-religious things or even non-Jesus religious things are acceptable, yet being a complete sold out Jesus freak is not? I look at it from the “true believer” perspective. Christians who are true believers are looked at like fanatics, lunatics, freaks, but people who are passionate about any other religion or thing on this earth are praised as driven, passionate, and are applauded for their efforts. I say it is simply the demons at work. This world and Satan has only one desire and goal, to get us to turn from Christ and to anything and everything that is a false hope or false pursuits in hopes of never allowing anyone to see the Truth. Be on guard, Christian and keep your eye trained on the One who is Truth.

Galatians 1:14 ESV
And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.

The people of Galatia were adding to the original gospel Paul preached to them by adding Jewish customs and traditions. He was harshly rebuking them for this but he also told them his own story showing them that he could relate. He was not just pointing the finger. Paul wants them to know how important the Jewish traditions were to him and that he was a Jews Jew. He understands their desire to uphold the Jewish customs. Let’s always remember that our actions speak louder than words to our non-Christian friends and family. If you are a follower of Christ, then do just that, follow Christ. Too many who claim to be Christian say they follow Christ but clearly follow the traditions and distractions of this Satan-delivered world.

Little cracks. Little fractures. So small you can hardly see them. But YOU can see them. You know they are there. My self wanting to be You. My self wanting to be right. My self wanting to be in charge. I give myself to You every day and then battle with You to try to nit pick it back. Then I end my day again in my bed asking for forgiveness. Sleeping. Then waking with resolve to give it all to You today, everything. Then the cycle begins again. Nit pick here nit pick there. My flesh unwittingly tries to take it back. Even though my mind tells me no. My heart even tells me no. My soul screams no. But it is my flesh that is waging war against me. My flesh wants deity. It wants what it cannot have. My soul is disgusted and even devastated by the strength of my flesh. But then my heart is renewed in an instant. In a flash. In a split of a split second. Because it remembers. It knows. It rests in the simple truth that You are Sovereign. You are LORD. You are MY God and nothing, NOTHING can separate me from you, not even my own meddling flesh. Oh happy day. Oh joyous day. What peace this brings to every fiber of my being, even to my flesh that becomes placated by your Spirit. What rest I find in You Jesus! What amazing peace, joy, rest, and love.

I sit here knowing in my head this is true, knowing in my heart this is true. To GOD be the glory. But then there is again… my worldly flesh constantly gnawing at my soul saying NO! I WANT TO BE IN CHARGE! How insidious. How irritating. But then sometimes I let it. I let it in. I can feel the slip. LORD help me. LORD deliver me. To YOU be the glory. To YOU be everything. I long for humility. To be nothing not only in front of You but to be nothing when I am at my worst. To be nothing when my flesh cries the battle cry of “Unfair!” and “I am right!” and “I deserve that!” All these are selfishness in it’s pure form. Selfishness my soul wants no part in yet my flesh screams and stomps its feet in protest to have. There is beauty in the battle. Beauty in the process. I have come to look back with loving affection at the hard trials I have gone through and have resolved to remember them when I go through the next one. With each trial I come closer to the goal. The goal of complete humility and the full, pure holy cry, TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

I live outside of eternity in a bubble of time. My life and everything I know is inside this bubble. But there is more, way more, that I don’t even know or understand. That unknown “world” is God and everything in Him. As CS Lewis puts it, imagine rolling out a huge scroll of paper that goes on and on and on in front of you and in back of you. Now draw a tiny dot. You might think you know where I am going. The dot is your life. No, CS Lewis represents the dot as time. Time as we know it is a tiny dot in the grand scheme of things. He is working everything out and has a beautiful plan. I am a new creation and am part of that plan. How it is that I am, is beyond me, but then again I am in the bubble. My filter is now the holes in the hands of my Savior. Everything in my life must be filtered through those holes. Lord help me to continually look to the cross and the gift of grace and peace you so graciously lavished on your child.

Ephesians 1:4
Thank you for selecting me. ME of all people. Thank you that I am one of your children. The words “thank you” do not do it justice because I should be groveling on my face every day in honor and service to you. My submission and thanks are not balanced in the scales of what I deserve compared to what I am actually getting. The scale is so out of balance that it is ludicrous. Yet here I sit, forgiven. Here I sit, one of your chosen children. Unbelievable. Unthinkable. Unjust in some eyes, yet fully just and perfectly just in yours. Your plan is perfect and I am in awe that I am a part of your plan. YOUR plan! Wow. Thank you!