Stop looking - you already have it

I know I begin a lot of things thinking the project won't be all that hard, then smack-dab in the middle I discover just how hard it is! The things I thought I'd just sail on through are usually the ones I find a few hiccups along the way that delay my completing them! Sometimes we have a tendency to want to just give up. We start out well, but then we "peter out" somewhere down the road. There are times in life when we need a "pace setter" to keep us on track - someone to help us regroup when the hiccups come and we find things harder than we imagined. In moments of frustration, disillusionment, or anxiety, we need the steadiness and vision of one who sees more of the picture than we do. It is refreshing to know we have such a "pace setter" in our lives - God himself! It also amazes me just how many times we allow other people or other things to set the pace in our lives!

Just think—you don't need a thing, you've got it all! All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that. (I Corinthians 1:7-9)

The 1991 release of the movie "City Slickers" had a a character known as Curly Washburn who constantly instructed the city slicker dudes to look for the "one thing" in life with the greatest importance. It seemed that Curly knew these city slickers had been waylaid into believing a lot of things were important - so much so that they had lost sight of things that really mattered. By the end of the movie, those city slicker dudes had a re-commitment of sorts to what mattered. Billy Crystal, for example, had decided his family was the "one thing" that mattered and he had taken his attention from them, placing it onto things that he thought were more important. We all have the desire to find the "one thing" in life which lends credibility to our life - giving us the sense of life being worth the living. Remember we already have everything we need to live life - given to us freely in the sacrificial death of Christ. We have "one thing" in life which gives us purpose - being on mission with Jesus!

We don't need A THING! We already possess all we need! Why? Simply put, we have everything in front of us (not behind us), but where is it we are always looking - you got it - behind us. We have infinitely more at our disposal than most of us ever utilize! Power, peace, fullness of joy, freedom from despair, awesome authority, just to name a few. When we find ourselves looking back, we often don't remember what we already possess. We are not traveling this journey alone! God himself is right alongside! His purpose in walking "through" this life with us - to keep us steady and on track with the mission he has called us to! He is a pace-setter! He keeps us focused on the journey, even when we would want to be overwhelmed by the circumstances of life!

We did not start this journey ourselves - God started us out on this journey. It is an adventure. In most cases, we think of an adventure as risky business. With God along on the journey, the risk is his, not ours! We live a "shared" life - Jesus lives in us, we live in him. Therefore, the journey is never our own - we are never on our own in it. The risk of taking the journey isn't ours - it is his. We don't need to worry our way through the journey because he has already prepared all that we need to face every risk ahead of us. We can stand assured we will make it - because we serve a God who will never give up on us! If he won't give up on us, why would we doubt the completion of what he has begun within? Have you found your "one thing" - the "real thing" in life? If not, HE stands at the ready to enter into your life, changing it forever by his power, love, and grace! Open up to Jesus and get on mission with him! Just sayin!

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