Bible Ballistics: BBs #332 I Am Determined To_____???
“For I determined
not to know any thing among you,
save Jesus Christ,
and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness,
and in fear,
and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words
of man’s wisdom,
but in demonstration
of the Spirit
and of power:
5 That your faith
should not stand
in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:2-5
What have you determined to be? To do? To say? Or not to say? What goals and pursuits have you determined and set before yourself? Are they the things of the world or the things of God? I would like to challenge each of us today, to join with Paul and set our hearts and minds on The Lord Jesus Christ, and His great work of salvation accomplished on the Cross, and to measure all things by HIM?
Paul very clearly and evidently set his heart and mind on Jesus, and because of his determination to keep his eyes “fixed on Jesus”, God used him in ways that were world changing! How about you and me? Have we set our hearts to seek Jesus? Are we so distracted by the things around us that we loose our focus on Jesus? There are so many demands, voices, obligations, jobs, toys, desires and pursuits that can distract us. Are we ready and willing to yield ourselves to Jesus alone to do what He alone can do?
But how do we accomplish that? It is simple but not easy, and Jesus himself tells us how to do it.
“Abide in me,
and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself,
except it abide in the vine;
no more can ye,
except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine,
ye are the branches:
He that abideth in me,
and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without me
ye can do nothing.” John 15:4-5
Abide: “…..to have one’s abode; dwell; reside…..
to continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship …..”
Oh, how simple but powerful; to abide with Jesus; to dwell with Him; to be “fixed” on Him; to maintain a right ‘attitude’ in, through and for Him.
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Ephesians 3:17
This is a reference to making Jesus “at home” in your heart, not the fact that He dwells in His children. Are we making a good home in our heart for the Lord, or is He ill at ease with the other things that we fill our heart with? We must be selective of what we allow into our hearts. The Psalmist reminds us that we must “guard” our heart—what you put in WILL come out. Will you join me in pursuing Jesus, and abiding with Him, revealing HIS power before the world?
“Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly
in all wisdom;
teaching
and admonishing one another
in psalms
and hymns
and spiritual songs,
singing
with grace in your hearts
to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do
in word
or deed,
do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks
to God and the Father
by him.” Colossians 3:16-17
Simple, but not easy—yet remember, YOU can:
“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things
through Christ
which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:12-13