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