Jesus Calling: September 16th, 2024

Jesus Calling: September 16th

I designed you to live in union with Me. This union does not negate who you are; it actually makes you more fully yourself. When you try to live independently of Me, you experience emptiness and dissatisfaction. You may gain the whole world and yet lose everything that really counts.
     Find fulfillment through living close to Me, yielding to Me purposes for you. Though I may lead you along paths that feel alien to you, trust that I know what I am doing. If you follow Me wholeheartedly, you will discover facets of yourself that were previously hidden. I know you intimately - far better than you know yourself. In union with Me, you are complete. In closeness to Me, you are transformed more and more into the one I designed you to be.

RELATED BIBLE VERSES:

Mark 8:36 (NLT)
36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Additional insight regarding Mark 8:36: Many people spend all their energy seeking pleasure. Jesus said, however, that worldliness, which is centered on possessions, position, or power, is ultimately worthless. Whatever you have on earth is only temporary; it cannot be exchanged for your soul. If you work hard at getting what you want, you might eventually have a "pleasurable" life, but in the end, you will find it hollow and empty. Are you willing to make the pursuit of God more important than selfish pursuits? Follow Jesus, and you will know what it means to live abundantly now and to have eternal life as well.

Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

Additional insight regarding Psalm 139:13-15: God's character goes into the creation of every person. When you feel worthless or even begin to hate yourself, remember that God's Spirit is ready and willing to work within you. We should have as much respect for ourselves as our Maker has for us.

2nd Corinthians 3:17-18 (NLT)
17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Additional insight regarding 2nd Corinthians 3:17: Those who were trying to be saved by keeping the Old Testament law were soon tied up in rules and ceremonies. But now, through the Holy Spirit, God provides freedom from sin and condemnation (Romans 8:1). When we trust Christ to save us, he removes our burden of trying to please him and our guilt for failing to do so. By trusting Christ we are loved, accepted, forgive, and freed to live for him. "Wherever the Spirit of the Lord, there is freedom."

Additional insight regarding 2nd Corinthians 3:18: The glory that the Spirit imparts to the believer is more excellent and lasts longer than the glory that Moses experienced. By gazing at the nature of God with unveiled minds, we can be more like him. In the Good news, we see the truth about Christ, and it transforms us morally as we understand and apply it. Through learning about Christ's life, we can understand how wonderful God is and what he is really like. As our knowledge deepens, the Holy Spirit helps us to change. Becoming Christlike is a progressive experience (see Romans 8:29;  Galatians 4:19; Philippians 3:21; 1st John 3:2). The more closely we follow Christ, the more we will be like him.

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