"We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We want more than this world’s got to offer
We want more than this world’s got to offer
We want more than the wars of our fathers
And everything inside screams for second life"
--"Meant To Live" by Switchfoot

What a beautiful day it is today in Washington. The clouds are softly perched on top of the hills and are slowly covering up the snow-capped mountains. The valley is lush and alive, and there is a cool breeze washing through the trees. It’s close to perfection. You can really see God’s hand in His creation, and I am wishing that I would take more time in my chaotic days to stop and notice.

I love the line in the Switchfoot song that says, "We want more than this world has to offer."

This world is a crazy place. It’s full of confusion and a ton of mirages. I say mirages because it seems like the world throws a lot of stuff in our faces, which if not dissected would look totally pleasing to the eye. I find that most of the time I am just wandering around trying to find those things which will make me happy but not necessarily satisfy me.

I want to be loved, at peace, comfortable, full, replenished and rested. I thought that these things would make me happy, and therefore, my life would be easier and most of my problems would fade away. The world offers us catch phrases like "just do it," "double your pleasure, double your fun," "be all you can be," and "obey your thirst," but they are deceptions. After you are fed, you will go hungry again, and after you rest, you will get tired again. Life is a battle and a constant barrage of choices.

Do my pleasures or wants really make me stronger? Do they really improve my life?

There has got to be something more. There truly has got to be more than what this world has to offer. There has got to be something or someone that is bigger than me, which is unchanging and loves unconditionally.

"There is this lie floating around that says I am supposed to be able to do life alone, without any help, without stopping to worship something bigger than myself. But I actually believe there is something bigger than me, and I need for there to be something bigger than me."
--"Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller

The Bible speaks to us about protecting ourselves from what this world has to offer--the search for superficial happiness.

In Luke 9:23-25 Jesus spoke about how to daily live our lives in this world.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

Jesus is calling us to repentance and holy living. What can this world really offer us? Money? Fame? Importance? Broken Marriages? Incompletion? Comfort? Happiness?

Happiness is such a fleeting word. It is temporary. The world is temporary. We will only be alive on this Earth for a very short time. Although we can have an emotional lift, eventually, we will come down from that and we will still be ourselves: hurt, broken and needy people. We’ll still be people in need of salvation and people in need of hope.

God is the only One who can satisfy our needs and provide for our well being. The world cannot fill the hole in your heart. The world cannot add an ounce to your soul.

Your problem is not that God is not fulfilling, your problem is that you are spoiled.
--"Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller

So the question of the day is this: "This is your life, is it who you want to be?"

Are you on the path to grace and fellowship or are you searching for things that will fade away with the sunset? Are you living a Holy life, set apart for God? Are you asking God for wisdom, direction, and purpose? Or, are you just asking Him to give you the things that you want, and the things that you think will make you happy?

You have been fearfully and wonderfully made by God. You are special and unique, and totally adored by our Heavenly Father. This means you are already loved, and your life has purpose. God created YOU to fall in love with Him.

God DID NOT create you to be a carpenter, a fisherman, a salesmen, a marketing guy, a musician, a pastor, a mechanic, a doctor, or a rock star. He created You to follow Him. Your identity is not in your occupation, or failures, or accolades, or friendships. Your identity is that of a Christ. You are a child of the KING!

The challenge today is to set your mind of the things of God and to remove the stumbling blocks that interfere with the relationship with our Maker.

I have long stopped asking God to give me things that I think I want. I am done praying for a new car, or love relationship, or ideal job. Instead I really have been praying the prayer that Jesus taught us in Matthew when He said,

"Our Father, which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
in earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
But deliver us from evil.
[For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.] Amen.

"Thy will be done" ... not my will but God’s will. He is, after all, way smarter than me.

The challenge once again today is to put away the things that the world offers, and live life with God’s will in mind and His wisdom as our navigation.

Here is a final thought to ponder this afternoon.

Romans 8:5-9
"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you."

This is YOUR life...are you who you want to be?