Our Desires Shape Our Destiny 7-18-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let my heart be Your temple. Conform my thoughts to Your thinking and my will to Your desires. ... "Are you ready? Are you available? When you are available for My leading, you are ready for My purposes. Many say they are, but they are not. In My mercy, I do not call them as I desire at the time that I desire, for they would fail. To fail is to refuse to follow. Yet, even in this, My grace is sufficient for the one who admits his resistance and confesses his willingness to try again." Yes, Lord. Forgive us for failing to follow Your leading. Forgive us for rationalizing away the sense of Your calling and the prompting of Your Spirit. Sharpen our discernment where our spirits have grown dull from disobedience. Quicken our thinking where we have grown sluggish in the wallowing of the muck of our own agendas. Speak Your word of life to our spirits and we will rise again into our calling. Release Your word of power to our souls and we will walk again in the way of our destiny. Where we have stumbled, pick us up. Where we have turned aside, straighten our path. Let us fulfill the calling and purpose of our destiny in You. "Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that they may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? And the Lord says: Because they have forsaken My law that I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, or walked in accordance with it, but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and gone after the Baals, as their ancestors taught them" (Jeremiah 9.12-14). Lord, we receive Your conviction and submit to Your correction. Forgive us for forsaking Your law and failing to heed Your voice. Forgive us for following the fleeting satisfaction of our own desires, and falling at the feet of the false gods we have created with our own hands and worshipped with the faithfulness that belongs only to You. Forgive us for following in the ways of our ancestors and for compromising in the ways of our cultures. You are our Father and we are Your children. Teach us Your ways and give us courage to follow them. "Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast, boast in this, that they understand and know Me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 9.23-24). Yes, Lord. Form this wisdom in our minds and these desires in our hearts. Let the things that delight You, delight us. As You shape our desires, so You shape our destiny. Give us grace to recognize this, to understand this, and to obey You in this. Though we have hesitated, though we have stumbled, though we have failed, yet will we rise in newness of life in the forgiveness of Your grace. Yet will we fulfill the calling and purpose of our lives. You will establish Your love and justice and righteousness in the earth through the obedience of Your people, to the glory of our God. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!