For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord .... Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Ephesians 5:8-10, 15-17 (NIV)
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11 (NIV)
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8
This is week two of a five-week devotional series entitled, “Doors.” As followers of Christ, we seek to live fully for God. Living fully for God is all about having lives that are an expression of God's will and not our own. Our challenge is to discover, enter into, and see God’s will fulfilled in our lives. Christians often use the idea of “Doors” to help them in their journey of seeking, finding, and living out God’s will. Each of the five weeks of this devotional series has six Devotionals. We hope the “Doors” devotional series will further equip you to go forward in the lifetime pursuit of discovering and aligning yourself with God’s glorious will for your life. Week One: Open Doors. Week Two: Choosing Doors. Week Three: In Between Doors. Week Four: True Doors. Week Five: Double Doors. We begin Week Two, Choosing Doors, with the following:
As followers of Christ, we come to the point in our lives where we choose to live fully for God. In doing so we embrace the open doors God puts before us as opportunities to serve the kingdom of God and bless the lives of other people. Living fully for God is all about having lives that are an expression of God's will and not our own.
Figuring out which doors are opportunities to align ourselves with God's will and which are not, can be quite a challenge throughout the course of our lives. There are approaches for determining God's will that are flawed that get into the mix and complicate our lives. We will examine these faulty approaches over the course of the week and trust God for help at getting them out of the mix. For today we want to find the encouragement we need from our passages above that will help us to be confident that we can go forward in the lifetime pursuit of discovering and aligning ourselves with God's will.
What an encouraging expression from Ephesians: "Now you are light in the Lord." Because this is who we are in Christ we can: "Live as children of light and find out what pleases the Lord." It says that we have been given the ability to: "Not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is." Let's join the Psalmist and say to God in complete assurance: "You make known to me the path of life." May we hear afresh the Lord speaking to us these wonderful words: “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you."
Lord, "fill me with joy in your presence" today. I know you will help me to be close to you. I am confident that this will keep me from being stressed out about the challenge of knowing your will for my life. I pray that throughout the week I will learn all the things you want to teach me about choosing doors. I look forward to all that you have in store for me. Amen!
