1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

2 Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
-Psalm 100

Praise the Lord He is good and He is so very faithful!

Here recently I've been reading in Jeremiah, wow, seeing Israel and her turning from God so many times. I know I do not have a great understand of everything within the text, in fact I'm far from understanding it all, but isn't it so like us today? Honestly, how many times do I try and take God off the throne? Thinking I can take care of myself I attempt to work things out in my own strength **NEWS FLASH** I CAN'T DO IT, NONE OF US CAN! I am in need of relying solely on my Father for direction, strength and protection. I need to be entirely His, nothing less.

"This is the will of God, even your sanctification."
1 Thessalonians 4:3

"The Spirit of God in the process of sanctification will strip me until I am nothing but "myself," that is the place of death. Am I willing to be "myself," and nothing more--no friends, no father, no brother, no self-interest--simply ready for death? This is the condition of sanctification. No wonder Jesus said: "I came not to send peace, but the sword." This is where the battle comes, and where so many of us faint. We refuse to be identified with the death of Jesus on this point. "But it is so stern," we say; "He cannot wish me to do that." Our Lord is stern; and He does wish us to do that."
-Utmost 7/22

What a question, am I willing to be myself, and nothing more? Am I willing to leave behind all of the social norms of this life? Willing to say I don't care about my life? Willing to accept whatever God has for me?

So often in this world we are fed the lies that we have to have all this stuff to be content or even to survive. We must have this kind of car, wear these certain clothes, hang out with this group of people, or whatever it may be. I see this a lot in students that I work with. They are so consumed with the things around them, whether it is the newest phone, the latest gossip, who is going out who, EVERYTHING. Honestly though, are we "adults" any better? Sure it looks a little different in us (sometimes), but it's still the same. As adults we may not be obsessed with all of the same things, we worry about relationships, marriage, jobs, future kind of things, but are we any better?

"The process of sanctification will strip me until I am nothing but myself." Sure I still want a lot of those things, but they should all be secondary, actually not even on my radar. Christ, that's it, nothing more, nothing less. He is all my focus should be, no guy, no worries of the future, Christ. If Christ so sees fit to bring those other things into my life to bring more glory to Himself, great! If not, I am to continue to follow and allow Him to have all of me, holding nothing back. It's hard, I fail and miss the mark, a lot. Jesus has called me to be his disciple, it's not easy, He never promised that it would be. It's hard, yes, but as a dear pastor says often, "IT'S BIBLICAL!"

"If there's anything in life that we should be passionate about, it's the gospel. And I don't mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be."
          (C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life,  pp.20-21)

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1  My God is immense beyond imagination. He measured the entire universe with merely the span of His hand. [1]
2  He is unimaginably awesome in all of His perfections, absolutely righteous, hold, and just in all His ways. [2]
3  He has also been unbelievably good and merciful to me as the Creator and Sustainer of my life. 
4  Every breath, every heartbeat, every function of every organ in my body is a gift from Him.
5  Every legitimate pleasure I experience is a gift from His loving hand to me. [3]
6  All that I am and all that I have I owe to Him and to His goodness. [4]
7  My life in every way I, and will continue to be, utterly dependent upon Him in whom I live and move and have my being. [5]
8  This wonderful God is the most supremely worthy Object of admiration, [6] honor, [7] and delight [8] in all of the universe;
9  And He has created me with the intention that I might glorify Him by finding my soul's delight in him and by living in joyful obedience to Him in all of my ways. [10]

[1] Isaiah 40:12. “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His, and marked off the heavens by the span?” [a “span” is a hand breadth]

[2] Deuteronomy 32. “(3) For I proclaim the name of the Lord; Ascribe greatness to our God! (4) The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.”

[3] 1 Timothy 6:17; “God…richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” Acts 14:17. "And yet did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

[4] James 1:17.“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

[5] Acts 17:28. “For in Him we live and move and exist…”

[6] Psalm 96. “(3) Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among the people. (4) For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. (5) For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. (6) Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. (7) …Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. (8) Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name…”

[7] Revelation 4:11. “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed and were created.”

[8] Psalm 16:11;“…In Your presence is fullness of joy; In  your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 37:4. “Delight yourself in the Lord…”

[9] Romans 11:36; “For from Him and through Him and to him are all things [Including me]. To him be the glory forever. Amen” 1 Corinthians 10:31. “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

[10] Psalm 37: 4; "Delight yourself in the Lord…”  Deuteronomy 5:29. "…the Lord said…”Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!”

(Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, pp. 45-46)