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Did you ever notice the love and joy that small children exhibit in all that they do?  They naturally reflect the love of God in their lives without the influence of the world affecting them.  They express absolute joy in even the smallest things.  

As we grow older, we lose sight of the purity of God in all things because we let the world overshadow the truth.  Once the world has overshadowed what we see, it is necessary for God to capture our attention before we can again see His glory in everything.  No wonder He calls us to be childlike.

When we submit our lives to God, we can expect that the devil will do his best to make us give up on our relationship with Our Lord.  God, Himself, will allow trials to test our faith in Him.  Through it all, we will learn perseverance.  Through perseverance, we will gain character.  It is through our new character that we are able to weather every storm.  Our faith assures us that God is near.

Jesus reigned on this earth as a servant king.   It was the power of His love that commanded His disciples to follow Him.  It was the example of His servanthood that gave the apostles their model of behavior.  

Jesus went to the Cross in service to all mankind.  He would not even defend Himself against false accusations.  He showed us that the value is in the service and not in the recognition.

The love of Jesus in our lives is what allows us to show the world what living for Christ is all about.  If we ever try to show the world how righteous we are in order to reveal Christ to them, we will fail.  There is nothing about us that is righteous.  It is Jesus in us that is righteous.  When we give Him the proper place in our lives, the world will see the light. 

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are cleansed of all of our filth in the sight of God.  On the other hand, Satan takes every opportunity to turn us away from Our Lord and back toward the filth that we left behind.  When we are sufficiently strengthened by the Spirit, we may be called to go back into the filth to find and rescue those hopelessly lost in the mire.

Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
1 Cor 9:16 NIV

The call of God to preach His gospel is a compelling command that cannot be denied.  Once God has called us to obedience in any area of our lives, there is no peace unless the call is answered.  The restlessness is even more compelling if the call to obedience is a call to preach.  It is central to God’s plan that the gospel reach all hearts.  God cannot let this calling go unfulfilled.  Otherwise, He would be a liar. 

Jesus, the Lamb of God, was crucified so that all sin would be atoned for and salvation would be available to all people.  Without our Savior, heaven would be void of any souls that had once lived on earth.  According to God’s word, not a single person could earn the right to heaven except through the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior.  God thus commanded His children to tell this story to the world.  We are called to proclaim this truth no matter where we find ourselves throughout our lives.

The Pharisees were certain of their own goodness and loved to show the world their righteousness.  They had no place for Jesus because they did not understand how much they needed Him.  They were so convinced of their own piety that they could not see the righteousness of Jesus.  We risk being like the Pharisees when we consider ourselves worthy without the daily cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Until we train ourselves to seek God’s voice on every occasion, we will rarely hear it clearly.  We will have some level of uncertainty with each change in direction in our lives until our ears have been tuned to God’s voice.  Listening to God is an acquired gift from God.  It is received by being obedient to God in all things big and small.  Obedience in the small things opens the way for God to ask us to do more for Him and allows Him to reveal Himself to us along every step in our lives, whether it be big or small.

Just as our earthly fathers love to give us the things that make us happy, God loves to gives us the desires of our hearts.  Just as our fathers withhold things from us that might cause us harm, God withholds the things of this world that may take us away from His plans for our lives. Thus God, in His almighty power, takes what might be called life’s circumstances and orchestrates them so that those that seek Him are prepared to be in union with His Holy Spirit in all that they do.  When in union with His Holy Spirit, our days are filled with joy.