Good Afternoon everyone. I apologize for not posting the last few days. I hope to be back on the trail going forward. I want to especially say hello to my friend Alex Johnson, who is getting these through his mom. He is in basic training for the Marines. I want you to know we are praying for you as you begin a new phase of life.
As I write this post and reflect back over recent days, I see where the Lord is working in my life. As we seek to be wholly devoted to Him, many times He has to shape and mold and cut away things in our life that are not of Him. This is not always a pleasant process, and it can be hard and frustrating and burdensome. God has a way, as we seek Him, of bringing us to the end of our self. In fact, he knows, if we are not emptied of self, we will have a hard time producing fruit that remains. You see, my desire is to have an eternal impact on this world in the years God wants to give to me here, but to do that it has to be all of Him taking all of me. It is a difficult and trying process to walk through. So many people give up on being emptied and spend their days doing good things in their own strength that will have little eternal significance.
For me, I have always been a fairly confident person in my abilities. Feeling good about these abilities, many times it is easy to do things in your own strength and think you are being used by God. While in reality, there is little lasting impact. One of the hardest things to do is to allow God to take the things you think you are good at and sanctify them for His service. God is working on these areas of my life and forcing me to trust Him through it as He allows me to see that no matter what I do, unless He is doing it through me it will not produce lasting fruit.
Empty me Lord of all myself so I can become wholly yours, a vessel of honor for good works.
Brad