Use Me or Kill Me

Happy New Year, friends!  The Christmas decor is all put away and back to the old routine, right?  Sometimes the beginning of the year can feel a little more like just plain "relief" because all the running and gunning of the holidays is over, but isn't there supposed to be more?  Deep down somewhere, don't we all WANT there to be more?  It's a brand new year...2011.  Never will there be a 2010 again.  I think we all desire for there to be more to it, hope this will be a great year, but we never DO much of anything differently to make that happen.  I once heard a pastor say that the true definition of insanity is "doing the same thing you've always done and expecting a different result." How true is that?!  God is a God who is sovereign and absolutely in control, but he does REQUIRE something of us.  I was reminded last night as I listened to Beth Moore speak via webstream (Passion 2011 conference) that God DOES have a plan for us, but we are deceived if we don't believe Satan has his own plan for our lives,too.  He will do anything and everything he can to defeat us in our walk with Christ.  There is a battle raging for our hearts that will exist until we meet Jesus face to face, and it is a dangerous place for a soldier to be to not realize he has an enemy.  "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." I Peter 5:8. 
     We must also realize, though, who we are in Christ...what about that plan HE has for our lives?  Let me say something here that I frequently tell my children and must often remind myself of...Satan is our enemy, but he is scared to death of who you will become.  Listen to that again. Satan is scared to death of who YOU will become in the kingdom of God.  Why else would he seek to devour us and destroy those plans our Lord has for us?  Satan knows exactly how dangerous we can be and how much damage, through Christ, we can do to his earthly kingdom. 
     My prayer this year for myself, my family, and any of you reading these words is that we will be used to the fullest this year for the kingdom of God...not some of the time, but EVERY day in the little things and the big.  That we stay focused and declutter our lives of the things that are meaningless and not eternal, but this won't happen if we just do things the same way we've always done them.  The Lord has given me renewed vision about who He uses to do His work.  One of the verses that has shaken up Kenny and myself over the past year or two is Acts 4:13 where it says, "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."  God's still in the business of using regular old people like you and me turn this world upside down.  (see Acts 17)  We aren't guaranteed another hour on this earth...none of us. This year...TODAY, let's get outside of ourselves, outside the norm, and do something that matters.  Yes, it has to start right where you are.  If you're flippin' burgers, mothering your children, working at the office, whatever it is...God has something bigger for you (and me) than we could have ever imagined in our own minds.  Don't miss it this year.  Let 2011 be the year we will always remember that we took it to the next level. Let's mark it down, set our focus, and not lose sight.  We must pursue HIM. 
     A dear former pastor and mentor to our family, Dr. John Avant, once said that he finally came to a point in his life where he SO wanted to be living his life to the fullest for the kingdom that he began each day praying, "Lord, use me or kill me!"  I remember being a bit shocked to hear such a strong statement (maybe our pulpits are full of too many men NOT saying enough strong statements, but that's another post, right?!) Regardless, it struck me so hard to hear this man say those words...and mean them.  That was almost 10 years ago, and I'd like to say I left the building praying that for myself, but I was scared to death!  I can say, by the grace of God and the way He's moved in my life, I can pray that daily myself now.  Please don't hear me wrong.  I'm not asking you to test God or say some bold statement that you don't mean just for the sake of saying it.  What I do pray is that you and I choose to pursue God this year daily in such a way that we come to a place where we SO desire to be used for the purposes the Lord has for us that we CAN pray this way...that our heart's desire is to KNOW Him and truly be used by Him to the fullest...and only then we can live the "life that is truly life" focused on Him and sharing His truth with the world around us.