Who wouldn’t want a roadmap to God’s heart in this day and age? I was typing this study for my husband this week and thought you might like to peruse it. It certainly put the “rubber on the road” for me. It is so easy to get caught up in the “tyranny of the urgent” and lose sight of the permanent! Since we will all give an account one day, this “roadmap” was a “wake-up” call…
If I want to come to you, Lord, I understand that I must deny my selfishness and pride, take up the cross and follow You. Luke 9: 23 These are the biblical terms of Salvation. My husband proceeded to define this verse in these 14 statements:
1. I surrender all my future plans to Your will.
2. I turn my back on all the plans and hopes I have made for myself.
3. I will do whatever, go wherever and become whatever you have in store for me.
4. I, totally, shut the door on my old life to submit to the plan daily You have had for me from the beginning of time.
5. I give up comfort and convenience to focus on Your will and purpose.
6. I will, as the apostle Paul did, die to myself and my desires, to serve You and others.
7. I will submit to the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life and to allow Him to do Christian service through me.
8. I will take my place, as a slave of righteousness, an ambassador, a priest… in service to the You, the King, to pray for others.
9. Sin, then, is defined as “not having our heart set on seeking the Lord”. II Chronicles 12: 1
10. “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight”. Psalm 119: 35
11. Thank you for the secret of growth and maturity. “Counting it all joy when I am passing through troubles and trials, so that my patience develops and matures me, so I do not lack anything.” James 1: 2-4
12. Thank you for recreating me and having a plan for my life that really fits my deepest longings for fulfillment and joy. Eph. 2: 10
13. Thank you for the clarity of Your will: “to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbor, as we love ourselves.”
14. I know your Word says, “You reject all who stray from your degrees (laws), for their deceitfulness is in vain.” Psalm 119: 118
(His NOTE: This”roadmap” is beneficial in helping me effectively make known to people where they are spiritually. They sense the conflict between the two natures and see how much they are personally resisting God.)
Where do you see yourself and your need?
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
