March 26

“What are the chief characteristics of the life hid with Christ in God......Its chief characteristics are an entire surrender to the Lord and a perfect trust in Him.....it causes us to let the Lord carry our burdens and manage our affairs for us, instead of trying to do it ourselves.  In laying off your burdens, therefore, the first one you must get rid of is yourself.”  Hannah Whithall Smith, God is Enough, 3/26

This is what I wrote about a couple days ago, and in the meantime God has given me several opportunities to do just this--let him carry the burden I am to myself.  This has presented itself in the form of my relationships and the temptation to judge myself based on another’s actions.  I’ve watched myself get in a bad mood, justify my actions, condemn theirs, deny I felt hurt, and just become generally preoccupied with myself because of all the thoughts swirling around inside my head over the matter.  But then last night something different happened when I could have been thrown into a great upset.  I was reading Hannah’s chapter on the Will in her book “The Common Sense Teaching of the Bible”.  It was where I needed to be when I was tempted to follow my emotions--to be reminded that my victory was dependent on what my Will would choose.  Would I choose God’s Will or my flesh’s?  It was a “no-brainer”, as it is commonly referred to.  In fact, my ability to put my thoughts on God instead of what my brain (Self) was thinking was why I experienced victory.  I chose from my Heart--the place where my Will now resides--hid with Christ in God.

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  Colossians 3:3