“But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these.” – Daniel 2:28

We’ll seldom be blessed with a detailed vision of the future of world civilizations across centuries the way King Nebuchadnezzar was. Nonetheless, what Daniel says remains true – God knows everything about your past, your present, and your future and He will make some of that known to you if you ask Him to. While we might imagine we know our future (and often make elaborate plans accordingly), God actually knows our future.

It’s wise to periodically spend time in prayer seeking God’s guidance for our future. Too often, we make our plans then ask God to rubber stamp them with His blessing. That isn’t effective and it isn’t living under His Lordship. It’s far better to regularly devote time to fasting and prayer to seek God’s will and plan for your life. Ephesians 2 promises that God has prepared good works for every Christians to do. When you set aside precious time from your busy life to listen for God’s voice, He’ll often reveal some of those works.

If you’re willing to devote time to seeking God’s will, take that commitment seriously. Block that time on your schedule and guard it fiercely. Include time for personal worship and prayer. Include time for simply reading Scripture and time for quieting your mind and asking God to speak. Listen carefully for His voice as you pray, as you sit silent before Him, and as you read your the Bible. God is faithful and when the time is right and you’re listening, He’ll often reveal what’s been hidden from you.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” – 1 John 5:4

There more you think about the world, the more you realize there is much to overcome. There are the obvious obstacles we must overcome in a fallen world: frustrations, delays, deprivations, disasters, hurtful people, horrible illnesses, physical bodies that inevitably break down over time, minds and emotions that can betray us, and ultimately death. The key to overcoming all of these forces is our faith in Jesus Christ.

Once we trust in Jesus as Lord, we are born again, made new creation, and adopted by God. Through our new union with Christ, we have the power to overcome the negative influence of these hindrances. We’re able to walk in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit regardless of our circumstances. We walk with the certain knowledge that Jesus Christ, Who understands our pain perfectly, walks with us. He strengthens us, empowers us, and sets our souls free to soar!

There are less obvious powers that we must also overcome. These are the reasonably good things which chain us in the world and distract us from God. The world encourages us to take our pursuit and enjoyment of these things too far until our hearts, minds, soul, and strength are firmly rooted and focused on getting more of them. Money, power, success, pleasure, comfort, achievement, fame, status, entertainment….

There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these, but the more we have them, the more we tend to want them. They grow to dominate our mind, define our identity, control our emotions, narrow our vision for life, and turn our attention toward the world and away from God. Once again, the power to overcome these appealing temptations comes through faith.

Through a dynamic relationship with God we recognize that He alone is the Great that is infinitely superior to that which is merely good. Our faith helps us see and understand what our souls were truly made for – eternity in relationship with God. As we look more and more toward Him, our vision for those lesser things of the world dims and we are indeed overcomers!

“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?’” – John 11:40

What Jesus says to Martha as He’s about to raise her brother from the dead points to an interesting reality that can affect our own lives. Without faith, it’s possible to be completely blind to God’s glory, even when it’s in display all around us. When we have eyes of faith to see and the illumination of the Holy Spirit within us to understand spiritual matters, we’re able to see remarkable spiritual realities every day. We can see God’s workmanship, presence, power, and truth in nature, in events, in those around us, and in His Word. Without eyes of faith, we miss those things completely.

This is why one person can gaze upon the beauty of the Grand Canyon, snow-capped mountains, or the vast expanse of the ocean and fall deeply into worship of the extraordinary Creator Who made them while another speaks only of natural processes and random occurences. The glory of God is on full display all around us but it’s unseen by eyes blinded by a stubborn lack of willingness to see the most obvious and simplest explanation.

This is why one person can read through the Bible and repeatedly break out in praise, tears, song, prayer, awe, and wonder at God’s grace, mercy, love, and majesty that’s on display throughout and another person can read it only with anger, frustration, skepticism, or incomprehension. Without a willingness to believe, the glory of God is missed and His nature radically misunderstood.

When we shut our eyes of faith (which can happen even to professing Christians), we miss so much of God’s work in our world and our lives! We miss so many opportunities to enjoy and delight in God, to rejoice at His goodness and care, and to be confident in His presence. We easily become discouraged and feel abandoned. We aren’t and shouldn’t feel that way, but to see God’s glory and overcome those feelings, we must re-open our eyes of faith and believe.

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” – 1 John 3:16

Christ’s love for you isn’t some vague positive feeling. It isn’t a bumper sticker slogan or cheery greeting card. His love is an enduring, eternal reality He proved through His suffering and death on a cross. Christ’s love is real and sacrificial unto death! His broken body and shed blood testifies to how deeply and truly He loves you. His sacrifice is the very definition and example of true love for Christians.

That’s where things become challenging for us! Jesus invited and commanded us to follow Him. We are to love fellow Christians the same way Jesus loves us. We’re called to live sacrificially and generously toward ALL our brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re called to deny ourselves and our preferences for the good of our brothers and sisters, even the ones who might be difficult to love. This part isn’t optional – if we’re understanding and embracing Christ’s love, we must be willing to show that same love to fellow believers (and not just our friends within our church).

Would you willingly sacrifice and die for fellow believers? Not just abstract believers, but each and every face you know from church life, all the flawed, imperfect, and hypocritical people who comprise the beautiful bride of Christ. Do you love them enough to set down your preferences, conveniences, comforts, and status? Do you love them enough to suffer for them? Jesus did and He calls us to do the same!

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36:25-26

God is in the ”fixer-upper” business! He renovates souls that have become filthy through sin, rebellion, selfishness, greed, cruelty, guilt, and shame. He renovates hearts that have been hardened by cynicism, pain, hurt, disappointment, and manipulation. He renovates minds numbed by failure, addiction, and the endless pursuit of false “ultimates”.

Have you been renovated? God performs this renovation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus into this world to live a life of perfect cleanness, kindness, love, and wisdom before dying on a cross as a perfect sacrifice to pay off our accumulated sin debt. He died to deal with everything that’s made you filthy. Jesus was buried and rose from the dead, freely offering renovation to everyone who believes and trusts in Him as Lord.

Once you trust in Jesus, you are made clean. God’s gift of grace given through faith in Jesus Christ washes each believer clean of sin. God’s grace continues to wash us clean whenever we sin and confess that sin to God. Once you trust in Jesus, you immediately receive a new heart and spirit – the Holy Spirit of God comes to live within you and seals you as new creation belonging to God.

In Christ, those who were spiritually dead are made alive. Our hearts truly begin to beat for the first time. Then comes the great adventure of God’s ongoing renovation work! As you walk in obedience to Christ, worshiping Him, learning about Him, talking to Him in prayer, thinking deeply about Him, serving Him, and sharing Him with others, God continues the renovation work in your soul to make you increasingly like Jesus in how you think, speak, and act.

Has your renovation begun? If not, trust in Jesus as your Lord!

Is your renovation continuing to progress? If not, confess any sin, draw near to Christ, and truly follow Him!