Ignoring Jesus

January 22, 2021

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

~Proverbs 3:6~

Sometimes when we hit a bump in the road of life we tend to get overwhelmed as we try to figure out a way on our own. We look to people for help before we look to Jesus. We focus on worldly solutions before we turn to Jesus' divine healing. We forget. This is of no suprise to God, as He is used to being forgotten. This should bring sadness to our hearts. All that God has done for us and we still forget about Him. So many people feel as though they are being ignored but think about how ignored Jesus is in this world. We are merely a vapor in this world; "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." (James 4:14)

We have a destiny set in place for our individual lives and we are here to live in it for a very short amount of time. The Lord lives on and on, generation after generation dealing with people ignoring Him and not loving Him. He formed this world with His hands, He created vegetation and animals all for our joy; " So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

(Genesis 1:21)

He supplies everything we need for each day. Yet we complain. We grumble. We say we are not noticed. Do you know who does notice you? Jesus does. No matter what is going on in your life, no matter how many people leave you in the dust, Jesus never does. He is right there waiting for you to reach out to Him and trust in His steps. We must acknowledge Him always and He will direct our path. It may not be comfortable, it may not be easy, but it will be for our best interest in the end. He knows what's best, we do not. When we think we know it all, we have so much more to learn. The more we feel these negative emotions, the more He is reaching out to us to draw closer to Him.

" Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

(James 4:8)

Jesus always went to the Father during His ministry on earth, He knew He needed to give God all the glory and go to Him for help in His journey. Without the support of the Father, Jesus may have stumbled a bit more. He was a man, with emotions just like us, who was tempted in all ways. The key to His defeat in the wilderness was using the word of God against satan. He relied heavily on His Father's word. His response to satan was "it is written." He always pressed on with the truth, knowing it would prevail against all tactics the world had for Him. My point is, even Jesus didnt do it alone. He was sent for us to never do it alone! We must pray to Jesus every single moment of our day and acknowledge Him in all ways. We do not have it as hard as we think we do, or as hard as the devil tells us we do. Focusing on His sacrifice for us to be in communion with Him will end up humbling ourselves before God and others. "Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am. ’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness."

(Isaiah 58:9)

We cannot let worry have its way in us. We cannot listen to the whispering lies of the enemy. We should always look to Jesus and speak His word just as He spoke it. "But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. ”

(Matthew 4:4)

His word is our spiritual food. The more we fill ourselves with it the more we walk in His Spirit of truth and claim what is ours in Him. We will be full and not want. Satan cannot mess with someone who has such confidence in Jesus, he will begin to get tired of trying for a season. Notice satan leaves Jesus alone for a season, however he always comes back later on. We must never let our guard down or start to get too comfortable thinking we have it all and know it all because that's when pride will enter in.

"When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom."

(Proverbs 11:2)

Let us make sure what we are feeling is lining up solely with the word of God. If it does not, do not speak it or give heed to it! This will cause more chaos, I can assure you. Our spoken words are powerful. It effects our spirits and our motivation. It effects others around us.

"A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1)

This includes how we speak about ourselves. The devil is a liar and he loves to make you hate yourself. The truth is God loves us! He first loved us! "We love Him because He first loved us." (I John 4:19)

If we want to have our paths straightened we must ackowledge His love for us and meditate on it day and night. It is the only way to genuine peace in our hearts. Just as Jesus did; stand firm against satan and his lies, pierce him with the word of God and make him flee by humbly submitting to Him completely. Love one another with godly love. With bitterness living inside of us we cannot fully walk a godly life. It will cause us to stumble time and time again. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

(I John 4:11)

I can remember being a child and hearing the phrase, "if you have nothing nice to say don't say it at all." I like to picture Jesus waving His finger at us as He reminds us of this. Even a worldly phrase has some godly meaning behind it. Speak truth. Speak love. Speak life. If we run to the Lord first we will feel His touch as He grabs ahold of us and directs us in how to fix the way we feel. The more we align ourselves with Him, the more we will feel like Him and we will love more as He loves, even ourselves. Face it, we have it way easier then He ever did.

His body was beaten for ours to be made whole. He was spit on and rejected. He carried His own cross up a hill as He was drained of energy. He was mocked and yelled at, hated even by His own. He laid Himself down, pressed His back against a tree, that which He created Himself. He watched as the nails were driven into His hands and feet, piercing His flesh, tendons and bones. He hung for hours on end separated from His Father in anguish. He bled out and suffocated, eventually taking His last breath, all for us to receive abundant life and peace on earth. Let us remember this when we start to feel "unwanted," because frankly, He clearly wants us all! Let us acknowledge Him. Thank You Father. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Holy Ghost.

Prayer:

Gracious God, thank you so much for Your amazing sacrifice as You gave Your only Son to live, be rejected and die for me. When the devil whispers lies to me or causes me to stumble remind me to look to You, to trust in You. I know that You will direct my steps and make my path straight. The love You give me is like no other; it is pure, genuine and unchanging. Show me to focus and abide in Your living word. It is the weapon of choice against the devil. All the praise, honor and glory be to You Lord for Your unwavering faith to me. Help me to show that same faith towards You, my brothers and sisters. I wish to fulfill Your desires, not my own. Align Your divine plans to my life so that I may prosper in all that I do. In Your Sovereign Name I receive this prayer, Jesus Christ. Amen.