DAY 5 - Your Next Yes
DAY 5 - Your Next Yes
READ SLOWLY
Luke 22:39 through 44 and Romans 12:1 through 2
Before the fire falls, Elijah prays one simple sentence. I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. The fire is the dramatic part. Underneath it is the same quiet obedience we saw at the brook. Elijah just kept doing what God told him to do.
The night before the cross, Jesus kneels in a garden. Luke tells us he was in such anguish that his sweat fell like drops of blood. He felt the full weight of what was coming. Then he prayed, Not my will, but yours be done.
Don’t miss that. An undivided heart is not a heart that never feels the pull. Jesus felt it more than any of us ever will. An undivided heart is one that lets the Father have the final word while it still feels the pull.
On Mount Carmel, the prophets of Baal bled for a god who could never answer them. At the cross, Jesus bled for people who refused to answer God. False gods consume their worshipers. Jesus gave himself for us.
That is why Paul says what he says in Romans 12. In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. We do not cut ourselves to get God’s attention. Jesus was the sacrifice. Our response is to put our whole lives on the altar, every day, because of what he already did.
Last Sunday you heard about a dad whose next yes was a phone call to his son. It went to voicemail. He left a message anyway. He sensed God asking him to call again the next week. That is audacious faith. Not fire from heaven. A phone call. And then another one.
Your next yes probably will not look impressive. It might be a hard conversation, an apology, a budget, a counselor, a boundary, or a text that says, Can we talk? It might feel small. Do it anyway. Then do it again next week.
Audacious faith is a yes you keep saying when nobody is clapping.
ASK YOURSELF
• What has been getting the final word in my life?
• What is the next yes Jesus has made clear?
• What outcome am I afraid of if I obey?
• What would it look like to say that yes again next week?
YOUR NEXT STEP
Finish two sentences in writing. The thing that has been getting the final word in my life is ________. My next yes is ________. Tell one trusted person and ask them to check on you. Then set a reminder in your phone for one week from today that says, Say yes again.
PRAY
Jesus, I have kept you close enough to help me but not close enough to lead me. I am coming near. You gave yourself for me. I give myself back to you. Here is my next yes. You get the final word. Amen.
READ SLOWLY
Luke 22:39 through 44 and Romans 12:1 through 2
Before the fire falls, Elijah prays one simple sentence. I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. The fire is the dramatic part. Underneath it is the same quiet obedience we saw at the brook. Elijah just kept doing what God told him to do.
The night before the cross, Jesus kneels in a garden. Luke tells us he was in such anguish that his sweat fell like drops of blood. He felt the full weight of what was coming. Then he prayed, Not my will, but yours be done.
Don’t miss that. An undivided heart is not a heart that never feels the pull. Jesus felt it more than any of us ever will. An undivided heart is one that lets the Father have the final word while it still feels the pull.
On Mount Carmel, the prophets of Baal bled for a god who could never answer them. At the cross, Jesus bled for people who refused to answer God. False gods consume their worshipers. Jesus gave himself for us.
That is why Paul says what he says in Romans 12. In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. We do not cut ourselves to get God’s attention. Jesus was the sacrifice. Our response is to put our whole lives on the altar, every day, because of what he already did.
Last Sunday you heard about a dad whose next yes was a phone call to his son. It went to voicemail. He left a message anyway. He sensed God asking him to call again the next week. That is audacious faith. Not fire from heaven. A phone call. And then another one.
Your next yes probably will not look impressive. It might be a hard conversation, an apology, a budget, a counselor, a boundary, or a text that says, Can we talk? It might feel small. Do it anyway. Then do it again next week.
Audacious faith is a yes you keep saying when nobody is clapping.
ASK YOURSELF
• What has been getting the final word in my life?
• What is the next yes Jesus has made clear?
• What outcome am I afraid of if I obey?
• What would it look like to say that yes again next week?
YOUR NEXT STEP
Finish two sentences in writing. The thing that has been getting the final word in my life is ________. My next yes is ________. Tell one trusted person and ask them to check on you. Then set a reminder in your phone for one week from today that says, Say yes again.
PRAY
Jesus, I have kept you close enough to help me but not close enough to lead me. I am coming near. You gave yourself for me. I give myself back to you. Here is my next yes. You get the final word. Amen.
Posted in Daily Devotional