Deuteronomy 30:19 - "Carry Me"

I woke up during the night and the Lord impressed upon me to pray for all of the hurting people in this world.  Specifically, for the ones in my circle of the world.  There seems to be so many going through tough stuff.  Looking from the outside in it appears as the enemy has some footholds in some situations.  He needs gone!  It amazes me though how many people seem to like to live in that type of world.  Chaos seems to be the life of choice.  I wish people would realize their situations could be different if they allowed the Lord reign of their lives.  Not just reign on Sunday but total reign.  24/7.  Nothing held back.  We have to get to the point of realizing life is going to be junk as long as we live in the junk.  

My heart breaks as I see marriages in turmoil or drugs/alcohol tearing up families.  To see families torn apart due to sudden deaths caused by the sins of the world.  I can't imagine how the Lord must grieve over the state of our world.  Josh Wilson's song "Carry Me" in on my lips this morning.

So I prayed God, would You make this stop
Father please hold on to me, You're all I've got...

I'm at the end of myself
I know I've got nothing left...

We have to get to this point where we cry out to the Lord.  He has to be our Solid Rock or we will just keep sinking in the sand of life.  If we don't give Him all of us, He can't carry us through the tough times.  We can't just give Him part of our life and hold onto other parts.  It won't work.  That would be like asking Him to carry our arms but not our legs.  It has to be all or nothing.  

It saddens me to see believers who try to live in both the world and for the Lord.  It is important that we realize we do live in the world but we can't be of the world if we truly want to follow the Lord.  These scriptures point us in the direction the Lord desires us to go.

• “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19)

• “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”(John 17:14)

• “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27)

• “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15)

• “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”(James 4:4)

In Deuteronomy 30:19 the Lord tells us in no uncertain terms how we are to live.

“… I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days …” 

Once we become a believer there shouldn't be any question on how we are to live.  He needs our all.  He needs to know He can depend upon us to carry out the will He has on our lives.  Why do many believers fall into the traps of this world?  Simple.  They give the enemy a foothold in their life and once he digs in to them it is hard to break loose.  I recently heard someone say, "When the enemy can't make you bad, he's make you busy."  How very true.  More and more believers are filling their calendars up with stuff of the world instead of the Lord.  Many don't have time for personal devotions, family devotions, sharing the Gospel let alone time for church.  The devil's foothold is just getting stronger and stronger in their lives.  Then they wonder why their teenager is being rebellious or why their spouse no longer wants to be with them.  It all comes back to Deuteronomy 30:19.  He gives us choice and it is up to us on how we handle it.  Do we choose Him or the world?  

Dear Jesus,
I pray for the ones going through tough times.  I don't ask for you to make things better for them.  I ask that You bring them to the end of themselves and to You in total communion.  I pray for children who are being affected by the decisions their parents are making.  Protect them Lord.  Put believers before them that will love on them and show them the way to live in this world without being of this world.  Father, I pray You will give me opportunities today to be You to others.  Father, use me in whatever way You so desire.  Thank You Lord for being My Life and The Length of My Days!  Amen.