Today’s Reading:
Romans 12
1 Thessalonians 5
1 Peter 5
Matthew 11
Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.
Romans 12:1-2 TPT
I heard the Spirit of the Living God say,
No mixture in the offering. I desire no mixture in the offering — only what is pure, what is true, what comes from a place of joy and delight, even in the midst of sacrifice. I desire an offering of joy. Shake off that sense of religious duty. You carry your beautiful purpose as a burden and as a shroud sometimes.
Let joy be your continual feast. Make your life a prayer. And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 TPT
I have made you, and I have graced you to carry this purpose with delight, with full joy. I have made you to run and to advance and excel in ways that others can’t. I have given you a very tailored, very unique calling and purpose and voice and mission. Wear it as royalty. Wear it as a victorious one. Wear it as one who conquers wherever she goes. I have not called you to be hunched over under the weight of religious duty or of obligation. I have given you so much leeway to make this fun, to delight in every part of it. Rejoice! Be light! Choose to live in full joy at the grace gifts I have given you. Use them wisely. Wear them as only you can. And give them as gifts freely and openly, liberally to the world.
So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
1 Peter 5:6-7 MSG
Yours is a choice to make. Will you stay under the weight of call, the purpose, the mantle and wear it as a heavy burden that it was never designed to be? Or will you shake off your presumed religious duty? Will you wear only what I have given you to wear and release all else to the ground? As you do, you will run, skip, leap and sing with such joy. Your full delight will be in Me and in all that I made you to be and all that I have put into your hand to do. This is a beautiful and a special, very special, consecrated thing. Don’t make it out to be a chore. Don’t wear it as a burden. Cast off all that I have not put upon you, and watch as you can run.
How to Respond
- Take an inventory of all you view to be your roles and responsibilities. Lay them before the Lord, and ask Him to show you what is for you and what needs to be left behind.
- Pray, Holy Spirit come. Highlight to me all that I am carrying unnecessarily. Help me to drop the religious burden, so I can run with the purity and joy of my calling. I want my life to be a joy-filled delight to You.
- Declare, “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.”
Matthew 11:28-30 TPT - Decree, Great is the Lord and worthy of all glory, honor and praise. He has not made me to carry heavy burdens alone. His grace gifts to me are meant to delight my heart and invigorate my life. I am not going to live as one under a heavy burden any longer. I will run with the mantle, calling, purpose and gifts He has given me. My life will shine brightly, and it will be a great joy and delight that I will spread everywhere I go.
For more encouragement from The Glory & New Wine, check out the post from this day in years past:
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2021:
