Christians have a mission, purpose and directive handed down by God. Yet, if we aren’t careful, discouragements, doubts, and/or distractions can cause us to detract from our divine duties. Thankfully, God provides the means to keep His C.I.A. operatives operational:

Christ: Without Christ, we are lost. However, since we have Him, we have everything we need to resist temptation, maintain hope and live courageously (Philippians 4:13). However, like any relationship, if we fail to spend consistent time with Him through proactive initiatives like prayer, worship and studying His Word, we inadvertently invite the discouragement, distractions and doubts we distain.

Integrity: When we pursue intimacy with Christ, He thereby sharpens our integrity. As mentioned in earlier posts, the word integrity is derived from the root word, integer, which is a whole number. Thus, integrity is undivided and is representative of wholeness and unity. Therefore, when we are unified with Christ, we are also unified with His priorities, purposes, passions and responsibilities to live the lives of integrity He calls us to (John 17:21).

Action: When we are unified with the purposes of Christ, we can’t help but live lives of action. We are not those that “sit, soak and sour”. Instead, we are those who desire to worship Christ, share fellowships, pursue passionate prayers and go to work as He directs and secures our ways (John 9:4).

Application: “Ego Check” – Luke 18:14
Although the providence of God is over everything and nothing is out of His control, we will not be used fully by God until we are fully surrendered. This is because we can’t see the opportunities He sends our way when we are in the way! Fortunately, God loves us way too much to allow any self-sufficiency to remain – and when we forgo the ego, the opportunities of heaven are invited to flow!