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 James 1:5-8

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."

We must remember that God is never upset that we don't know or understand how to live out the New Life He has given to us. That Life is now being lived out in us by the Holy Spirit. This Life of the Kingdom is radically different that the life we are accustomed to living in concert with the world. One of the main marks of a true follower of Jesus Christ is that there is change and ongoing change in us by the Holy Spirit. We do not remain as we once were. The Holy Spirit is conforming us to the Image of Jesus Christ.

Asking God, we must give heed to Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take." 

Our finite minds and limited insight into the Life of His Kingdom requires that we seek Him only for direction and guidance, for anointing and authority to advance His purposes.

Sometimes, when faced with "not knowing" we can mistake panic with inspiration. When what must be done in beyond the reach of "the arm of flesh" we can forget and begin to scramble rather than stop and in asking, surrender to the Mind of Christ.

Sometimes these crises are a blessing from God given to expose where our loyalties are divided. When your heart is divided, when your loyalties (what you rely on) are divided, your trust is compromised. You really can't expect God to answer if we are operating in divided loyalty. You see, God will not reinforce unbelief or a divided heart. I can expect a loving rebuke exposing where I still am entrenched in relying on my own finite insight into life. 

I pray that God will show, reveal, and expose any place in us that holds or nurtures divided loyalties. Am I more committed to the denomination I serve in than in simply following Jesus as Lord and the Good Shepherd? Is my joy or even pride grounded in my association with any construct other than the Lordship of Jesus Christ? The Lord will not share His glory with any another. He alone is Lord and wants to show us things hidden that we do not yet know, understand or have ever walked in. 

He will bring us to such junctures that we cast aside any other loyalty except in His alone. That is where freedom is found, known and lived in.




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