What do you want?

Practically everything that goes on in the world - wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important - has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out - but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. 1 John 2:16-17 The Message

We have a Heavenly Father who wants to have relationship with us. In 2 days time we are going to celebrate the birth of His Son on earth.  He wants to be with us forever, in eternity. God doesn't want us to be isolated from Him. God wants us to be in right standing with Him.

For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favour) and the free give of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Romans 5:17 AMP

What do you want? Why not ask the Holy Spirit to help you do a 'heart check' against the list in 1 John 2:16, how do you rate when it comes to :

 - wanting your own way?

- wanting everything for yourself?

- wanting to appear important?

Maybe you are like me, on the outside, not appearing to want these things. But if you let the Holy Spirit reveal what is in your heart, you may find the truth is not so clear cut.  The motives behind some of my seemingly 'Godly' behaviours, are in truth, because I want my own way, or I want to appear important. It is a humbling, but necessary, experience to take time to let the Holy Spirit give you these personal revelations.

So I will ask the question again, what do you want? Do you want to be isolated from God? It may be that for you some parts of your life are aligned with God, but some are isolated. If this is the case, and you want to move from that place of isolation into God's will for your entire life, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what needs to be done. Repentance is always a good place to start.

But that's no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything - and I do mean everything - connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life - a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside out and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces this character in you. Ephesians 4:20-23 The Message