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Eye of the Needle? Are You Serious?

"With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" -Jesus

Today was a little bit different for me as I went with my brother in law and younger sister to their church.  The pastor gave a short sermon on possessions and how the rich young man came up to Jesus and  said in Matthew 19:20 "All these commandments I have kept, what am I still lacking?"  Jesus replied:  "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me."  The young rich man walked away grieving because he had many things in which he didn't want to give up. Jesus then turned to his disciples and said "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."

This line has always gotten me, much like the verse about how mountains can be moved with faith the size of a mustard seed.  I've seen camels at the zoo, and they are big animals.  It is impossible for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle.  You don't need science or a massive research team to figure out that a massive animal won't fit through the eye of a needle.  This is the part about our God that fascinates me!  Jesus is saying something that I can picture, but to understand how this could happen, I have to fully rely on my belief in Him.  For Jesus to say this, it really gets my brain going about my possessions and what I hold on to too tightly sometimes.

C.S. Lewis said that "Mine is a word that cannot be uttered in truth as nothing is yours."  Everything we have is God's.  On the beach today with some friends the question came up:  What would you miss the most if you lost it?  It made me think, what do I put first in my life that I would miss the most if I lost it?  My immediate answer was simply the people in my life.  What about you?  What do you hold dearest that you would miss the most if you lost it?  Our God does not want to deprive us of any joy, He wants to provide us with an abundance of joy that one couldn't even comprehend.  To fully experience that though, we have to look at our possessions, our people, our things in our lives as His, and have them in our open hands.  Give what you answered to God.  Let Him take control of the things in your life that you would miss the most.  God wants to be first in your life so that you are in an unobstructed relationship with Him.  When you are in an unobstructed relationship with God, then you will experience all of God's joy that He has for you.  Your eyes will be open to His plan that is bigger than anything you can imagine.  He will move mountains for you and though you might not see a camel go through the eye of a needle, you will see that our God is the God of miracles and you will have full faith and trust that everything is possible with God.

My prayer for you this week is that you take a moment to figure out what you would miss the most in your life if it was taken away.  I ask that you give this to God and let Him takeover the management of this part/thing in your life.  Trust that when you give to God what is God's, you will be given a greater joy than you could ever imagine.

Have a great week!

Song of the Week:  I Have Decided

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