Meet Justin Powell

God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you, so that you might see His grace, beauty, and glory and choose to love Him in return. He also loves you so much that He gives you the ability to choose hell instead.

Often, I exchange the truth of who God is and His love for me with the desire to be exalted and just plain "right." I hurt others in the process when I take God off His throne and elevate myself in His place. This is ugly, don't you agree?

In the book of Jeremiah, God had an indictment for His people: 

"But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
. . . 
[F]or my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water."
(Jeremiah 2:11b,13)

In this strong and rich text, God tells us two things about Himself and us:

1. We've forsaken Him who is our only means of true satisfaction.
2. We've sought solutions to our needs, claiming we know better than the Creator of the universe.

The Israelites were a people chosen by God for His glory, but they chose their own glory and desires over Him. In that regard, we are no different! This choice is how it all began back in the Garden when humans trusted their own understanding over God's Word.

To combat the human condition, we must humble ourselves and rightfully acknowledge who God is. He is the “Ancient of Days” (Daniel 7:9), worthy of all glory and praise. Regularly, I pray and ask Him to humble me, remain Lord of my life, and to change my heart so that my desires would be in line with His.

"The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life." (Proverbs 22:4) When we take ourselves off the throne of our hearts, putting God in His rightful place, only then can we begin to see the blessings that come from choosing to follow Him.