Each of us has been down a bumpy road to get where we are now. God has drawn us from where we were to Himself by His grace and by His love. His plan is to do us good, to finish His work, to complete, mature, perfect, that which concerns us. He does not look back to where we came from; we need to look forward to the Author and Finisher of our faith.

As we become willing to accept a certain simple attitude toward life, we find that what seemed at first a flimsy reed has proven to be the loving and powerful hand of God. Through the Spirit and the Word we have a design for living that really works. By reviewing our character daily, honestly, humbly before God in relation to our daily life, family, friends, acquaintances, work, God can show us where He wants us to change to be conformed to the image of His Son. We should never be satisfied with a comparison to those around us, but strive toward a closer, more intimate walk with God as our ultimate goal. God's work in our hearts leads us through weakness to power, through danger to security, through fear and worry to peace and rest in Him.

Nehemiah 5:15 But out of reverence for God, I did not act like the previous governors. V.19 Remember me with favor, O God.

Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

The submitted, obedient life that we hear preached about so much seems all too often to be so far beyond the realm of possibility in the weekly work-a-day grind that it might as well be talking about the lifestyles of the rich and famous. It is interesting to hear about, but we know it isn't something we are ever going to see personally.

Do you find yourself somewhere between the person you want to be, and the person you used to be? Transition is a difficult place at times. It is not completely one, nor has it totally left the other behind. We find ourselves occasionally showing less than we want of what we are striving for, and more than we prefer of what we are leaving behind.