How do they know the difference? ©

This was an excerpt from my book... A work in progress that hasn't made it to press yet. I made this blog title into a little poster – it hangs in my office to this day… Begging the question, is there noticeable difference in me, to the point that people want to know why? 1st Chronicles 16:8 “Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, and make known His deeds (works) among the people”. Romans 10:9-11 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. Wow, what a hammer to gavel us into action. The author of 1st Chronicles and Paul in Romans nailed the challenge to my heart today – “How DO they know the difference”? While I give Him thanks every day for the blessings of the day, it most times feels hollow – because I am going through the motions. Going through the motions…… Knowing He expects more, and wants to fellowship with me each day, yet I get caught up in the business of doing business each day and give Him what’s left. Today when I ask myself this question – I realized there are many days they don’t see a difference therefore; I must change. I Must Change! Even the will and power to do this must come from Him; in surrendering my heart I must develop a God awareness that must be evident every day of my life. Since pride is my thorn in the flesh, and the Yield sign has always been my least favored traffic sign, God has His work cut out. We as Christian must learn to yield to His will and His voice, letting Him create new spiritual habits in the life of a professing Christian. Interpreted we must build strong spiritual habits in the home, with friends and neighbors and yes, at work. Dear Father – this is a tall order, please help me. We can’t as Christians today settle for mediocrity; we must seek revival in our own hearts before we can possibly look to see it in our Churches or Communities. My goodness there are several messages I could run away with here, but lets stay on track. We need to stay the course, focus on Christ, stoke the fire in our own heart and then Christ will use us to sow new seed and gather His flock. We have lost the Fire – we are becoming ashamed – we have let too much of the world collect on us from playing in their play ground and they can no longer see a difference in us! Today’s work place has become a breeding ground for ego and self centeredness. “What’s in it for me – how will I profit from this activity?” Showing the God awareness and building new spiritual habits to show them the difference. Lord, give me the strength to NOT be ashamed of you or your work in me. Funny how Paul chose the word “confess” rather than profess “with thy mouth”, confession is from the heart, while profession is most times superficial or even contradictorily to the heart. So; today I choose to let God be God, I’m just a simple ole’ sinner that He showed Mercy to and offered That Amazing Grace to. Now I want to let Him use me to show the difference and maybe someday soon – lead someone in my life to the difference. Dear Lord Jesus, show Your difference to them through me; then help me Lord see them through Your eyes and not my own, and help me to always give You the Praise for the blessing. In Christ’s name, Amen