A good hard shake

So tonight was one of those times that God grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a good hard shake and said "Hey you! Get it together! And keep your eyes on me!" I am very grateful for this. I was definitely deserving of a good slap in the back of the head, but God showed mercy and gave me a good shake instead. So, I better take notice or I'm sure the slap in the head will soon follow. He showed me some areas of my life that I need to improve in and some things that I just need to get rid of altogether.

I'm reminded of what Paul wrote in Phillipians 1:4-6. He wrote "In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

I am not the man that I want to be. But I can look back over the past 8 years and see the work that God has done in me and how far I have come because of Him. And I am so grateful for God's promise to carry His good work in me to completion and I'm grateful for the times when He does give me a good shake and shows me the areas that I need improvement in. I'm looking forward to see where I go from here. I'm going to put forth my best effort to improve in these areas of my life and to cling to God as he carries me through.

All praise and glory and honor to my Lord Jesus Christ.