This morning in the reading from the Celtic Daily Prayer Book I spent time with these words from The Covenant Service:

Christ has many services to be done;
some are easy, others are difficult;
some bring honor, other bring reproach;
some are suitable to our natural
inclinations and temporal interest,
others are contrary to both.
In some we may please Christ and please ourselves,
in others we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves.
Yet the power to do all these things is assuredly given us
in Christ who strengthens us.

Therefore, let us make the covenant of God our own.
Let us engage our heart to the Lord,
and resolve in His strenth never to go back!

This phrase hit me the hardest this morning: "in some we may please Christ and oursleves, in others we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves." It was amazing that in the very moments I was grappling with these words, God was presenting me with an opportunity to put them into practice. In this situation, everything (and I mean everything) within me wanted to to cry out "NO!" - and yet I realized that the only path to pleasing Christ was to deny myself, my own self-centered attitude, perspective, and desires and say "YES!"

There is nothing like a timely word from God and the power that Christ brings to say YES!

"Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. (Philippians 4:13, MSG)