“For the creation was subject to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
~ Rom. 8:20 – 21
Have you ever been hit with revelations about yourself that you didn’t want to hear and didn’t want to face? Well, God is opening my eyes to things that still live inside of me that are not from Him and do not glorify Him, and in fact, do the opposite! To be quite honest, it’s really hard to face that these things still live in me and everything in me wants to say, “Nah! It’s not that big of a deal. Don’t worry about it!” But, a revelation from the Creator of the entire universe is quite a BIG DEAL indeed!
I’m not going to go into all of it, after all, this is a public blogsite! But, here’s the thing that mystifies me – even though it’s frustrating and it’s painful to go through and completely not something that I even want to deal with, God is showing me this stuff so I “. . . will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom . . .” He wants me to live in complete freedom as His very own child! And, I’m not walking through this alone. He’s covering me in grace and mercy as He shows me all this stuff AND His arms of strength and LOVE are wrapped completely around me in protection – NOT CONDEMNATION! So, really, who’s losing? Not God, not me!
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
~ Rom. 8:28
That can’t be a bad promise! I guess I just need to change my perspective about His revelations. Josiah gave an incredible message last night about being authentic. One thing that he talked about was that God only wants us to come to Him. He’s not going to get mad at us for coming to Him with our sin and shame. He sees it already, why wouldn’t we just admit our brokenness? Thinking about it, it sounds kinda ridiculous, actually . . .
posted by Jen @ 2:33 PM
3 Comments:
When I was reading your last post I couldnt help but think of
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
I can totally identify with what you are saying. The secret sins you are talking about have been a problem for me (and every follower of God since Adam). We all try to hide from God at some point, even though we know He knit us together in our mothers wombs and He knows every hair on our heads. It sounds so absurd that we would try to hide what is so obvious to Him, but like David, when we come to Him and ask Him to show us where we are falling short, He is faithful to point it out even when we dont want to hear it. No one wants to readily admit their faults (we tend to compare ourselves to others instead of comparing ourselves to Jesus, so "we really arent as bad as some people are").
The awesome part of it all is that just like a parent disciplines their child, God disciplines us, His children. Not just because He wants us to be good, but because he wants us to be like Jesus. The same God who spoke the world into being loves you and me and wants us to be just like His favorite and only son. AMAZING! Part of that close relationship is His Holy Spirit that lives in you and He is obviously using His Spirit to prick your heart in this area of weakness - when you think about it --that is such an honor. God thinks you are so special, He is bringing you closer to Him by pointing out where you need to change.
I pray every day that God will point out anything in my life that is offensive to Him - and boy has he done alot of pointing. I always like to think of David, who committed so many sins (adultery, murder of Uriah, ignoring God, etc, etc) and yet God loved him enough to chastise him and bring him back to a right relationship.
It is obvious to me that the Holy Spirit is working in your life (if it werent so, these things would not even bother you). I know that He will show you a way to shed those last pieces of your old self and make you even more like Jesus, which from reading your posts I can tell is exactly what you want to be - like Jesus. Keep pressin' on, Girl!
Well said Beth. Psalm 139 is filled with so many good points. It sets boundries. More of those Moral Obsolutes I go on about.
I heard a pastor on the radio say that God thinks about each of us more times per day then there are grains of sand in the world. How awesome to be loved so much that we are constantly on His mind!!
As the old Gospel Hymn goes "Just as I am Lord, Just as I am."
God will take us just as we are and make us into exactly what He wants us to be. All one needs is a heart open to His will.
Jen, there is no doubt in my mind that your heart is open to the Lord.
Praying for you always!
-Steve
HEY!!! It hasn't even been a week since you posted this and already you've taken another couple of steps toward freedom! How does it feel?! You're being softened, refined, molded, and shaped into exactly who God wants you to be at this very point in your life. And thankfully, He won't leave you there long. He wants to continue to show Himself to you in new ways through new experiences and people and just your journey with Him. Hold on because it's going to get even more crazy!!
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