Webster defines grieve as "feel grief, be very sad...but also to make very sad, afflict". In Ephesians 4 we find instruction to the "New Man"; putting off the old man, former conduct, thinking, behaviors, lusts and becoming renewed in the spirit of your mind, putting on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. And DO NOT GRIEVE THE SPIRIT. Here is the place that I feel myself now.
As I see the things going on around me, the actions of my brothers and sisters in Christ.....and forgive me Lord, myself included, I have become grieved in my spirit as I see the grieving of the SPIRIT of God. As I feel His heart, aching for the love and passion of His children.....to seek Him first, to leave the things of the world behind....to love Him completely, trusting and obeying. Yes, I know......I understand how easy it is to be caught up in the things of this earth, especially now as elections are coming up and there is so much debate and conflict in who, what, why's of the candidates. As I seek the Lord in who I should support with my vote.....wanting so deeply to do as the Lord would have me do.....seeing all the propaganda that is flashed before me on social media, on the news.....what difficulty lies in this. How sad it is to see so many proposing things of the Lord that makes you wonder if you serve the same God. How strange it is to sit and contemplate what is being said as "God's will" and be confused as to the manner of the candidate which goes again everything of God. Surely this cannot be. These are Christian leaders......these are folks that you have seen write about the love and grace of our Lord.....these are people that you have come to rely on for the truth of the Word.....and now it leaves wonder.....doubt......questions.
This, however, I do know. I do know that God is in control of all things. Satan might rule the earth as we, God's children, continually seem to give him that power.....how grievous is that, my friends, how very grievous is that......But in all things, God is all Power, all Majesty, all Glory. I know all things can turn around in an instant, if we would but return our hearts and minds to our God, our living God. He alone can restore, heal and empower His people to take back what is His, to take back the land He gives to us, and to become Victorious in Him.
Victory can only be found in Jesus. Victory is not in money, power or fame. Victory alone is in Jesus. Eternal life is victory. Life on this earth is victorious when living for the Lord alone. How I desire to be one of the victorious walking on this earth.....letting His Light shine through me....not living in fear but in victory.
When grief comes on me as it has lately, seeing around me the following of man and not of the Lord, it causes the Light in me to dim....not that my Lord has left me, but a mindful thing only of me, hurting.....knowing how much this hurts my God......especially now, just past Resurrection Sunday, the remembrance of the sacrifice made for me....for us....knowing He died for me, loving me so. How I desire to live....live only for my Lord God....daily.....not grieving Him but following Him, listening only to His voice, not being swayed by what I see.....what I hear.....what I feel. But by trusting in His Word....in His Spirit as He leads me in the will of my Father.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
True Identity Make Over
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
As I was dressing for the day, I looked into the mirror and the old Dionne Warwick song popped into my head "Don't Make Me Over". I was a bit stunned and wondered.....where did that come from? As I stood there, Holy Spirit began to show me how as we go through life, there are many that try to do just that. And of course, being the humans we are, most of us fight it tooth and nail. Parents try to do that with their children, a number of times to keep their child from making the same mistakes they made so they can have a better life. Some to fulfill themselves in their child for things they desired and did not achieve. Then in school, friends tend to want us to be like them in order to gain a group around them that will do as they do.....you know this is true also. But most individuals, as we grow older, want to break that shell and be who we feel we are to be, we fight to be that person. To have our own identity.
My trusty old dictionary gives the definition of identity as this: individuality; who a person is; exact likeness, sameness; state of being the same one.
Just the definition of identity gives a lot to think about! I think due to the way so many of us grew up as we came to know our Lord, giving up the identity we perceived for ourselves has put road blocks in our path to becoming like Him. Does anyone feel this? We have had years, even those of us that grew up in church.....have had years of teaching that we either rejected or objected to and developed a mind set of who we are and who we should be. Some had teaching that were so legalistic it gave a feeling of never being able to measure up to what the Lord expected of us. What we should be...who we should be....how we should be. If we were not a certain way, how could we expect to be truly accepted by the Lord, much less....be like Him? We can become captive in these thoughts.....the enemy helps this along by constantly bringing your past to mind....making you feel that who you were, that identity, is what you are and what you always will be. I know people that are wonderful people, loving the Lord, but having trouble with smoking, drinking, cursing.......they just don't seem to be able to realize that those curses can be broken.....it is not who they are!
We are not destined to be what our minds tell us. If we come to the Lord Jesus, lay our burdens before Him, confess our sins, and receive Him as Lord and Savior, He will show us who we are, who we really are....our true identity. We are the children of God, the Father. We are loved for who we are, even as we are....we have been loved since before we were born here on earth. When Jesus was on the cross, He took all our sin - yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's. He did this so once and for all there would no longer be a barrier between us and our heavenly Father. He gave us access to our God. He filled us with His Spirit the day we accepted Him as Lord and Savior....and on that day.... our true identity became known to us. We were filled with unconditional love and grace. Mercy filled the atmosphere and the blood of Jesus cleansed us inside and out. No longer who we thought we would be......no longer the person that accepted the way things were.....but now new creations in the Christ Jesus. A newness of mind was ours. Yes, satan still tries to fill our mind with garbage but we have the Name of Jesus that we can call on instantly to defeat him with.
No longer are the confines of the past binding us, we can now walk in who we were meant to be, in the likeness of Jesus. Don't be fooled by what you see in the mirror.....look at yourself through the eyes of our Lord God.....as He sees us through Jesus. Look into the eyes of love and mercy.....see your true identity......dearest child of God.
As I was dressing for the day, I looked into the mirror and the old Dionne Warwick song popped into my head "Don't Make Me Over". I was a bit stunned and wondered.....where did that come from? As I stood there, Holy Spirit began to show me how as we go through life, there are many that try to do just that. And of course, being the humans we are, most of us fight it tooth and nail. Parents try to do that with their children, a number of times to keep their child from making the same mistakes they made so they can have a better life. Some to fulfill themselves in their child for things they desired and did not achieve. Then in school, friends tend to want us to be like them in order to gain a group around them that will do as they do.....you know this is true also. But most individuals, as we grow older, want to break that shell and be who we feel we are to be, we fight to be that person. To have our own identity.
My trusty old dictionary gives the definition of identity as this: individuality; who a person is; exact likeness, sameness; state of being the same one.
Just the definition of identity gives a lot to think about! I think due to the way so many of us grew up as we came to know our Lord, giving up the identity we perceived for ourselves has put road blocks in our path to becoming like Him. Does anyone feel this? We have had years, even those of us that grew up in church.....have had years of teaching that we either rejected or objected to and developed a mind set of who we are and who we should be. Some had teaching that were so legalistic it gave a feeling of never being able to measure up to what the Lord expected of us. What we should be...who we should be....how we should be. If we were not a certain way, how could we expect to be truly accepted by the Lord, much less....be like Him? We can become captive in these thoughts.....the enemy helps this along by constantly bringing your past to mind....making you feel that who you were, that identity, is what you are and what you always will be. I know people that are wonderful people, loving the Lord, but having trouble with smoking, drinking, cursing.......they just don't seem to be able to realize that those curses can be broken.....it is not who they are!
We are not destined to be what our minds tell us. If we come to the Lord Jesus, lay our burdens before Him, confess our sins, and receive Him as Lord and Savior, He will show us who we are, who we really are....our true identity. We are the children of God, the Father. We are loved for who we are, even as we are....we have been loved since before we were born here on earth. When Jesus was on the cross, He took all our sin - yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's. He did this so once and for all there would no longer be a barrier between us and our heavenly Father. He gave us access to our God. He filled us with His Spirit the day we accepted Him as Lord and Savior....and on that day.... our true identity became known to us. We were filled with unconditional love and grace. Mercy filled the atmosphere and the blood of Jesus cleansed us inside and out. No longer who we thought we would be......no longer the person that accepted the way things were.....but now new creations in the Christ Jesus. A newness of mind was ours. Yes, satan still tries to fill our mind with garbage but we have the Name of Jesus that we can call on instantly to defeat him with.
No longer are the confines of the past binding us, we can now walk in who we were meant to be, in the likeness of Jesus. Don't be fooled by what you see in the mirror.....look at yourself through the eyes of our Lord God.....as He sees us through Jesus. Look into the eyes of love and mercy.....see your true identity......dearest child of God.
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