My mind has been processing a lot the past few weeks. Some stuff needed to be thrown out just as by body threw out what it could not process, what was not good for it. Seems like a harsh analogy…but really its mild compared to what we really should do when dealing with sin in our lives. God wants to meet us at the spiritual toilet….when our souls are so broken, so sick, so weak that we can only just give it over to Him.
Something happens to a person the first time they hear their name with “Pastor” in front of it. You have immediately taken a great responsibility in your hands, and a great love….its no burden at all and I imagine kinda it like a small form of what it will be like to have my first baby someday. This protective love above all circumstances, your live means something so much more. Your purpose though not entirely clear…is. For me it was like my eyes opened even more, to hurt around me, sin around me, sickness around me, and glimpses of Joy, Hope, Peace, and the Love of the One who already took it all away if we only just hand it over to Him again.
Whether it is Pastor, Minister, Missionary, Preacher, Teacher, Servant, Helper, Attendee…it is different. The second you give over your life to God, choosing Him through His Son who dies for your sins, you are not just walking alone.
I was looking at my feet the other day. I honestly think feet are the gross, but for the first time I was just taken back. God made all those toes…and they are so beautiful to Him, a masterpiece. For me to think any other way is telling God “I don’t like what you made, you did a terrible job.” No, regardless of the flaws, or what we may “think” are flaws…we are God made. That’s something that should take the breath out of us. Before the next paragraph I would like to tag a small note to this subject. God intends for our bodies to be a temple. The unhealthy parts of us can be made healthy again in Him. Sometimes we need more care for the parts of our bodies that are already failing. So care for them. Care for your body because it is so precious. Anything you do in harm to your body harms the Maker. Believe that each time you cut into your flesh, remove necessary food or over eat, allow unholy touch, the Father’s tears flow. After the sacrifice He has already made…He suffers so much for us and yet we still believe we are alone. Let me tell you….the only one who whispers that you are alone is not of God. Let me state that once more in case you did not really read it the first time. THE ONE WHO TELLS YOU, YOU ARE ALONE IS NOT OF GOD! Dump that creature apart from the Holy One out right now. I remind myself daily I am not alone, I believe it, and I know my God is with me. He is with you too…He never left.
You honestly have no reason to be unhappy with what God made. That unhappiness…those doubts, that self-hate…that’s not God made, not part of what He intended for you to be. It is most defiantly made of this world….made separate from God. If we are to die of this world and live for Him…well what do you think that means? Keep living like WE want and not live with what HE wants? Do you not know his plans are beyond our imagination? Have we forgot that we not only have the champion on our side but that we are also fully armored and the war is already won!!!!! We can wake up each day, declare for ourselves we are Gods children and evil has no business telling lies and taking our focus on other things. We can choose wise words and not let evil seep through and become reality. We can plead the Blood of Christ over our homes, our families, our friends in need, protecting and reclaiming what is Gods. Yeah, I thought it sounded silly once too….to proclaim out loud something like that….but when the darkness comes it is a simple prayer that parts the clouds and brings the sun out again. Have faith in God and the promise that is through His son’s death.
What we want may not be what God wants. So simple…. but yet still hard to accept. If your pursuit in what you want is causing others harm…. check yourself and get praying. Just because you want this job, that special relationship with a particular person, or anything else for your life…stop and think if your crushing other in your path, and is your focus on Christ…. really on Christ. Its easy for us to reason things, believe a calling that’s not a calling at all…just something we are good at that can help along the way to us finding the calling God really does have planned out for us.
I encourage you, if God is calling you to give something up…let go. Stop fighting and just let it go. It may be the hardest thing you have ever done, but in the end you will wonder why you even had it, or did it in the first place. Two examples. My father quit smoking cold turkey when my parents found out they were having a baby. It was hard, but He had so much love for the creation he and his wife made (even if I was a small peanut at that point) that there was no question. Now the smell makes him wonder why he ever put that in his body in the first place. When I found out last year I was allergic to food that could ultimately cause serious illness in my life later on, I left those foods at the door and walked away. When you are allergic to food you are also addicted to it. What I had to give up was everything my body longed for (not in a good way) for comfort, slight happiness even. Now I can look at the same food and know how much better I feel each day waking up, energized, not swollen, healthy. Both are examples of addictions being broken, food is a serious addiction for many people…whether its excessive or lack of food. Either way our outcome should not be to please ourselves, please the world, but to please God with our body, the temple He created us to be. We need reminded that the temple is made to worship God. There is nothing in this world we can fully rely on. The only constant is in Him.
It does not matter what it is, or what is left to give. God will be there to take us up into his arms. Our strength in life is that we are His. If He is for us, who can be against us? I believe it is harder to still hold on, to say no when inside we really know God is asking us to hand whatever it is over to Him. If I found out today someone had been slandering my name for years I would be upset. If I confronted that person with proof and they still denied their actions, there would come a point they would not be part of my life because of the damage they have done and could still do. But if that person said yes, asked forgiveness, and wanted to change…I may still be careful (using wisdom and discernment) but I would not turn away from them. Being honest regardless of circumstances is difficult. To admit the worst and hope that the other person would accept and love regardless of how bad the circumstance was. Because I am human I am cautious. But God….”Oh How He Loves Us”….its not a question of if He would forgive…would He have given His son for us if He would not forgive it all? Take a step forward if you need, because even when it all seems like it is going right…we can be blindsided by our attitudes, actions, even our ability to just be content in that moment and lose passion and vision.
In a last comment, let God move you…a quote I have on my wall states that “You will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside,” -Oswald Chambers. Surround yourself with people who are listening to the Holy Spirit, who have been following God’s call in their lives, and who rebuke the evil that holds parts of us from shining through. Find those people to walk with you hand in hand in this journey. The importance of having that person in your life is huge. Words are powerful. Those people will be able to say to you when your words need to change, when they are not glorifying, and lift you up with good words…(that’s a whole other subject in a half). Why is this important? Well if its not obvious already…we need to be prepared to go into the darkness and claw out way out again and again with others struggling to beat the evil. I am beginning a masters degree in Pastoral Counseling come fall. I have a duty to focus on my inner darkness and learn more battle techniques because if I am not prepared…I risk not only putting myself in the fire but also another person. I want to be able to sing the words of the Jesus Culture song “Where you go I go, what you say I say, what you pray I pray” and mean it! You should too. Following Jesus example…knowing God’s heart, listening to the Spirit. We cannot do life without God. Without God we are just moving with the world, with no real purpose, no real Love. We exist then die. I refuse to exist then die. I have already died. I live. Death is not the end for me because of a man and his love and grace that poured in blood on wooden cross.
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," 1 Cor. 6:19-20
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He alos justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:28-31
