Stepping Out Of The Past But Not Forgetting It

I read in Ezekiel this morning. It shows great symbolism in how God saved Israel and raised her into a beautiful queen. God rescued her. She was abandoned as a newborn. Still covered in blood from her birth, no one even bothered to clean her up. God found her and cared for her, and adorned her with precious gifts and jewels. What was left on the ground as worthless was transformed by God into royalty; into someone who was priceless. If only the story ended there...

All of the love and the blessing they received was out of the relationship they had with God. They turned from God and worshiped idols, and commit terrible sins. Worse sins than Sodom. With great blessing comes great responsibility. We must be able to manage the freedom, power, and relationship that God gives us. A huge part of that is remembering what God has done for us and where he has brought us from.

-Ezekiel 16:22 2 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.

Israel forgot who loved them when they were nothing, and forgotten by the rest of the world. They forgot the one that brought them to the place of prosperity. People deal with blessing in different ways. Some people in their walk with God choose to stay in the state they were when God found them. They refuse to seek or accept anything good from God. Their life is lived barley getting by. They have no authority, no power, and no blessing other than the gift of eternal life. Others step out of the old life and into the new, but never learn responsibility. They take the blessings, and don't know how to handle them. Like the person who has been poor there whole life and then wins the lottery. They spend every penny and don't plan for the future. Soon they are more poor than before they won the lottery. They get so caught up in the the here and now that they have forgotten where they came from. This is what happened to Israel. I was taught when I was little, to work for things, because then you will appreciate them more. And there is definitely some truth to that. While we do contend for things in prayer, we always get far more than we have earned. It's called grace, and living in a world of grace requires great maturity.

We are responsible for the way we manage the resources that God gives us. No blessing is greater than the blessing of relationship with the creator. This relationship must continually be cultivated and poured into. Not just so God stays happy, and not so we can get what we want. Here is the deal... God is all powerful - all knowing - and is everywhere at the same time. pretty impressive huh? What I think is more impressive is how he completes us. Everywhere that we fall short in our own abilities is where there is a piece of God that can fit into your life and make it whole. And that is not just a spot here or a couple spots over there. Its everywhere. It is how it was always supposed to be! It is unnatural for us not to have God. He is not an add-on to your life. He is the critical part in the core of your being. He is a perfect fit, and when we are together a new world is before us, with rules that are different than the world we came from. It is realm where anything is possible. It is a place where dreams are not only dreamed, but fullfilled. It is our job to explore and learn and enjoy, but never forgetting where we came from or how we got where we are. Stay aware of your past, but don't live in it!

The Joy of Repentance

1 Samuel 15:22 22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

This verse came to my mind last night during Bible study, and I think as we study repentance it is important. I think this is pretty easy to understand. God delights more in our obedience than he does in our sacrifice/repentance. However, something happens when we don't live up to that standard. It is almost like we would rather fake the obedience thing and not repent for our sin. Yes, obedience is better than sin, but sin with repentance is much better than sin with fake obedience! There is a bitter sweet joy that comes with repentance. But lets think about why repentance is bitter and hard to do, and also why it is sweet and an amazing thing to do. It is bitter and hard to do only for our flesh. It is painful for our pride and our ego. It is sweet and joyful, because our spirit comes alive again in the area where it was cut off from God. God immediately comes and breaths life over us where sin had separated us from God. Repentance is the first righteous thing that we can do in response to our sin. Certainly God would rather we not sin and not have to repent, but should we fall short his delight is in our repentance. It is the enemies plan not only cause us to sin, but to put such shame and condemnation on us that we don't feel like we can go to God and get this straightened out. The enemy knows that causing sin is only half of the battle after what Jesus has done for us. After sin he continues to bring an unhealthy guilt, with bombardments of accusations. He tears us down to the point where we do not feel worthy to go to God, or we are scared of God. I really feel that this lie needs to be exposed. We can always go to God. His response to our sin when we approach him in humble repentance is always to love - heal - and restore. So there is joy in repentance, and we should be quick and eager to repent should we fall short in our obedience to him. Have a great day!