"My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things,
that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour."
John Newton
"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first....."
Revelation 2:4&5
I love the messages I hear at my church ~ sound biblical teaching ~ sometimes uplifting, sometimes convicting, sometimes they make me smile and sometimes they make be cry......and sometimes they just make me hurt deep in my heart. That's where I'm at now. Hurting deep inside. In our message last week we were encouraged to ask God, as David did, to ~
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139:23&24
I have been asking and I'm not real happy with what I've been finding out. That's where the hurting deep inside is coming from. I'm discovering how far away I am from "that first love". How comfortable I've become maintaining the status quo.
In one of the commentaries I was reading it said (about forsaking your first love) it was a "failure to maintain the commitment".
This week's message began with:
"God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people
who are totally committed to him."
2 Chronicles 16:9
Then we heard from Revelations 3:16 how important total commitment is to God. Did you know that He spits out those who are lukewarm!
In closing we were encouraged to share with God our hunger "for an authentic faith",
and for freedom from the status quo! And our desire to be totally committed to Him.
We were asked to say ~ "This week I'm going to bathe my life in prayer. I'm going to cry out to God to strip away all the pretense and my ready made excuses. I'm going to spend time with God each day this week asking Him to show me His limitless glory and His fathomless love in a fresh way."
Convicted ~ hurting deep inside ~ uncomfortable ~ and desiring to do more than just go through the motions...desiring more than the status quo.
That's where I'm at right now.
“God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”
Crazy Love ~ Francis Chan
5 comments:
A beautiful post, Marie. We all have our highs and lows throughout life. It's a good thing God is patient with us when we drag our feet at times. He patiently waits for us to catch our stride again and there He is...where He always was. : )
I'm so happy to read you're having so much fun crafting away. Your creations are beautiful. Love the teddy bears and instant ancestors. Good luck with your shows.
M.L.
Marie, I understand when you say we tend to maintain a status quo, becoming aware and staying aware of His presence is a much harder thing to do. My prayers are with you as you search yourself, I know you will find what you seek.
Angie
Thanks for this post - good words from the Word. You (and I) are working out our salvation "with fear and trembling". The more we search for Him, the more He will reveal to us of Himself -- God bless!
s
This is a wonderful post Marie...so very uplifting...we all could draw closer in our walk with the Lord....we had some similar teachings in our services Sunday....your desire to Lay aside all for him...shows the deep love and commitment you have for God...I am sure he is very pleased with you...I will say a prayer for you as you draw nigh to him....blessings
Be encouraged dear friend. It is very true that Christ does not call us to be comfortable. Contentment comes from diggin in that muck and mire and fire, going through the pain and he lifts us again. I'm going through some valleys too right now, battling fear of loosing my job and my son had an accident. It's been a week. I know that God does not bring a spirit of fear. The word of God tells us that in Timothy. The more pain I'm in, the more I need him but I usually try to manage on my own. Lets just do the very best we can and he'll take care of the rest. Praying for you tonight.
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