Friday, March 02, 2007
High time for some changes
First, thank you to everyone who's praying for me. I feel it, and I need it. God has shown me many things that I believe are a direct result of the wave of prayers that He has received on my behalf. Dare I say visions and things that I had never thought possible.
I've been taking inventory of things while going through these trials. This one hit me last night. When I was a young Christian around 1991-92, a particular passage struck me deeply. It was my "life passage" for years.
It taught me a lot. First, it corrected me because I was wrong. Dead wrong about what the Bible really says about things that I thought I knew. Like some non-believers or very new Christians, I thought the Bible said, "An eye for an eye". Indeed, OT law states that, but Jesus set forward a better way. But that's just an example. Matt 5:28 was also a springboard for understanding so much more about how a Christian ought to live. As in this case, it's in complete opposition to how the world would have us live. It was the first passage I ever memorized (even before John 3:16 because I had no guidance when I was a young Christian and learned the basics with only myself, the Bible and a lamp).
Matt 5:38 has served me well, but I've grown so much since then. This week, I've grown taller than a redwood. I have faith the size of a snowcapped mountain that reaches the ocean! (a thought I woke up to a few days ago). I've woken each morning in thankful prayer and ended each evening the same way. For years, I'd said prayers like, "Lord, please help me through this", or "Lord, please give me [strength wisdom courage grace, etc.]." God has given me all these things, and so much more. He's added all these things to me, and He has moved into my life completely - I've reserved no portion of my life for myself.
Another passage came into my mind while studying recently.
That teaches a lot also. I have full grace and full forgiveness, but this certainly raises the bar. It doesn't say, "Look at me God -I'm perfect." It says that I'm desiring to live in His will, and if He find any fault, to let me know, and let me change. My goal is to pillow my head each night and hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant." That's a far cry from my usual, "Please forgive me for how I've acted today. I need your grace. Again."
I've been taking inventory of things while going through these trials. This one hit me last night. When I was a young Christian around 1991-92, a particular passage struck me deeply. It was my "life passage" for years.
Matt 5:38-39
38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'
39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
It taught me a lot. First, it corrected me because I was wrong. Dead wrong about what the Bible really says about things that I thought I knew. Like some non-believers or very new Christians, I thought the Bible said, "An eye for an eye". Indeed, OT law states that, but Jesus set forward a better way. But that's just an example. Matt 5:28 was also a springboard for understanding so much more about how a Christian ought to live. As in this case, it's in complete opposition to how the world would have us live. It was the first passage I ever memorized (even before John 3:16 because I had no guidance when I was a young Christian and learned the basics with only myself, the Bible and a lamp).
Matt 5:38 has served me well, but I've grown so much since then. This week, I've grown taller than a redwood. I have faith the size of a snowcapped mountain that reaches the ocean! (a thought I woke up to a few days ago). I've woken each morning in thankful prayer and ended each evening the same way. For years, I'd said prayers like, "Lord, please help me through this", or "Lord, please give me [strength wisdom courage grace, etc.]." God has given me all these things, and so much more. He's added all these things to me, and He has moved into my life completely - I've reserved no portion of my life for myself.
Another passage came into my mind while studying recently.
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
That teaches a lot also. I have full grace and full forgiveness, but this certainly raises the bar. It doesn't say, "Look at me God -I'm perfect." It says that I'm desiring to live in His will, and if He find any fault, to let me know, and let me change. My goal is to pillow my head each night and hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant." That's a far cry from my usual, "Please forgive me for how I've acted today. I need your grace. Again."
