Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Well, here
we are, the 8th day of 2014 and just over our shoulder is another
year behind us. I am grateful for the year to end but sad to see it go just the
same. There is something about a new year that feels so wonderful. It’s fresh, a
clean slate, a do-over, a new beginning.
I, myself, have cleaned and organized closets
and scrubbed the house from top to bottom. I’ve set out the new books (that I
never read last year) positioned just so on my nightstand and dusted off my devotional,
the same one that I have clung to for the last 3 years, and moved my page marker
to the beginning. I’ve opened the pages in
my new planner, which I received as a gift for Christmas, and placed my new
favorite pen inside it. The pages are just begging to be filled with all of the
crazy schedules and adventures of what this new year will hold for us. I’ve prepared and organized with much anticipation
and keep waiting for this feeling of newness and accomplishment to overtake me.
Yet here on this 8th day of 2014 I feel the same, and honestly it hasn’t
taken all that long for all of the old “stuff” to start creeping back in, eight
days to be exact.
I
specifically remember telling a friend last January that 2013 was going to be MY
year for Freedom. It wasn’t that to say the least, more like a year of
perspective. I’ve seen things that will be burned into my sight forever, some
beautiful, some gut wrenching. I’ve also had to face some things in my own life
that were freeing in a sense and yet some other things that when brought to the
surface were humiliating. I have walked
through and along some things that tested my faith in such a way that hurt my
bones and yet I know the LORD and love the LORD even more because of them. But
to say that 2013 met my expectations in the Freedom department is a complete understatement.
Just
recently, I have had this amazing experience by being challenged to look at the
idols of the heart, my heart, and I have to tell you that layer by layer the
freedom bell is starting to sound. It’s
in the distance, maybe even long distance but I hear it and I am closer then
I have ever been. You may be wondering why in the world I am even telling you
this, why would you care whether or not I am walking in freedom or perspective
or anything else for that matter?
I’ll tell
you why, because a strong dose of perspective always comes before freedom. We
have a choice, we can hang onto perspective and attempt to barter our way with
God for as long as we physically can. But there will come a time that the ball
will drop and then the thing that we have dreaded the most will come to pass. I’m
not meaning that all of our irrational thoughts, fears and worries of this life
will be confirmed, that would suggest that we hold the power to prevent them or
reside with them. What I am suggesting is that God will be faithful to give you
ample opportunity to experience perspective through life and circumstances
whether it be in your life or through others. However, until we choose to let
God into the areas that we swore were too invasive or stretches way too far out
of our comfort zones then we will cling on to the power that we have so falsely
given ourselves.
Sounds
offensive, doesn’t it? Even ridiculous when looking at certain things in our
life. It has taken me awhile to process this and to have a true heart change
over it but when you have tried it all and still no change has occurred it may
be time to dig deep into the idols that we may be harboring in our heart.
Of course
this doesn’t mean that just because you surrender you will never have to look
through the eyes of perspective again, I personally am grateful for it. I
believe it is one of the sweetest gifts that God gives us, it helps us with our
feelings of entitlement (how I hate that word) and feelings of self-righteousness
and if we are open to it, it softens our hearts to love and serve far past our
fleshly abilities.
What it showed me today was this,
as I began to grumble in the thoughts of all of the goals and freedom that had
not been accomplished from the previous year I became very discontent with the
way some things have turned out. Hopeless almost, discouraged and for lack of better words, tired. Then these words echoed in my mind, but He makes all things new…
2 Corinthians
5:17 says, Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things
have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
I cannot explain to you why God chooses to set you free from something or not. I can tell you from my experience it is usually something that I am not willing to hand over verses something that God is not willing to give me, make sense? Basically my ability or inability to truly surrender it all to Him is more than likely the key that will unlock the doors that I have wedged between us. Maybe it has nothing to do with ability, more like willingness.
It comes down to this, because of Jesus we are set free. Let that sink in. We have read it, we have said it and many of us have even belted out the words through songs. But the real question you have to ask yourself is do we really believe it? Isaiah 1:18, says 18 “Come now, and let us reason together, ”Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
Jesus has given
us this amazing gift for a new, clean, fresh start. It isn’t something that we
can accomplish with goals or New Years Resolutions, we aren’t trying to slap on
a fresh coat of paint hoping to cover the spots and blemishes. As many of us know a fresh coat of
paint just makes the rest of the house look bad. Jesus says, if you are in Me,
you are a NEW creation and the old things have passed away.
I still look
forward to this New Year being a year of whatever God has in store for me. My
request is to get my hands on that freedom bell but if that is my only focus to
conquer freedom then I have somehow manifested that desire into just another
idol.
My heart is to be
willing and open to whatever it is that God brings our way this year. Of course
I will pray for good health and safety for my family, but I am choosing to ask
God to draw us closer to him whether it is through circumstance or perspective.
After all what does freedom mean if you do not have to fight for it. It would lose
its importance, its substance and it would no longer have the value to be received as a precious gift. It would be more
like something we feel entitled to and expect or something that we just conquer
and control.
I do not have all of this figured out but I just wonder if any of you ever feel this way. Freedom is so much more than just having a relationship with the Lord. It is about surrendering and walking in obedience. It is about expanding the limitations of our faith while we walk through this crazy life and down the path that God leads us to. It is about serving Him and not our flesh, it’s about trust.
I read Psalm 103 today and wanted to share it with you. Be blessed and be renewed! Embrace the gift.
Psalm
103
Praise
for the Lord’s Mercies
A
Psalm of David.
103 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord
executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his
days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.[a]
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.[a]
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19 The Lord has
established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
And His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord,
you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
