I find it amazing how we sometimes want the finer things in life when we aren’t willing to be refined ourselves.
How can you wish for a wife when you are not faithful to your friends or family? How can you pray for a new home when you don’t know how to take care of your current one? How can you pine for a husband and children when you can barely take care of yourself?
Why should I wish for God to dress me in the finest fabrics and most dazzling jewels when I am ugly on the inside? That would be like having a bride dressed in the most exquisite gown but she has no regard for it so she gets it dirty. She arrives at the wedding all disheveled. Her hair is a mess, her gown is ripped, her fingernails are cracked and her shoes are falling apart. The groom is standing there waiting for her in a beautiful garden in his radiant white tuxedo. It is such a beautiful scene, yet here comes the bride hissing obscenities as she walks toward him in her broken heels. Something is terribly wrong with this picture!
I don’t want to be the eyesore in the new life that God has prepared for me. I don’t want to take this beautiful love that He is blessing me with and make it ugly with my old behavior and attitudes. I want to be just as dazzling, precious, beautiful, loving and gentle as the portrait that God has painted of me.
I pray today and every day that God would continue refining me. Cleanse me Lord, fix the cracks, the imperfections, the blemishes and the stains. Make me new and beautiful each day Lord so that I may be a reflection of Your Glory for the world to see.
Luke 5:36-39 (The Message)
No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put wine in old, cracked bottles; you get strong, clean bottles for your fresh vintage wine. And no one who has ever tasted fine aged wine prefers unaged wine.
This week we have identified hidden sin in our lives, we have checked the windows and doors where temptation enters in, we have prayed concerning the sins of our fathers and the roots of iniquity in our lives.
Right now, we are gleaming, shiny and brand new in the sight of God because we have repented before Him and been washed by His blood. The question now is, how do we stay clean in such a dusty, dirty world?!
I am convinced that the only way to live righteously is to stay close to God in prayer. No amount of memorizing scripture, formal theological training, church meetings and the like can stand in the place of true, intimate relationship with God.
Head knowledge doesn’t work when you are presented with the sweetest temptation in your weakest moment. However, when you form an intimate relationship with God and learn His heart towards you and begin to feel Him close at all times, He renews your strength and shows you that you are able to stand.
Talking with God honestly about our faults and allowing Him to minister to us in those areas transforms our weaknesses into strengths. When you allow your sinful nature to drive you into His arms, you are covered and protected. Sometimes we run and hide from Him because we are ashamed of our desires, even though that is when we leave ourselves the most vulnerable and exposed.
Pray without ceasing! Talk with God throughout your days, present Him with every little thing that is on your mind and listen as He shares His heart with you. Be encouraged!
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (New International Version)
12May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Earlier this week, I wrote about a vision I had in which God showed me how sin infests someone’s life by slowly entering through a rip in a screen and a slightly cracked window.
The cracked window is the opportunity for temptation that we allow in our lives by meditating on impure thoughts encouraged by things we see and hear. I also wrote about how the company we keep can encourage sin. People who share our weaker tendencies come along and push the window all the way open like a floodgate for sin to abound.
To remedy this sin problem, we can be careful about what we see, hear and read. We can also spend our time with people who will edify us and encourage us in our Christian walk. Doing these things will decrease the opportunities for temptation in our lives however, they do not resolve the root of the problem – that rip in the screen.
The ripped screen represents sin that has been passed down to you through generations, other people you have spiritually bound yourself to or actions and judgments you have made that have taken root within you because of life’s circumstances.
Perhaps all the men in your family are abusive and you are too. Maybe all the women in your family are alcoholics and somehow you find yourself struggling with the same problem. Your father may have abandoned your family so you judged that men are no good and you spitefully use them. You fear rejection because of your childhood so you toy with people’s emotions then leave them before they leave you.
These scenarios indicate that you need God to come in and repair that rip in the screen so that you no longer have to worry about unwanted patterns of sin in your life. You need Him to come in and remove the negative things that have infested your life. If you want to begin the path to healing, pray this prayer and study God’s Word concerning the thing that you struggle with:
Lord I pray that You would reveal hidden areas of sin that have taken root in my life. I want my life to be pleasing to You and I repent for things I have done that hurt You. Lord, I forgive those who have hurt me in the past and I release them right now. Lord please break any emotional connections I have with people that have become windows to sin in my life. Please burn away every wicked desire in me and make me brand new. I pray these things in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Matthew 13:24-30 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Weeds
24Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28” ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29” ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ “
I have learned that for a marriage to be successful you must renew your commitment to making it work daily. Salvation is much the same way. While Jesus made it possible for us to be saved, we must make a daily commitment to “stay saved”, meaning, living a life that is truly Christ-like, renewing our minds and walking in love.
This commitment can be increasingly hard when you allow areas of hidden sin in your life or when you allow open doors and windows to temptation. As I wrote about yesterday, the cracked window gives way to a rip in the screen which represents generational sin and areas that need healing and deliverance. That rip is like a magnet for all spiritual nonsense and wickedness to come in.
Unresolved issues love to commiserate with others. If you frequently battle with lust, you may notice that you have always drawn other lusty people to you. If you have anger management problems, it is probably never hard for you to find someone else who “has your back” because they are the same way. When you spend your time with people who share your weaknesses and don’t necessarily care about changing, you start to feel as if it is a little ok to be that way. You may know that is wrong to celebrate those faults but it still feels good to do it.
Your flesh starts to have a party because finally, you are with somebody who understands you and is telling you what you want to hear! They tell you not to be so hard on yourself, that it is natural to feel the way you do. Meanwhile, the voice of the Holy Spirit begins to fade into the background as you choose to celebrate your lower nature.
The voice of the Spirit fades only until your friends go home and there is no one else but you and Your Maker. You cannot escape the feeling of disappointment you have because you gave up on yourself. Instead of accepting who God says you are, you heard the voice of your friends who told you it was natural to be less than who you were created to be.
Let’s expose the things that keep us from reaching for our potential in God! Close the window on temptation, cut ties or limit your time with people who do not encourage you to live free from guilt and shame. Meditate on things that are pure so that God can change you from the inside out.
Philippians 4:8 (New King James Version)
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Bugs everywhere. Spiders, ladybugs and ants are seemingly taking over as if they pay the rent or the mortgage. You don’t understand where they could be coming from until you discover the tiny crack between the door and the doorpost or the small rip in the screen of the window that you like to keep open at night. Like thieves in the night, these tiny uninvited, unwelcome guests have full access to your home and you are seemingly unaware!
When I asked God why I struggle so much with certain sinful desires, He gave me that image. He knows how much I hate spiders, so this is a point well taken! He showed me how we leave windows to sin open in our lives but think it’s ok because it’s just a little crack to let the breeze in. We don’t realize that the little cracked window gives way to a ripped screen that is supposed to separate us from the things we don’t want to come into our lives.
With the window open and the screen in disrepair, we are left vulnerable to an infestation of sin that slowly builds until you can’t help but notice that you have a real problem on your hands.
This is why it is so important to guard our hearts by being mindful of what we take in through our senses. The music we listen to, even the shows and movies we watch, while seemingly harmful can initiate thought patterns that take us in the wrong direction.
Let us be aware of the things we let into our temples, the thoughts that we dwell on, the images we replay in our mind. Are those things edifying? Do these things ultimately lead us to sin and feelings of guilt and shame?
Let’s shut the window on the enemy today and every day! Amen.
Proverbs 4:23-27 (New International Version)
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Every year of my life I want to be able to look back and see progress and growth. My desire is to become more like Jesus, to live a life that is pleasing to Him and bears much fruit. There are definitely times such as now when the Spirit urges me that it is time to go deeper in my walk with the Lord. There are things that I have outgrown and it is time to put those things away.
I asked the Lord to search me and reveal those areas in my life that would hold me back from going deeper in Him. He revealed to me areas that I said I was submitting to Him, but in reality I did not submit. I was holding onto those things as if they are part of who I am.
So I repented and told the Lord that I was ready to lay those things down, but I needed His help. That very day, He began to show me the ways that I had been feeding those unholy desires, strengthening my ties to the very things I claimed I did not want. It is important that I not only cease doing, reading, hearing, seeing those things, but I must also replace them with spiritual nourishment, meditating on the Word of God so that I might be changed from the inside out.
I have been learning throughout my life that the key to true growth and intimacy with the Lord is complete transparency and submissal. God knows all and sees all, yet we still try to hide from Him. We don’t talk to Him about our struggles, when He is the only One who can help us. When we trust Him enough to be honest with Him about who we are and acknowledge that He knows best concerning how to direct our footsteps, we are well on our way to experiencing a better life.
Determine to go deeper. Be brutally honest with yourself and with God to uncover the areas that are hindering you. Surrender to His will today.
Galatians 5:16-18 (New King James Version)
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
I asked the Lord to search me and He showed me that there were some areas that I was stubbornly holding onto, not allowing Him to fully penetrate and bring the change that I desperately need.
Sometimes you can be in bondage to something for so long that it begins feels a bit normal to you. You may even find pleasure in it and not want to let it go. You may fear you will lose part of who you are if you give that thing up because you are so used to being that way. You may have even justified that thing by saying, “I have to be me.”
It is such deception to believe that anything short of God’s best is who you were created to be. Accepting brokenness as a part of your identity is a sign of someone who has given up because they have tried to rely on their own strength to change.
We must fully submit to God’s changing Power. We have to lay down our will and be truly ready for Him to come in and clean house, especially if we want to reach our destiny in Him. My prayer today is simply Lord, “Take all of me!”
Romans 6:12-14 (New King James Version)
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
When a baby comes into the world we see their bouncing bubbly cuteness and all the potential that lies within them. We admire their purity and innocence and wish they could stay that way, unmarred by the situations that life brings, untouched by negative peer pressure and destructive habits or substances.
However, try as we might to protect a child from the outside world, the truth is, we are all born into sin. Similar to the way we can inherit health issues, we often come into this world with baggage inherited from our parents, their parents, and so on. It could appear that life has been served up on a silver platter but somehow the child grows into an adult and ends up struggling because of family issues that have never been addressed and covered by the blood of Jesus.
This is why we find ourselves in destructive cycles that we do not know how to get out of. You may have found yourself crying out to God, wanting to know why it seems you can’t change, or why the situation keeps occurring in your life. You look at patterns in your family and wonder why you find yourself falling into the same pattern of behavior even though everything within you tells you that it is wrong.
The good news is that destructive patterns can be broken and it can start today with you. Seek the help of your pastor, counselors or ministers and pray this prayer:
“Dear Heavenly Father, I want to live the abundant life that You have for me so I am asking You to shine a light on the dark places within me. Search me Lord, show me what issues need to be addressed in my life, whether passed down through generations or picked up by decisions I have made in my own life. Reveal those broken places in me and break the curse of sin. I don’t want any attachment to those things in me or my children. Forgive me for the things I have done to maintain ties to those harmful behaviors. Cleanse me, my family and our entire generation Lord. Draw us closer to You so that we may be continually transformed into Your image. Thank You for Your Love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Psalm 139:23-24 (Amplified Bible)
23Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
24And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
The Word of God contains instructions that if followed, guarantee the outcome that it describes. That is why the Bible is so essential for victorious living and personal growth.
Even more amazing than that is how the Holy Spirit will illuminate Scripture to you that you may have no prior knowledge of. I can testify that there are times I prayed and received God’s answer and later was led to the Scripture that contained the same words I heard in answer to my prayer.
There were times I feared that God would turn His back on me because even though I told Him I wanted to serve Him, my actions told Him otherwise. He reminded me that He would never leave me nor forsake me. I could not understand that. But even as I wondered how that was possible, He told me to keep seeking and desiring His Will and I would indeed find Him.
God truly does understand the condition of a person’s heart and mind. He knows our issues, He knows all the difficult things we must overcome and He knows if a person sincerely wants to change and live their life for Him.
Be honest before God and actively seek Him. Talk with Him about the things you struggle with, about the things you feel are keeping you from serving Him. Tell Him that you want to do better but you need His help. He will be there for you and with you. He will lead you to the help and deliverance required for you to be free. He will be the change you need!
1 Chronicles 28:9 (Amplified Bible)
9And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father [have personal knowledge of Him, be acquainted with, and understand Him; appreciate, heed, and cherish Him] and serve Him with a blameless heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him as your first and vital necessity] you will find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever!
“I’m lost, hurting and broken. I need Love. I need deliverance. I need to find out who I am. I need to know what the meaning of my life is. Help me, Please.”
This is the silent heart-cry of so many people, evidenced by their self-destructive behavior and contradictory words regarding who they say they are. These people have had troubled childhoods, have been abused and abandoned. In many cases all they need is someone who will truly show them the Love of God, pray for them and point them in the right direction to get the help they need.
Instead they get the cold shoulder or worse, the very people commissioned to help them condemn them to hell. They chant words like “disgrace” and “abomination” in an attempt to conjure up a hellstorm of fire and brimstone upon the heads of these poor souls. Where is our compassion? Are we so holy and righteous that we forgot how filthy we are without the Blood of Jesus?
Instead of sending everyone else to hell, what are we doing about the sin in our own lives? If they are a disgrace, then every one of us is a disgrace! Has your heart been broken and ripped into pieces? Have you ever been confused about your identity or place in the world? Have you ever felt rejected by people close to you? Have you ever questioned God about the seeming hopelessness of your life?
Even if you answered ‘no’ to all of the above questions, the truth remains that none of us have or ever will achieve perfection. If we are honest with ourselves we know that when we are all alone and have no one to impress, we are painfully aware of our shortcomings. Some people avoid quiet alone time for that very reason – they don’t want to allow the possibility of being faced with the truth. As long as the TV is on we can shake our heads at what Kanye or the celebrity du jour is doing rather than address the mess going on in our own life.
We must depend on the Lord daily to help with our areas of weakness. God wants us to depend on Him. The moment we think we have it all together is when we think we don’t need God. That is a dangerous place to be in. You are in a state of being deceived if you think you can be holy all by yourself.
We should forever strive to do better and have compassion for our brothers and sisters in their struggle. If only we could rally around each other when we struggle in our faith instead of kicking people out of the fold. The Blood of Jesus works for everyone, even if it has already been applied ten times. Heed the Word of God: whether you live in sin or fail to walk in love, the result is the same: you are not God’s child. Let us walk in love and practice righteousness that we may be right with the Father.
1 John 3:10 (New King James Version)
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
