The world's sin is not drug and alcohol abuse.
The world's sin is not lust and impurity.
The world's sin is not abortion and murder.
The world's sin is not greed and theft.
" The world's sin is unbelief "
(John 16:9, 12:39-40)
How heavy is my heart for the many who daily taste the bitter fruits of a heart that has no vision of the Trustworthy One. Without a vision, they cast off restraint!
Son, daughter...why do you not believe?
Like the first children you hear the lie..."God is holding out on you!"
You do not know me. So you do not trust me.
You think you need to protect yourself.
So you lie. So you kill. So you hide.
You think you need to provide for yourself.
So you take.
I am your Father. I love loving you. I love taking care of you.
I am your Husband. I love loving you. I love taking care of you.
You do not know me. So you do not trust me.
You have been orphaned, abandoned, betrayed, and abused.
Not by me. I have never left you. I have never hurt you.
My thoughts are only good toward you. My plans are to give you a hope and a wonderful future.
But you do not know me, so you do not trust me.
A truely intimate relationship is only established and preserved through the gift of trust. When trust is betrayed or withheld, there is a sudden and increasing block in relational intimacy until trust is restored. It really is a very precious gift.
The scriptures call this gift "faith". It is no wonder that we read " Without faith it is impossible to please God...." When we withhold trust, the Father cannot have the intimacy with us that He so longs for. We cannot recieve His affection. We cannot recieve His affirmation. We cannot recieve His delight. We simply do not believe. Unbelief blinds our eyes and deafens our ears, it hardens our hearts to Him. We hold Him at a distance. With all our sin and all our religion. Never really living. Not living at all really! It is only trust that pleases Him. It is trust that says 'I want to know you. I want to love you. Take this broken, messed up heart in your hands. I am weak and fragile but I have confidence in your tenderness, in your mercy, in your care. I believe you are who you say you are!'
All our failures; our religious striving and shameful deeds, result from our lack of confidence in you Father. We don't want to admit that we are helpless and in need, like a tiny infant.We don't want to believe that you came not for the healthy but for the sick. We don't want to believe that you are our Shepherd. If we did, we would know that a GOOD Father feeds his childre, clothes his children, nurtures his children, protects his children, holds and comforts his children, delights in his children, affirms his children, guides and leads his children. We would be at rest.
Abraham believed and it was accounted to Him as righteousness. (Genesis 22:1-12, Hebrews)
When we discover the incredible, passionate, pursuing love of God we can't help but fall in love with Him, and walk toward Him, who is the Light. We become surrendered, holding nothing back because we know that He holds nothing back from us. We become the bride, one with her bridegroom!
" I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it ALL as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's laws but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with Himself depends on faith" (Philippians 3:7-9)
And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvolous love. And may you have the power to understand as allGod's people should, how wide, how long,how high, and how deep his love really is. MAY YOU EXPERIENCE THE LOVE OF CHRIST, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. THEN YOU WILL BE FILLED WITH THE FULLNESS OF LIFE AND POWER THAT COMES FROM GOD.
Ephesians 3:17-19
2 comments:
Beautifully written! Great post. thanks........as I was reading it, I was thinking of Abraham and how he believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and I scrolled down and you had that scripture there.....sounds as though we may be riding the same wave my friend. Blessings to you, from down south!
Hey, how do I email you??? I can give you some details on how to make flags as you requested. my address is bluemtn@comcast.net
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