‘God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development
of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We
must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying,
“I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves.
God will not bring our “arguments . . . and every thought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians
10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from
wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your
individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life. “If the Son makes you free . . . .” Do not
substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has
set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free
from myself by the Son. It is what
Paul meant in Galatians 2:20
when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .” His individuality had
been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into
Him, but made one with Him. “. . . you shall be free indeed”— free to the very
core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our
own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from
identification with Jesus.’ CHAMBERS
Do you struggle with anything in your life? Is there some issue … some past hurt that
affects how you treat other people … anger, resentment, fear, whatever …. Jesus
can and will set you free from that.
Maybe you have resolved that you will never be free from it .. that
there is no way … you have tried everything .. prayed about it … read books …
it just doesn’t seem to matter what you try .. that ‘thing’ is still
there. I know the feeling … it doesn’t
matter how strong you are .. how determined you are .. this thing makes you weak
.. helpless .. victimized … sad …. demoralized … it is strong …
This thing that I am referring to is something
that you don’t want others to know about.
If they did, they would think less of you .. maybe reject you … if they
knew the real you …. A little factoid … the Creator of the universe already
does.
I want to use some excerpts from the Celebrate
Recovery Ministry to clarify this. No,
Celebrate recovery is not just for drug addicts or alcoholics .. it’s for
people who struggle with a hurt, habit or hang-up which includes just about
everybody on the planet. The first step
to dealing with this issue in your life is to admit that you can’t do it by
yourself. You are powerless .. you need
the Lord’s help. In other words you have to stop trying to fix it by yourself.
“1. I admit that I am powerless to change my past.
It hurt, I still remember it, but all the resentment in the world isn’t going
to change it. I’m powerless to change my past.
2. I admit that I am powerless to control other
people. I try, I like to manipulate them, I use all kinds of little gimmicks,
but it doesn’t work. I am responsible for my actions, not theirs. I can’t
control other people.
3. I admit that I am powerless to cope with my
harmful habits, behaviors, actions. Good intentions are not enough. How many
times have you tried and failed. Will power is not enough. You need something
more than will power. You need a source of power beyond yourself. You need God,
because He made you to need Him.”
The Lord has blessed me with a lot of ability ..
but no matter how smart I am, no matter how strong I am, no matter what I might
be able to do …there are areas in my life that I cannot control … but that does
not stop me from trying … and failing.
Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same
thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.
There are aspects of our lives that we cannot
overcome … because we are not God .. We need God … we live in a fallen,
sin-sick world … and it messes us up … and we can’t fix it … only God can and
He did through Jesus … Jesus is the answer … It starts and ends with
Jesus. Stop trying to be God … instead
make this your commitment ….
Philippians
3:10-14 ‘I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of
his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his
death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I
have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press
on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and
sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I
do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in
Christ Jesus.’
Pursue God … seek first the kingdom of God … I am
pretty sure you know all of these things already … but you have to put them
into practice … and let God change you …
Bondye Beni Ou
(God Bless You)
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