So belonging isn't always roses. I've had to have some very hard conversations with people I belong to. Sometimes I'm dead wrong and the people I trust can tell me that in love. Sometimes I'm only a little off and they can offer me a different perspective. I've had to tell some people who belong to me how much certain things hurt that they did and we've had to work that out. The thing about belonging is that it doesn't always look the way you think it will. I belong so good to some people in my life that despite having no genetic link, we look alike. Yea I know....its wild.
The same happens when you belong to God. He's real clear with me when I'm wrong. Especially when I'm moving away from Him, He's like "I'm over here, I over here" and the consequences of being far from Him get harder and harder until I get myself back under His loving and tender covering. Sometimes I just need a slight adjustment of my attitude or my perspective and He's right on top of that. If I'm listening and quiet, I can hear Him just gently saying "no, this way" or "a little more compassion" or "a little more grace." I've cried out to God in times when I couldn't see how this was His will and told Him I was hurting....not that He was hurting me but why am I in pain if I belong to you? The thing I love about God is that the closer you are to Him, the more you belong, the more your personality is conformed to the image of God. He's made me more like Him in many differs facets of my life. I see it all the time because it doesn't look like me. Not at all.
Belonging...it'll change you.
Romans 8:1
Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
I say this scripture all the time. We Christians often get so caught up in the law. I get it. You've got the law before you get the Spirit. Can I offer that chasing hard after the Spirit has enabled me to operate better within the law? Trying to keep the law is insane. I can't do it....especially not under my own power. Its a no. A smooth, crisp, well enunciated two letters: NO. With the Spirit and me doing our thing, possible becomes a reality. And even then, keeping the law isn't what God's after. That's a radical notion. Lets parlay a minute. God wants your heart not behaviors you think please Him. Firstly, you can't behave well enough so stop it. Let it go. Secondly, this is a relationship. He wants your heart. He surely wants mine.
And He has it.
He has it completely.
What I love about living under grace is that God is after connection with us. He's after relationship. He's after this right here. Me knowing Him, Him blessing me and keeping me and extending unmerited favor towards me. This is God's joy. This doesn't do away with the law. Actually the relationship enables me to be more like Him which allows me to be better. The being better part is also aligned with keeping the law and receiving grace when I fail per usual.
I'm His beloved. You see how in this scripture it says "for those who are in Christ Jesus" that's Paul-ese for you belong to Him. Belonging matters. Its why I'll never give up the word "Christian" because it's a term that lays claim on me. Just like Cakes will say "my mentor" or "I'm her undergrad" and I say "she's my mentor" about my own, Christian says I belong to Christ.
Romans 8:4
So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who liveand move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].
You ever catch yourself doing something that isn't like you? I do. I do all the time. The other day I was faced with a situation I had peace about and suddenly I was being questioned about it. The thing I had peace about was unlike me. I never operate in this way but that's the way I was led. I really felt like I was exactly where God wanted me to be.
I heard this idea about being where God wants you to be that said "when I'm over there trying to work that thing out that isn't where I'm supposed to be, it take energy away from places God wants me to put it."
I think that's a interesting idea and I've found it to be true in my own life. I had time, energy, and space to attend to lots of other things because I'd put down that thing that wasn't supposed to be my priority, prayed about it, and moved on. That was God. That was a new level of faith and trust. I didn't have to be on top of that because He's got it. Sometimes the Spirit prompts me to be still. I'm learning better how to do that. He's got things I need to attend to. I've got mountains He wants me focused on and that's where I need to be.
Romans 8:5
For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and [d]pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and [e]seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.
Listen....unholy desires are real. They are so very real. And on those not so good days, a young thug fails miserable. However, can I offer that when you know Him its much harder to do those things? The closer I get to Him the less I want to do things I know won't please Him. And not solely because of Him actually. The more I know Him the more meaning and significance I place on actions and words. I don't want my words or action to reflect badly on the One I claim to worship and adore. I recognize that the Spirit in me is with me in all things. I don't want to do the same things cause they don't gratify me in the same way. I just can't do frivolous.
I'm a depth seeker. The more deeply I know Him, the more I seek to know of Him, of myself, and of those I love. I don't want your public face, I want your private one. I don't want to see you in a mask, I want to know you uncovered. Depth....I'm after it because He's after it with me.
Romans 8:9
But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].
Again....belonging. The indwelling of the Spirit is so powerful in the quietest of ways in my life.
"More grace"
"More faith"
"More direct"
"More empathy"
"More patience"
"More loving"
Gently, quietly, firmly moving me in the way He wants me to go. I love that. I love that I live with internal navigation on at all times. I many not be going the physical place I want to go but often I'm exactly where I need to be emotionally and spiritually with whatever God has me doing. There's so much value in the quiet because it will lead you to exactly where you need to be.
Romans 8:14
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God
God says "You're mine. I'm putting my stamp on you."
Romans 8:17
And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.
Here's a hard truth: To share in His glory, we've got to share in His suffering too. Yup.... those battles aren't always the Devil. God has used trials in my own life to build my faith, my character, and my follow through. And its been hard. Its been so hard that the pages of my Bible are wrinkled from tears. Its been so hard that I've literally slept with my Bible clutched to my chest. Its been so hard that It was all I could do to listen to Gospel music and watch Netflix all day. My faith has never been stronger. My follow through has never been more thorough.
Can I offer that when you're in that place, in the refining fire, He's right there with you even when you can't feel Him because the heat is so intense? He is. He's always there. I've had to tell myself that so many times so that my heart could believe what my mind knew to be true. The heart is not always there. Its not always trying to hear "I'll never leave or forsake you" when you're struggling, you're hurt, you're in pain, or you're desperately sad. Sometimes you have to tell yourself the truth until you actually believe it. And if you can't do that, you've got to tell the people who you trust and love that you need them to tell you until you can tell yourself. My love always quotes that life and death are in the power of the tongue. I offer that life and death are also in the power of the telling.
Romans 8:24-25
For in [this] hope we were saved. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For how can one hope for what he already sees?
But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure.
Oh hope. That one....that one is hard. Its hard on good days. As my mentor would say "I can believe you for the promise but what am I supposed to do until it gets here?" I've found that being faithful to a promise from God is such an interesting journey. Sometimes its great and other times I doubt. Sometimes I'm awestruck by the fact that He's given me such an awesome future and sometimes I'm like "Lord, are you sure I can do this?" Sometimes I wish I didn't know.
Oh but hope. They that what? They that wait on the Lord and be of good courage.... that's patience and composure. Its so hard but when He gives me dreams about the future, about how He's going to get the glory, and how gratified I'm going to be in the center of His will for me I know. I know its worth it. I know hope matters. He refuels mine regularly. If you've got a promise from Him, talk to Him about it. Tell Him about your doubts and your dreams. He's got something for you. The waiting is going to be worth it. And can I offer that the waiting is a blessing? I know I know. I don't feel like that all the time either but I've learned so much about who He is, who I am, and about listening carefully through the waiting that I wouldn't trade it for anything.
As the old folks would say...I wouldn't take nothing for my journey now.
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