You Won't Relent...(Part 2)

I can't leave off on a note of brokenness without testifying of God's grace.  

Yes, this weekend has been a time of humbling and breaking and realizing once again my own weakness.   But in yesterday's sermon on the crucifixion, we not only looked at the significance of the darkness that fell, but also at the supernatural act of the veil separating the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies being torn in two from top to bottom, and of what Jesus cried out on the cross.  The veil being torn in two (by GOD!!) demonstrated the work that Christ had done.  He had taken the wrath of God on himself, and now access was granted to us by his grace to the throne of God.  Additionally, the only question Jesus ever asked God the Father was the one he asked on the cross "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:33 - emphasis added).  

"Since then we have such a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16

As the Gospel was poured out in the worship service yesterday, I heard the truth once again.  My eyes were opened to my failing, yet to the mercy of a great God.  We're all messed up, but it's when we recognize how messed up we are and how we can do nothing to save ourselves, that we reach the brokenness that God desires.  Not because He delights in broken people, but because He delights in hearts that are yielded to Him.  When we finally lay down our arms and surrender, He is willing and able to step in and save us.

"The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:17

To be clear, the first moment of surrendering your all to Christ and accepting His redemption and gift of life is the moment of salvation and a restored relationship with God.  A Christian can never lose this.  They may doubt, they may question, they may even neglect it, but God has sealed the saved with His spirit and promises never to leave them nor forsake them.  It is not us who hold onto God, but God who holds onto us.

My journey this week has been one of discipline, realizing I've taken my eyes off of Christ and looked instead to the work.  And in His deep love for me, He has shown me that and brought me back to Himself.

"Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? 'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives....' For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:5-6,11

I've come to him weary of trying to juggle life on my own, despairing of hope for my future, and then disappointed to realize I've not sought my God and trusted in his promises lately.  I can wallow in misery here, but that's not his desire.  The next verse in Hebrews (12:12) commands,

"Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather by healed." 

When I think of God carrying me, I used to think of the image of a parent holding a distraught child tightly in their arms or a classic rescue scene with the hero carrying out the limp body of some one precious to him.  But right now, when I think of God carrying me, I get this image of soldier fallen to his knees, despairing of the fight, and someone stronger, with a presence that assures of victory, drawing close to the soldier, raising him back to his feet and renewing his strength for the battle.

Brokenness is not a place to give up the fight, but to give up fighting on my own.  I wasn't caught up in necessarily bad things.  In I was doing what God has called me to, pouring into those around me His love and compassion.  But I was doing it on my own.  Rest is not a favorite word in my vocabulary, but it is a pretty frequent one in God's.

We say that it's out of the overflow of God in us that we touch other people.  We use the metaphor of a cup running dry to indicate our spirits longing for more of God.  Maybe you're at a restaurant you like the waiter to make sure you not only have something to drink, but that your cup is full.  I have a tendency to drink until the cup runs dry and then refill.  While that may be good for my computer battery, it's terrible for my spiritual walk.

Next to my bed is a vase with a flower in it.  Mine's fake, but bear with me here.  If it were real, and I were trying to keep it alive, I wouldn't allow the vase to run dry before I refilled.  The flower would start to droop and fade.  I would make sure there was always enough water in the vase to keep the flower going.  That's our spiritual walk.  It must be constantly maintained and filled, so that we don't run dry.

We are called to continue on...

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." Heb. 10:23

"Therefore do no throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised." Heb. 10:35-36

It requires discipline to maintain this.

"Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." Heb. 2:1

I have seen this week how easily, I succumbed to lies.  The fears and doubts that the truth of God equips me to suppress, I let sneak in.  And then Satan used others to voice my fears and distress me.  Had I been walking in the light, as He is in the light, then I wouldn't have fallen prey to that.  Going back to the devotional mentioned in the last post about God asking us to come higher, this is directly related.  When you have already taken a step of faith, or many steps of faith, you know that many times God choses to work in ways that don't make sense to the world.  If you take your eyes off of Christ, it becomes much harder to tune out your internal fears and external questions.  The Devil knows this too.  And he will try and use it against you every time.

Paul warned Timothy,

"Fight the good fight of the faith.  Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses....O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irrelevant babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge," for by professing it some have served from the faith."                 1 Timothy 6:11, 20

He instructs the church in 2 Corinthians,

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ," 2. Cor. 10:4-5

So this where the week begins for me.  Picking back up.  Moving ever forward by the grace of God.

He will continue to call me higher, and by His strength I can follow.

To close, the title of these two posts comes from this song:

  Blessings,

~ Redeemed