Chipping Away

First of all I want to say everything written in this blog is totally about me. I am preaching to myself. I am failing, learning and growing in Christ. I feel He wants me to check in with the world every now and then to tell you what He is doing with me. Kinda like that song by Josh Wilson...Here I Am Anyway

"I'm like Moses in the desert when that bush went up in flames, 

You said " Go and tell your story", he said God what will I say?

 I'm so scared, unprepared, what difference will I make?" 

...sometimes i feel the same" 

So please don't think I'm being Miss Goody-2-shoes, I assure you, I am far from it. I am just a vessel trying to be obedient.  So if anything here applies to your life and speaks to your heart, that's God communicating with you. Thank Him for connecting with you and pray that He will reveal exactly what needs to be done about the little reminder you might receive. 

It sounds insane to thank God for the hurt or the trials we face. But Paul did just that. "Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”   2nd Corinthians 12:7-10

So you see, we should thank Him for our hardships in order to receive His power. You can have the same power that multiplied the loaves, saved Peter from sinking, and raised Jesus from the dead. I’m not saying pray for hardships to come, but thank Him, then pray for His strength and grace to get you through it. It irritates me when people say “God will never give you more than you can handle”. Who in the world came up with that? Obviously someone who doesn’t read the Bible. God assured us we would have trouble, more than we can handle. What He did say was “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me…for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30  

 You will get more than you can handle… on your own that is. But if you handle it with His help, you will learn from Him and you’ll grow into the person He intends for you to be.

I downloaded this song a couple years ago. Back then I had no idea what it would mean to me today. Funny how songs or Bible verses take on new meaning through different stages of your life.  Change in the Making by Addison Road

"Every day, you're chipping away what I don't need.

This is me under construction,

This is my pride being broken,

And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be, I'm a change in the making”

The part that gets to me the most is “every day, You're chipping away what I don’t need”. Whew! This chipping hurts. He is chipping hardest at my dependence on myself. We’ve all heard preachers say “He wants you to totally depend on Him” but that doesn’t mean a thing until you come to the point in your life where you cannot do it on your own any longer. Of coarse He is chipping away at other things such as friendships, people or idols. We all have idols, we just don’t want to admit it. An idol is anything that comes between you and God. ANYTHING. That means Facebook, tv, hobbies, people… the list goes on and on. So I just pray that although it hurts, I want Him to keep chipping. Because the more He takes away, the closer I grow to Him and there is nothing sweeter. No relationship, no new gadgets, no new car, no success… nothing. 

So back to Miss Goody2shoes... I will be the first to admit I have done this… used God’s word to rebuke someone. But I've been convicted about it and I won’t do it again.  Don’t call God in on something that you know you’re working with the enemy on, rebuking & judgment is not your place. God doesn't work like that, His plan is to handle it Himself. Sometimes we have to get out of the lie before we can call on the truth. (That means look in the mirror before you tell someone else their faults or hold a grudge against them, it’s for your own good). Pray for your blessing while you’re in the storm but don’t let the enemy trick you in to being the storm that blocks your blessing, or even worse, keeps you out of Heaven.” There’s scripture to back this up. 

Check out Matthew 6:15, "But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Or Matthew 7:21, which is the scariest verse in the Bible by the way.  “ Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Simply calling Me “Lord” will not be enough. Only those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven, will join Me in heaven.”

Forgive someone today. Forgive anyone you are holding bitterness in your heart toward. Forgiveness doesn’t mean you’re ok with what they did, what they are doing, (or did not do). Forgiveness releases you from the enemy’s grip.  Yep… he’s got a grip on you if this is the situation you’re in.  2 Corinthians 2:10-11 says, “If you forgive anyone, I forgive that one as well. Have no doubt, anything that I have forgiven—when I do forgive—is done ultimately for you in the presence of the Anointed One. It’s my duty to make sure that satan does not win even a small victory over us, for we don’t want to be naïve and then fall prey to his schemes.”

Do you see that?!  Forgiveness is for YOU when you forgive others. Wow! It took me so long to learn this! 

When I Iost Daddy something in me broke… well lots of things broke.  But one of those things was tolerance of certain things like fakeness. I want to live my life transparent as possible. We have to be real and help each other out on this road we’re on. It’s our job. God didn’t come to save the righteous, He came to save the sinners!  Luke 5:32 says “Jesus heard about it and spoke up, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.”

The fact is, we are all going to end up in one of two places. So if you say you're a Christian and have been saved by grace, then please take the other Scriptures to heart as well.  Don't just pick out what you like. God wants all of His children in Heaven and He wants the absolute best for us. He doesn’t want to turn anyone away. If you have a problem with someone, go to that person one on one and forgive them. Or write them a letter. If it’s not possible to do it in person, then go to your Heavenly Father and tell Him you release them, give Him your burden and don’t take it back when you finish praying. 

I don’t know about ya’ll, but I want His power on my side. We all know who wins in the end.

But the LORD stands beside me like a great warrior.

    Before Him my persecutors will stumble.

    They cannot defeat me.

They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated.

    Their dishonor will never be forgotten.

 O LORD of Heaven’s Armies,

You test those who are righteous,

    and You examine the deepest thoughts and secrets.

Jeremiah 20:11-12