Let me hear what God, the Lord, will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, to his saints. But let them not turn back to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. (Verses 8-9)
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way. Philippians 3
No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back if fit for the kingdom of God. Jesus
I watched "Anna Karenina" last night with Bill. The sobering story depicting the verse in Proverbs: "There is a way that seems right to a man (woman), but the end thereof is death." Choosing her lover over her husband and children over and over again then abandoned by the one in whom she had "put all her happiness." Anna's death was literal. But the story is a sobering picture of what the ruler of this present darkness has in store for all of us who would be enticed into his realm. Complete destruction is his plan of choice. With many little deaths along the way. Satan has never given me anything good...or remotely good. Nothing I want to look back on and wish I were still in the claws of. I have been extricated, believe me. I understand the subtle journey into blackness. I never want to go there again.
Our addictions and attachments in this world come from a place of dissatisfaction with life. A desire for more. More thrills, more adventure, more peace. An extraction of pain, or at least, a numbing of it. The joke is on us, though, for in trying to find ease, we increase pain. Add another deeply throbbing ache to a life already wrenched. On our knees we find salvation. Cry out to be saved from not only our situation, but from ourselves. Our Christ, Whose steadfast love can be counted upon, reaches into our pit and grabs us up, walks us out, bring us peace we never dreamed possible because our hearts are made for Him. Then some of us jump right back into the mire! We are still loved. But we are not fit for the kingdom. Not ready for the life ahead. If we can't leave the past behind and move on. Proverbs 26 describes such a thing this way: "The dog returns to its vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire." Not a lovely picture.
How does one become fit? For many believers, the pit is all they've known until they find Christ. Pit dwelling is a way of life. If I might be practical, we all need the "washing of the water of the Word." The Bible is God's mind and heart chronicled across the pages for the ages. It is God's way of speaking a broad word for all and a personal word to each. It is the beginning to keeping fit. Conversations with Him are as rich as our knowledge of our Father. Prayer keeps us on our toes. Our victories are exponentially dependent upon our relationship with the General. Our ability to be awed by God is dependent upon what we see Him do, and prayer is the beginning of that wonder. If we can't control our urges, we must practice. Especially in this world today which is a carnival of hedonism where every booth offers some new pleasure sure to change our lives. And, boy, do they! The oven is hot and we should be prepared not to touch it...or even go near it. Folly is so yesterday. And if we engage again we will be even more miserable because we now know what real peace looks like. If we are looking back on sin as something we miss--the way it made us feel--we are unusable and unhappy.
So forget what's back there. Yes, we have all made mistakes. Stuff we could recount ad nauseum. And each time we talk about what's back there, we either get titillated or depressed. Dance instead in the freedom and joy of now. For there is glory involved in dwelling where God lives. Peace is poured out on the saints who decide to walk with the Way. The deeper the relationship with our Father the less we want anything to do with the father of lies. We have switched families. From paupers to princesses. Walking the streets and begging for bread shouldn't compare to living in the courts of the King of Kings. How could any of us in our right minds go back to the slums when we have lived in the Presence of real glory? It is why, if we do turn again to our folly, we aren't fit for royal courts. We don't think we deserve it, we aren't used to it or we don't trust it will deliver all we will lose in the streets. None are good reasons to go back to vomit--to lay with the pigs. That is what should be hard to forget! That God pulled us up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set our feet upon a rock and put a new song in our mouths, a song of praise even unto our God (Psalm 40). Does it make sense then that we miss the pit?
May we turn our heads around and look forward at all God has promised us. May we live right now, today, in the light of His glory, remembering our salvation! And if we think at all of the days gone by, may we only be thankful to our toes that we are no longer snared by the devil. Let those of us who are mature think this way.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who revere Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust His holy name. Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You. (italics mine) Psalm33
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way. Philippians 3
No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back if fit for the kingdom of God. Jesus
I watched "Anna Karenina" last night with Bill. The sobering story depicting the verse in Proverbs: "There is a way that seems right to a man (woman), but the end thereof is death." Choosing her lover over her husband and children over and over again then abandoned by the one in whom she had "put all her happiness." Anna's death was literal. But the story is a sobering picture of what the ruler of this present darkness has in store for all of us who would be enticed into his realm. Complete destruction is his plan of choice. With many little deaths along the way. Satan has never given me anything good...or remotely good. Nothing I want to look back on and wish I were still in the claws of. I have been extricated, believe me. I understand the subtle journey into blackness. I never want to go there again.
Our addictions and attachments in this world come from a place of dissatisfaction with life. A desire for more. More thrills, more adventure, more peace. An extraction of pain, or at least, a numbing of it. The joke is on us, though, for in trying to find ease, we increase pain. Add another deeply throbbing ache to a life already wrenched. On our knees we find salvation. Cry out to be saved from not only our situation, but from ourselves. Our Christ, Whose steadfast love can be counted upon, reaches into our pit and grabs us up, walks us out, bring us peace we never dreamed possible because our hearts are made for Him. Then some of us jump right back into the mire! We are still loved. But we are not fit for the kingdom. Not ready for the life ahead. If we can't leave the past behind and move on. Proverbs 26 describes such a thing this way: "The dog returns to its vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire." Not a lovely picture.
How does one become fit? For many believers, the pit is all they've known until they find Christ. Pit dwelling is a way of life. If I might be practical, we all need the "washing of the water of the Word." The Bible is God's mind and heart chronicled across the pages for the ages. It is God's way of speaking a broad word for all and a personal word to each. It is the beginning to keeping fit. Conversations with Him are as rich as our knowledge of our Father. Prayer keeps us on our toes. Our victories are exponentially dependent upon our relationship with the General. Our ability to be awed by God is dependent upon what we see Him do, and prayer is the beginning of that wonder. If we can't control our urges, we must practice. Especially in this world today which is a carnival of hedonism where every booth offers some new pleasure sure to change our lives. And, boy, do they! The oven is hot and we should be prepared not to touch it...or even go near it. Folly is so yesterday. And if we engage again we will be even more miserable because we now know what real peace looks like. If we are looking back on sin as something we miss--the way it made us feel--we are unusable and unhappy.
So forget what's back there. Yes, we have all made mistakes. Stuff we could recount ad nauseum. And each time we talk about what's back there, we either get titillated or depressed. Dance instead in the freedom and joy of now. For there is glory involved in dwelling where God lives. Peace is poured out on the saints who decide to walk with the Way. The deeper the relationship with our Father the less we want anything to do with the father of lies. We have switched families. From paupers to princesses. Walking the streets and begging for bread shouldn't compare to living in the courts of the King of Kings. How could any of us in our right minds go back to the slums when we have lived in the Presence of real glory? It is why, if we do turn again to our folly, we aren't fit for royal courts. We don't think we deserve it, we aren't used to it or we don't trust it will deliver all we will lose in the streets. None are good reasons to go back to vomit--to lay with the pigs. That is what should be hard to forget! That God pulled us up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set our feet upon a rock and put a new song in our mouths, a song of praise even unto our God (Psalm 40). Does it make sense then that we miss the pit?
May we turn our heads around and look forward at all God has promised us. May we live right now, today, in the light of His glory, remembering our salvation! And if we think at all of the days gone by, may we only be thankful to our toes that we are no longer snared by the devil. Let those of us who are mature think this way.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who revere Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust His holy name. Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You. (italics mine) Psalm33
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