Newness

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold the new has come.   2 Corinthians 5:17
            I looked down at Nehemiah sleeping in my arms.  He was already two weeks old, and I couldn’t believe how much he had changed.  I ran my fingers across his delicate features and smiled.  I thought about how once we were all this small, and that God had blessed my friend with such a beautiful new baby. 
            Life had been hard the last couple weeks.  I was stepping out on rough waters in my obedience to God, and Nehemiah was such a sweet reminder of how good God was.  As he shifted in my arms I heard God speak to the depths of my soul.
            “I don’t just restore, I make all things new.  Just like I crafted Nehemiah, I crafted you.  I know every little detail about you, and I am renewing the brokenness inside of you.”
            “Really God, are you?”  I prayed.  “Right now all I am seeing is a mess.  Fear and doubt are trying to entangle me, and I am still doing everything you ask of me.”

            I talked to my friend a little bit longer, about life in general.  We both agreed that we would make really crappy god’s over our own lives and in it was just a really nice, comfortable chat.
            After I said goodbye, and got in my car, I started thinking about what God told me.  I had been focusing so much on just trying to get my heart to heal, and become like it used to be, that I had never really considered that God may want to completely renew my heart.  I got home, and found multiple verses. 
            “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?  I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:19
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”                                            Isaiah 40:31
            Newness is something we are all attracted to.  We always want the new car, new house, new phone, new clothes, and new social network.  Why then, do we complain when God asks us to give up the old and dirty, for the new and better?  We so willingly hand over the IPhone 4 for the IPhone 5, but we won’t give God the broken pieces of our lives, so that He can make a new, better heart.  God is in the business of newness.  He has promised us healing, but God’s plan for healing is not to just restore, but to renew you.  You just have to give Him the pieces first.

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”                                                                   Revelations 21:4                                                                 

Pain

I understand pain.  I know the feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and weakness.  I know what it is like to cry yourself to sleep almost every night wondering if there will ever be an end to what you are going through.  I understand, because I am human.
            I also have a God who understands.  Jesus was also human, and he felt the pain of rejection, along with the physical pain of crucifixion.  We are told that he sympathizes with us.  So why does he then allow us to go through what we go through?
            Pain is a tool God uses to reach you and others.  When you are down to nothing, you are way more likely to hear God whisper to you.  It doesn’t feel good, but lessons learned during storms seem to stick better than lessons taught to you during moments of calmness in your life. 
            God can also use pain to reach others.  Pain is a microphone.  How you react to your trials shows the world around you what you believe.  It is a living testimony of God.  Again, it hurts, but it brings glory to God. 
            Yet, are these facts comforting through a trial?  I don’t really think so.  To me, I can become extremely bitter towards God because of my circumstances.  I get angry sometimes that I am going through all that I am going through for God’s glory.  Then God spoke to me.
           
            “Daughter, I love you.  I chose you before time began.  You are my creation and I delight over you.  But I can’t leave you the way you are, I love you too much.  Come to me, and let me heal your heart.  Let me show you my heart, and teach you to become more like me.  I rejoice over you with singing, my daughter.  I will redeem you.  The world cannot define you, because I have already overcome.  Lean on me, and I will supply all that you want and need.”

            I know some people think that I am crazy when I say that I can hear God, but I won’t deny that I can.  He speaks to me all the time, when I choose to listen.  It’s not a loud voice, but a soft, gentle, comforting, whisper over my soul.  (1 King 19:11-14)
            My pastor did his sermon on pain last week.  More specifically rejection, but I think in all pain there is some form of rejection.  I would highly recommend it (link at bottom of article).  One thing that most caught my attention was to remember the truth in times of pain.  When you speak out “God is good all the time, all the time He is good.” You don’t have the chance to be angry at God.  You can rejoice, even in your trials. 
            My friend also gave me a valuable piece of advice.  When God asks you to do something that you see as painful to help heal, you might as well do it.  You are already broken, already in pain.  What obedience is going to do is help you heal.  Obedience takes the infection out of the wound, and let’s God put his spiritual medicine, and bandage on your wound. But just like with everything else, He will wait for you to allow Him to.  Don’t fight Him on this.
            I am human.  I can’t tell you why bad things happen.  I can’t tell you when your pain will go away, and I can’t tell you what your future is going to look like.  But God is faithful, and He will redeem you.  You are too precious to Him for Him to leave you in this time.  He who started this work in you, will be faithful to complete it.  He will make you white as snow. 
            You aren’t defined by the world’s standards.  You are far above that.  You live by God’s standards.  He will never see you as worthless, a lost cause, boring, ugly, or anything else this world has labeled you as.  You are His child.  He delights in you!

Link to sermon:   http://www.engagetruth.com/media/audio/612/pain-peace
           

A Glimpse at Love

"Daughter, I love you.  Remember, I chose you before time began.  I delight in you.  But, I love you too much to leave you where you are at.  My daughter, I don't want to see you in pain.  Every tear you have cried, I hold in my hands.  You are so precious to me, and I want to redeem you.  Lean into me through thick and think; I won't leave you.  I am forming you in my image, and I will not abandon you in this."

       "You are not defined by anything in this world.  I have willingly paid the ultimate price.  You are mine, and mine alone."

      
        You are not ordinary, but a royal priesthood, a holy nation.  You have been brought into the light, to be stars for God.  He has called you to do things only you can do.  (This is actually from Levi Lusko’s Microphone series)


       This may all seem ordinary teachings about God, but how ordinary are they when they are spoken directly to you from God.  I honestly do not have the words to describe the experience I had, but I can tell you this.  After God spoke to me, He poured out His love to the point that me senses were overwhelmed.  Love and peace took over my body, and I was left breathless with tears in my eyes, but that isn't the amazing part.  The part that I marvel over today, outside of the amount of love that was poured out upon me, was how my soul reacted. 
       As God poured out His love to me, my soul started praising.  It came into complete submission to God, and sang glory to God, in a way that was not known to me.  My lips couldn't form words; physically I had been incapacitated.  As my senses came back to me, my soul continued to praise.  My brain couldn't make sense of that kind of love, so my soul praised more. 
       It reminded me of Revelations.  Specifically, the one I found being Revelations 5:12-13

12saying with a loud voice:
       "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
        To receive power and riches and wisdom,
        And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"     
 13And every creature which is in heave and on earth, and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
       "Blessing and honor and glory and power
        Be to Him who sits on the throne,
       And to the Lamb, forever and ever!"

       When I came back to my senses, God whispered to me again,

       “This is only a glimpse of my love for you.  This is only a glimpse of the love I hold for all my children.” 

       I hear God speak to me all the time, but this was that times infinity.  All I can do is sit is marvel, I can’t comprehend that kind of love, because it is so far beyond my human capacity.  The closest I can come is to say that my love for my family, compared to God’s love for me, is the compassion I would show to an acquaintance.  Definitely there, but small compared to those I am invested in. 

       And I’ll just be honest, I don’t feel worthy in the slightest to have felt this.  And only through Christ’s blood can I become worthy, but I am so beyond thankful for this opportunity God gave me.  I have been blessed, and I wish more than anything that everyone could experience this glimpse of love. 

                The take away is that God loves us truly more than we can imagine.  We don’t deserve it, but that is why He sent His son for us, but not only that, but Christ willingly laid it down for us.  He couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from you.  You are that precious to Him.

This is a bit different than my other posts, because this was not taught to me like the other lessons.  I have never had God communicate to my this way, and I probably never will again. It was a true revelation that He gave me, both to help heal my soul, and to share with others.  I had another lesson planned to post, but I wanted this to be shown instead.