Good morning, readers and hearers of God's Word! I have been spending my time in worship of the Almighty God this morning, and I kept going back to a song called "Consuming Fire" by Third Day. As I sang it back to God, and acknowledged the greatness of who He is, I had a revelation about God's character and the nature of His relationship with us. You see, I have been going through a very unusual and strange feeling season with God, and after a season of amazing grace showering down on my life....I seemed to be swimming upstream against the current. I have been praying and seeking God, and worshipping Him, and doing everything basically the same as I have before....but something just seems distant and different about my relationship with God. He seemed to be farther away...and I could not figure out why. I have come to realize that there was one serious problem with where my walk was going....I had become prideful. One of the challenges of seeing God do miracles, and work powerfully in your life is that the enemy uses pride to draw you away from God. This time, pride manifested in thinking that I was just "doing good in my walk" and that I didn't really need to put as much effort into seeking God as before. Everything seemed to be going so smoothly. I started to get lazy, apathetic, and just expect God to move without my obedience in some areas. As ugly as it sounds, I also began believing that God had positioned me to teach others about Him, without having to obey everything myself. Sounds pretty ugly, huh?
God is revealing ugly parts of my sinful nature because He wants to refine me through His fire, and make me into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. I am a long way from being "Christ-like." To be honest, I wanted to stop writing this blog yesterday when I realized how my attitude of writing may have affected the advancement of my brothers and sisters in their walks with Christ, or in leading them to His love and forgiveness. I want to make clear that, although I hear from God, and I walk with Him....I am not Him. I am still in the flesh, and I am going to make mistakes, and get a bad attitude sometimes, and act stubbornly or selfishly. I have struggled with almost every possible sin at one point or another, and I still am being perfected by the grace of God. The Word presented in this blog, and the ideas are to be taken and measured against the Holy Scriptures. One should never just take "my word for it" but should be driven into the arms of the One, Perfect, True, Loving God. He is perfect, but I am not. The words here are intended by myself and by God to draw you into a deeper relationship with Him! I sincerely apologize for the times when my own sin may have muttled the message from God. I humbly ask for each and every one of your forgiveness.
God showed me this morning that pride is unacceptable in our lives because there is only One who is Worthy of praise, and that is the Lord God Almighty! Why is He worthy of praise....just read the Word and you will find His goodness and His majesty, and His perfection! He has never sinned, and He is above all of the worldly things that we face. He humbled Himself to come down to us, walking in the flesh as Jesus. He allowed His own creation to murder Him on the cross, and then through His great love, rose from the dead....providing salvation for all of us who follow in the path of believing in Him, dying to ourselves, and rising as a new creation in Christ. It was His great love, mercy and compassion on fallen people to rescue us from the pit of hell. He judges peoples and nations in perfect justice according to heavenly law that came down to earth through Moses. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). When we have pride in our lives, we are like Lucifer, who now is called Satan who thought he could be better at being God than the Father God already was. He rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven for his pride and rebellion. God IS, and ALWAYS WILL BE, the only One who is worthy of praise. We will never be above God, no matter how hard we try, because we are only receiving salvation through His grace and mercy in our lives. Without Him, we would all be headed for eternal damnation....so I believe He is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving!
The Word tells us that God reaches down into the miry clay (Psalm 40:2) and He saves us. He sets us high upon the Rock (Psalm 27:5). I know from personal testimony that God is my Savior. He took me from a life of misery, failure, and despair....and He set me high upon the Rock of Jesus. He has given me peace, joy and immeasurable hope in Him. He has blessed me beyond anything I could imagine, and I praise Him that I am here to write to you all another day. My life is but a vapor (James 4:14), but God has plans for this world and I am thankful that He has chosen to use me for His glory! Any knowledge or wisdom that I have is nothing without the Presence of His Holy Spirit teaching me all things. I have confessed my sin to Him and He has been faithful to me to forgive me and restore peace to my soul. Praise be to God forever and ever, Amen.
Lord,
Thank you so much for Your great compassion and mercy. Thank you for reaching down and giving me salvation through Jesus Christ, and for pouring out Your Spirit upon me. Thank you for the Great and wonderful Counselor You have given us. Thank You for searching my heart and mind continually, and revealing any anxious thought or sinful way in me. Thank you for being faithful to forgive me when I confess my sins, and for restoring peace and grace in my life. Thank you recently for all the gifts you have brought me, especially during a time when I least deserved any. That is just evidence of Who You are, and the measure of your grace upon those who love You and trust You. Thank you for giving me a heart of surrender and submission, and for showing me how to trust and love my husband in a deeper way than ever before, and to let him be the leader (head) of this household. I thank you for all the work I have seen you do in my family, and the work you are doing that I cannot see. I thank you for giving Mariah your precious voice, please make it clearer for her to hear as well. Draw her heart closer to Yours, and reveal great and unsearchable things to her heart. Show her again how much you love her. Thank you for giving my husband a confidence in You and himself that will help him to lead this family in Your ways successfully. Thank you for the continued blessing upon our household, and for the work you are doing. Please continue to persist after those who reject You, having all longsuffering and patience, and draw them closer to salvation in You. I give you all honor, glory and praise in Jesus' name, Amen.
Humbled before Him,
Sarah
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