Our Father God is a God of order and not of Chaos and when we truly seek after Him with all our hearts it will bring us to a place of balance. This is very good news especially for someone like me who is in "the natural" very unbalanced. Yes, I am the first to admit that I have an obsessive personality - what a relief that I met Jesus Christ and became obsessed with Him!
But even in our Christian walk it is easy to become unbalanced leaning too far in one direction and I am not referring to denominational differences here. I myself do not belong to a particular denomination - I belong to Christ bought and paid for.
Although I have only been a Christian for just short of nine years I have been a member a several churches (Church of England, Baptist and independant). I have never picked a church because of its denomination (usually God picks them for me), but I do look for an immense love of God, sound biblical teaching and encouragement to love Christ and look at His word for myself so that I can grow and become more like Him. I am truly blessed to say that I have found all this and more at Middleton Puritan Fellowship where I now attend with my boys (and if it pleases God one day with my husband too!).
Funnily my pastor and his wife started off at the same church as I did when we were all new to church (I am not saying new Christians because that is another story).
I think of myself as a kind of patchwork Christian being in agreement in part with many Christians, but often disagreeing on some point. I also think that I am wrong on some points (although obviously I don't know which ones lol).
There are some points where I can agree to differ, but other points are more significant - which is why I left my previous church (again another story for another time).
No, I am talking about being balanced in the things of God such as Testimony and the Word.
Psalm 118:17
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
I truly believe in the power of testimony and the above scripture is indeed true for me as shortly after I got saved I was diagnosed with an "incurable" disease which was to cut a long story short killing me. Funny thing is that I never went for healing prayer to get rid of this disease because I was too busy dealing with the sin in my life!!!
I came to Christ from a very dark place and there were things in my life that I knew in my own strength I could not even recognise as ungodly - so I knelt at the alter rail and cried out to the Lord to take out everything that was in my life that should not be there and just put in what he wanted!
Ephesians 3:20
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Well that is what He did - exceeding abundantly above all that I asked or thought - next time I went to the hospital my disease had gone!!! It must have been very confusing for the hospital staff because what I had does not go and it does not get better. God let me live and because I live I will declare the works of the Lord.
As I have already said I have an obsessive personality and it makes me greedy for the things of God! As wonderful as what God did for me is I am not satisfied with it (told you greedy, greedy, greedy)!
That sounds awful doesn't it! But not to God I can feel Him smiling at me as I write it. He loves me, He loved me before I turned to Him, He loved me before I cried out to Him to remove what should not be there and He loves me now. Nothing I do or don't do changes how much He loves me and He loves me enough not to leave me as I was or even as I am.
When I cried out to Him he did not make me perfect, but He started a process
and God does not start what He will not finish!
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I gave Him permission to prune me and change me and I carry on giving Him that permission every day.
Not only am I greedy, but I am fussy too and I will not content myself with stale bread. If I spend all my time looking back at what He has already done then I am living on stale bread and I am sure that this would not make my Father smile, it would make Him weep!
You see He is God Almighty who can and will meet all my needs, He wants me to have fresh bread every day, just as He provided fresh manna for His people in the wilderness. But if I only ever look over my shoulder at what He has already done then I will never see the fresh bread He has put in front of me!
I need to turn to Him and His word every day........
Psalm 119:11
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
...........and ask Him in prayer what He has for me (things of eternal value not "stuff") then I will wait in excitement and expectation to see the wonderful works He is yet to do in my life!
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