Jealous lover?

Our God is a jealous lover.  He intensely longs to have our hearts alone.  He desires our complete devotion.  He will not share our hearts's affections with another.  We CANNOT give ourselves completely to God and to __________(fill in the blank).  When He takes up residence in our hearts, there is no room for anyone or anything else-- because He completely satisfies.  But there is a lie that our enemy continually whispers.  That every other thing will satisfy and God will not.  Most of  us who claim to follow Christ want God and _____.  Just enough of God to get us to Heaven when we die, and to fix our messes when we're in a jam, but not ALL of Him.

That might mess up our world.

He just might take over, setting up His kingdom and ruling Supremely in my life.  That means we're no longer in control.

I like being in control.

And I like gods that I can control.  Though I often try, I know I can't control the Supreme, and Living God.  He will not bow before me.  And He will not enter into my life unwelcomed.  He stands at the door and knocks.

Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I wil come in and eat with him and he with me. Rev 3:20

Naked and Thirsty

I've been reading through the gospels this year and more recently the Gospel of Luke.  I've been learning so much as I've been studying about the life of Jesus.  Several weeks ago I read something Jesus said that has confounded me for years.

 

Luke 5:36 He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. [37] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. [38] No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. [39] And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, `The old is better.' "

I've heard people talk about this referring to new paradigms.  Ok.  But I really wanted to understand this parable.  So I ask my Teacher to teach me.  And Oh boy!  The Holy Spirit opened my mind to understand this scripture, and spoke to me very personally.   I'd like to share what He revealed to me.

So Jesus gives two examples, to make a point.  First He uses clothes.  When your clothes or old, what do you do?  First, consider the culture in which Jesus lived.  The common person only owned one item of clothing--maybe two..  Believe it or not, many people around the world live like this.  Anyway, when clothes became worn, one would patch the holes, until it couldn't be patched anymore or until they were able to get a new garment.  Why would a person damage a new garment, to patch an old garment?  If you have access to a new garment, you would replace the old garment with the new garment, not patch up the old.  If a person were to patch up the old garment with the new cloth, the patch would be ineffective.  The new cloth would pull away from old cloth, and end up becoming an unwearable garment.  And guess what?  The new garment is ruined too!  The result:  No wearable garments.  

We end up naked!!!!

 Jesus uses wine and wineskin to illustrate the same point.  When a person was out of wine, they would need to make more wine.  If a person was to put new wine in an old wineskin, the wine would burst through the wineskin, leaving the person with no wine.  So instead of having wine, and a wineskin, they end up with nothing.  

They end up thirsty! 

So why would anyone do such absurd things?

Jesus answers that in His last statement.  "And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, `The old is better.' "  

No one wants "the new", because...

• The old is familiar
• The old is safe
• We think the good of the old will stay good

When we hold on too long to the old, being UNWILLING to change, we end up losing everything.  The good of the old is gone, and we don't experience the good of "the new" either.  We find ourselves in need of change, but instead of changing we want to patch our lives. You know, just fix the things in our lives that don't work.  

When "the new" presents itsself, take hold of the new.  Stop trying to make the new, fit into the old.

I'll be honest here.  The Holy Spirit is convicting me of this BIG TIME!  I've been praying that the Lord would change some things in my life, and I've been praying for a patch job.  God wants to give me a new garment.  Something I've never seen.  Something I'm not familiar with.  Something-- better.  Don't get me wrong.  The old garment wasn't bad.  It was good for a season, but now it's outdated and no longer provides the best for our family.  It's time to let go, before I lose all that I'm trying hold on to.  

Just as the old garment was good, I can trust that the new garment is good too.

Just as the old wine was good, the new wine will be just as good--maybe even better.

Are you in need of a big change in your life?

What are you refusing to let go of? 

 What are you asking God to patch in your life?  Are you asking Him to fix the things you don't like, so you don't have to really change?

Can you trust our Loving, and completely wise Heavenly Father to give you that which best for you?

Will you give Him permission to change anything He wants to change?  Anything.

 

He wants to replace your old and worn garments with a fresh new garment.  He wants you fully clothed, not naked.  He wants to replace your old and empty wineskins with new wineskins full of wine.  He wants you satisfied, not thirsty.

Let's encourage each other on this journey.

Let me know what big change you've been praying for, and how God surprised you (or is surprising you) with the most amazing blessings as you walked out into the unknown of "the new".  

I'll be sharing my story of change soon.  I think this post is long enough.  ;-)

40 Days of Discovery - Day 27

No, you haven't missed any days.  I just haven't posted in a while.  There's been a lot going on.

I laid in bed this morning praying, and listening to the Holy Spirit.  I thought about the fact that Jesus wasn't able to heal many people in his home town.  BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF.  How could they believe that a carpenter's son was the long awaited messiah?  They would not believe.  Perhaps that's why we don't see many miracles in America.  We trust too many others things.  Doctors, medicine, bank accounts, the gov't, jobs, our resources...  What if we had no hope, no options but God.  I have a feeling that we would cry out in desperation like many I read about in the Bible.  And if we are struggling with unbelief, we would cry out, "Help my unbelief!"  That is my prayer.

I also thought of the scripture that says don't be filled with much wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Drunk people are controlled by the enemy.  Scripture says drunkenness leads to debauchery--wreckless immorality or excessive indulgence of appetites.  It is a tool the enemy uses to lower our inhibitions so that are are easier to control.  Every time I've read about a group of  people who are oppressed, alcohol and drugs are always involved.  As I think of my own family's history, both of my grandfather's did horrible things when they were drunk.  The enemy is a tyrant.  He doesn't ask to rule.  He just takes over and does what he wants, at the expense of the human.  Satan HATES us (humans)! We're made in God's image, and just think, God gave us the opportunity to rule over him.  Boy, he doesn't want us to know that!

The second half of that verse says we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  We are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.  Unlike the enemy, the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, as my friend Tamatha always says. His control brings good to us and to others--the HIGHEST good.  He makes Himself available to us.  He desires to control us, but he will only control us if we permit Him.  We must submit ourselves, saying, "Yes Lord have your way."  Then let Him take control.  It kinda reminds me of a game that my family plays called Family Fun Cranium.  One of the challenges requires one team member to hold a pencil while the another teammate controls the first  person's hand.  Only the person doing the controlling knows the answer.  Every one else in the group has to guess what is being drawn.  I hope that makes sense.  The pictures come out pretty funny looking.  Person 1 (the one holding the pencil) must resist the urge to control the pencil.  He  has to trust the one who knows the answer, even if he thinks he knows.  If they are able to do this, they have a better chance of winning the challenge.

I admit that I really don't know how to let the Holy Spirit control me.  I'm learning though.  I know it involves waiting.  Waiting to hear from Him before doing anything, instead of me just doing what I think.  Boy, I need some re-training in that area!  It involves listening.  Which means I must be quiet and still enough to  His voice.  It involves releasing.  Releasing my own personal desires.  Releasing my need to understand, first.  Releasing sin.  Releasing my desire to look good in front of others.  (Sometimes the Holy Spirit will tell you to do something that will make you look like a fool!)  It reminds me of a story I read recently about a man who died in a car accident and spent 90 minutes in Heaven.  A pastor and His wife happened to be traveling on the same road of the accident.  When he realized that there was an accident, he went to make his services available.  He wanted to know if anyone needed prayer.  Well, the injuries were only minor and another man was already dead.  The Holy Spirit told this pastor to pray for the dead man.  He was absolutely convinced that he was supposed to pray for the dead man.  But the paramedics kept telling him, no, this man has been dead for over an hour.  There was no need to pray for him.  The pastor persisted.  Finally, the paramedic gave in.  I'm sure the paramedic thought this pastor was a complete idiot.  Who wouldn't?   So he crawled into the back of the vehicle, put his hand on the man's shoulder and began praying.  The Holy Spirit even told him what to pray for.  He prayed that the man would have no internal injuries.  He prayed and sang, and before you know it, the dead man began singing with him.  The man wasn't dead anymore! And later, the doctors were amazed that he had no internal injuries!  This man, Don Piper, is alive today!

Releasing is hard, especially in this culture.  The mantra of America tells us to be independent, self-sufficient, strong, and competent.  Pull yourselves up by your boot straps.  Be resilient.  Work Hard.  Don't be a loser.  Don't be an idiot. Make yourself happy.  You deserve it.  No one wants to look like an idiot.  No one wants to appear weak or incompetent.  No one wants to take this Christianity thing too far!  Let's be reasonable here.  God gave us a brain, right?  And yet, when I read scripture, God's people did take it too far!  They were willing to obey, no matter the cost.  All around the world, God's people are joyfully serving Him at GREAT cost.  Their devotion encourages and convicts me.  They have the same Holy Spirit as I.  They are human like me, and yet they are able to withstand great opposition for the Name of Jesus.  I have a hard time withstanding funny looks from people.  Lord make me bold for you! 

If the Holy Spirit is to control us, we must believe and trust.  First believe that we have the Holy Spirit.  Believe that through the Holy Spirit we have been given a power that cannot be compared with any other power--known and unknown.  We must believe that this power is like the working of His mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised Him from the dead.  2nd we must trust the Holy Spirit.  Trust that He knows all and sees all.  Trust that He speaks.  Trust Him enough to obey His leading.  Trust that He will provide and protect.  He will protect us from deception.  He will  provide ALL we need.  Trust His timing. It's often inconvenient, or longer than we expect. Trust His methods. It's often unconventional. Trust that I have more than enough to give freely of His gifts.  Trust that He is completely good.  We can only give ourselves to someone we completely trust.  And even He will teach us how to do this.  Oh, God thank you for that.  Help me to trust you more.  Teach me more about yourself, and help me to believe.  Teach me how to give myself completely to you.  Show me modern day examples.

Hope this makes up for me not posting for a few days.

May the Holy Spirit display His power to you today, and through you for the rest of your days!

Ephesians 5:18-20

¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2 corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.