All were different and all had the same basic message.
It's a tough gospel passage to swallow, and it's a hard decision to make to follow Jesus at all cost.
So then if I continue on the road I've decided on I have to face the fact that I am going to have to give up the life I want to live in favor of the one Jesus is offering me.
I attended a healing service this evening and the Reverend Jon Lownds said it possibly the best way I've ever heard it. "We offer our-self as a living sacrifice. The trouble with living sacrifices is that they tend to crawl off the alter.
Only when I give my problems to God do they become His. Only then can he do what He does best-- heal our brokenness."
I'm glad I'm still human and imperfect. That way I know God can work with me and make out of this lump of broken clay a new creation of His own choosing ... well as soon as I get back to giving up my independence... (getting back up on the alter.)
It's amazing how many different ways a message can be interpreted and I'm glad some can see it through the eyes of a loving God.
This is the same message I heard yesterday...do you think God is trying to tell me something?
ReplyDeleteStaying on that altar is the hard part for me because I seem to love crawling off of it and making a mess and then having to get on it again....but I think of it as crawling back into the arms of my loving Father and He gives me a hug and says "let's try again".....oh isn't He wonderful........
Have a wonderful and blessed day my friend....
...crawling off the altar...easy...just a little push of the hip...and here I am on my own!
ReplyDelete"I can do this Lord...I can do it alone..."
Then I find myself crawling back up ...harder ...hard on the pride...hard to admit defeat...But Ahhhhh so good to be back in his forgiving arms....
Funny, I've never thought of you as someone who struggles to follow God's leading even when it comes to the hard stuff. so an alter jumper is just not something I see in you :-)
ReplyDeleteBrenda, an alter jumper is exactly what I've been finding out I am.
ReplyDeleteRemember this is the guy who can do everything on his own, no need to ask for help.
I have seen that I've treated God in the same manner.
Ouch!
Very well said Francois! I liked how you put it:
ReplyDelete"I'm glad I'm still human and imperfect. That way I know God can work with me etc.." I never really ever thought of it that way, but it is soooo true! In that case imperfection isn't such a loosing proposition we endure. Isn't it something how God can show us so much about ourselves when we go through trials. Wish for me it didn't have to happen that way, but my greatest lessons come usually in that very way.