admin
07-11-2007, 07:02 AM
GO TELL
"I will tell of the LORD’S unfailing love. I will praise the LORD for all he has done. I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted according to his mercy and love. He said, 'They are my very own people. Surely they will not be false again.' And he became their Savior. In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years."
Isaiah 63:7-9
For years I have admired the "Twelve Steps" of AA for many reasons. One of the most outstanding of the steps (in my opinion) is step twelve, which states, "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry the message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." In your case, as in mine, you may need to substitute "alcoholics" to something else, for me that something else is "hurting people."
Once we have experienced, like Isaiah, the mercy and love of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is hard to contain it. It is not a treasure we want to bury in a field, rather it is a treasure we want to share with others. God's heart breaks when His children serve and worship Him from empty ritual.
On a cool morning in April of 1994, when the Lord really began to get my attention at how superficial I was, He used the first chapter of Isaiah to wake me up about many things. One of them was the emptiness of my prayer life and my worship. That is exactly what Isaiah says he heard the Lord saying — He doesn't want His people to be "false again."
He bought us with the price of His very life's blood. The very least we can do is tell our story of how His unfailing love broke into our darkness and brought us into His light. From that point, He began a process of bringing up the bad stuff, shining His light in the wounds of our existence, cleaning us with His laser rays of love, and began setting us free from our selfishness.
Where are you in the process? Are there still wounds He is cutting open and healing? Take courage my friend, as Paul declared in Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again." If you are waiting on complete healing before you get to the work He has assigned you to, you may wait too long. Today is the first day of the rest of your life!
Our Lord knows suffering; we can trust that He understands our suffering. He will walk with us through our healing process and also guide us as we walk with someone else through their healing process. In Christianity there are indeed NO LONE RANGERS! We are to be a part of the community of believers, the Body of Christ, and about the business of encouraging each others on to good works for the Kingdom. He may be waiting to use your hand to reach the hand of another Billy Graham. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start praising Him for the pain and He will shine His light on the path where you are to walk, even if He has to start with a simple flashlight.
--Woes To Wows
"I will tell of the LORD’S unfailing love. I will praise the LORD for all he has done. I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted according to his mercy and love. He said, 'They are my very own people. Surely they will not be false again.' And he became their Savior. In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years."
Isaiah 63:7-9
For years I have admired the "Twelve Steps" of AA for many reasons. One of the most outstanding of the steps (in my opinion) is step twelve, which states, "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry the message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." In your case, as in mine, you may need to substitute "alcoholics" to something else, for me that something else is "hurting people."
Once we have experienced, like Isaiah, the mercy and love of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is hard to contain it. It is not a treasure we want to bury in a field, rather it is a treasure we want to share with others. God's heart breaks when His children serve and worship Him from empty ritual.
On a cool morning in April of 1994, when the Lord really began to get my attention at how superficial I was, He used the first chapter of Isaiah to wake me up about many things. One of them was the emptiness of my prayer life and my worship. That is exactly what Isaiah says he heard the Lord saying — He doesn't want His people to be "false again."
He bought us with the price of His very life's blood. The very least we can do is tell our story of how His unfailing love broke into our darkness and brought us into His light. From that point, He began a process of bringing up the bad stuff, shining His light in the wounds of our existence, cleaning us with His laser rays of love, and began setting us free from our selfishness.
Where are you in the process? Are there still wounds He is cutting open and healing? Take courage my friend, as Paul declared in Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again." If you are waiting on complete healing before you get to the work He has assigned you to, you may wait too long. Today is the first day of the rest of your life!
Our Lord knows suffering; we can trust that He understands our suffering. He will walk with us through our healing process and also guide us as we walk with someone else through their healing process. In Christianity there are indeed NO LONE RANGERS! We are to be a part of the community of believers, the Body of Christ, and about the business of encouraging each others on to good works for the Kingdom. He may be waiting to use your hand to reach the hand of another Billy Graham. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start praising Him for the pain and He will shine His light on the path where you are to walk, even if He has to start with a simple flashlight.
--Woes To Wows