The Transition is Real

John 3:16-17 NASB
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.”

Sometimes I hate words, because at times, they can seem to be wholly inadequate to express the essence of the reality that lives within this mind, spirit and body of mine. Where I am today is not where I was years ago. I knew “of” Jesus but I did not know Him like I know Him today. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve only just begun, I know that I have only scratched the surface, but I am there and being there is as different as night is from day. Jesus truly is the Light that has come into the world.

This “transition” that has taken place, where He truly is my refuge, where He truly is my source, where He truly is my peace, is a gift beyond all gifts. And there is no way in which I could possibly put this “transition” into words. I love Jesus. He is all that He says that He is. 
Without Him I can literally do nothing. He is my shepherd, He and He alone paid the price that my ways and my thoughts had separated me, from our heavenly Father, who is Holy. And our heavenly Father, determined that His Son would do for us, what we in ourselves could never, ever do. Be Holy, like our Father is Holy, without sin.

Hebrews 1:3-4 NASB
“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, to the extent that He has inherited a more excellent name than they.” This is Jesus that the writer of Hebrews is talking about. Jesus – the Lamb of God without blemish.

For far too many years, I didn’t get it, I held onto, I relied on, I responded to, my own desires and logical thinking of getting to where I thought I wanted to go, or getting what I thought I wanted to get, keeping Jesus in my mind and even in my heart, at a distance, so that I still was in control. And there really is only one word to express that time period, grace, God’s grace and His enduring patience. 

I learned, during that period, that even though I loved my wife and our children, the me in me, could destroy that love that was good, because I, in and of myself was not good. I learned, during that period, that knowing wasn’t the same as doing and giving lip service to God fooled only me and definitely not Him. And it wasn’t always total denial, there were numerous instances when trusting God for His direction and strength manifested results that clearly showed His purposes at work in me, but the course had not been set, my hands had not been set to the plow. I would take back the leadership, I would allow the me in me to rise again, and I did this, time and time again. 

Of course, as we read God’s Word, we are confronted with the reality that Jesus is Lord. There is no half way with Jesus. Lip service fools no one but us. Jesus is Lord. And I fought that for many years, moving forward one step and taking two steps back, numerous times.

I don’t remember specifically when I began to understand the necessity and reality of trusting Jesus over my own understanding. I’m thinking it was a process, but I liken it to learning how to ride a bike. Sooner or later both of your feet have to leave the ground. You can’t enjoy the freedom of riding a bike, with one or both of your feet on the ground. It’s either the bike you rely on to support you, or you with your feet, but it can’t be both, not at the same time, because as we all know, it doesn’t work that way. I know the analogy is not perfect, but I’m thinking you get my drift.

I set my hands to the plow about ten years ago and it was only then that God’s Word changed from being abstract wisdom to practical reality and I’m really just a kid in learning of the ways of the Lord. I mess up every day, in either thought, word or deed, but now, most times (not always), I am aware of it, and most days, there is a decrease in frequency. That is new and now my shortfalls bother me, whereas I barely gave that a thought before. I apologize much more than I used to and I seek God’s guidance to repair any wrong that I may have done, and I do it. Our God is a gracious God.

And I never appreciated how often I can mess up or how little I know. It’s a lot of little things that I never noticed before. A tone I convey, a word without thought or selfishness. But on the other side of the coin there are also new awarenesses, the worth and beauty of love, the need to forgive, to trust and commit, and to leave it there. And gratefulness is there, much more gratefulness than before. Jesus was totally right about removing the log from our own eye before trying to remove a twig from another. I had a lot of logs in my eyes and He and I are still getting rid of them. Picking a hill to die on (righteous judgement), has taken on a whole new meaning.

I can’t prove any of this to someone else. It’s like learning to swim, each of us individually has to eventually get into the water. You can analyze it all you want or critique why the water won’t support you but to experience the reality, once again, your feet have to leave the bottom, even when you are in the water. Strange how these lessons are all around us if we only look.

I don’t really know why I wrote this post, other than our Lord told me to do it, early this morning, through His voice that I have come to know. That quiet voice that I have learned to pay attention to. Sometimes the words He gives me seem to form themselves, like this one has, so I’m thinking that someone, somewhere, really needs to read this and take it to heart. 

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!