God sent Jesus to BLESS you, not to curse you...

4/19/2003

Thoughts, as i read the e-mail from yesterday, “Jesus Is!”

Love, mary

“God, having raised up His servant, Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

It is a blessing, a blessing............A BLESSING!! ....when God turns us AWAY from our sin, our addictions, our SELVES! It is not a CURSE that He wants to peel our paws off our pride. It’s not a threat when He entreats us and pleads with us to PLEEEEAASSEE drop our FEARS—whatever they may be.

Can you look and see that He is drawing you to SALVATION??? He is working to RESCUE you from the grip of FEAR: fear of pain, fear of failure, fear of scandals, fear of disappointment, fear of emptiness, fear of loneliness, fear of being bored, fear of losing control, fear of letting go of creature comforts, the desires of your flesh, your security blankets and good feelings. What are you afraid of that He can’t utterly take care of? Do you relegate GOD into being a powerless wimp when it comes to your problems, insecurites, uncertainties and fears? Please don’t do that. How shallow, insulting and foolish to “trust” in our paper-mache fortresses rather than the MIGHT and Strength of GOD.

What is it that could be soooo important to us? So beneficial? So good?———compared to a rapturous knowing of His Love, firsthand, in the heart? A closeness to His dreams and kindness and out-of-this-world Wonder? FREE of the trappings of our pitiful fallen flesh and the twisted, distorted work of sin that leaves us empty, trashed, torn and bloody—and lonely and ugly inside. What has caught our attention so much that we have trouble disengaging our eyes and desires? What is it that keeps us from loving to look at Him and want Him? What chokes the Life and hinders His Spirit from being able to freely flow into our lives? These are important questions to answer. And if we are God-conscious we will know that we must bring our fears and “important” things we want, under His Light. We’ll know we need to bring them under His scrutiny and we’ll beg Him to show us the truth about their ugly hold over us. We will repent—turning from our little gods, and turn to the True and Living God. In Him we will find Life that is truly Life.

Remember: He is being KIND to lead you to repentance. He really does want to BLESS you, and not curse you. He wants Life to be GOOD for you, not bad. Why in the world ELSE would He subject Himself and His beloved Son (the One in whom He was soooo, well-pleased!!) to scrutiny, abuse, judgement of men, accusation and torture? Didn’t He go through it for YOU and for ME? To turn us from our sin? Yes—it was for each of us...for those He created with deep love in His heart....for Life, Liberty and Love.

So heed His overtures of Love as He leads you to repentance, okay? Open your controlling grip. Stop fighting His Will for you to be blessed and to be set free. Stop whining, fussing and making excuses. Let Him be God. Let His Truth mean something to you. Obey what He has said about who His Son is, and who He wants you to be in relation to Him. Stop fighting and arguing with yourself and with Him. Stop justifying, dodging, avoiding, and skirting the REAL issues. Let Him peel your frantic, sore fingers from the grip you hold on sin—and the grip that it chokes you with. Recognize His KINDNESS in the process. It’s for your Good, not your harm. To BLESS you, not to curse you.

When you do, you’ll enjoy God’s favor, His Rest, His Cleansing, Peace and Freedom from slavery’s chains around your neck. Like something you never dreamed possible.

Come Home where you belong. : )

“God, having raised up His servant, Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

•  Jesus Is!