Because of my confession of faith in Jesus Christ and a life lived admitting I am a sinner saved by grace, I am bought, purchased, paid for, and my life is His.
I am a daughter of the Most High. Set free, redeemed, chosen, called, ordained by The Great, “I Am” to live without sin or shame. Having free access behind the veil, with The One who angels bow down to, The Holy of Holies.
I don’t need the approval of “man”, permission, blessing by other human’s to be who I was created to be. I don’t need validation, acceptance, accolades, or rewards of praise to walk in the pre-destined will He has given and created me for.
I can and will live from victory, because I know the ending, and have the DNA of the resurrected Savior living within me.
I refuse to cloak myself in false humility, shame…like I once used to; shrinking back in timidity and fear…as if silence somehow is righteous.
I will not be intimidated by other’s voices. Those who are slamming His declaration through threats of political correctness, lies taunting that truth and honesty isn’t loving, or that those who say…silence is tolerance…
And acceptance for sin through apathy, lethargy, and complacence is somehow good….when it isn’t.
I will stand tall, look up, put my shoulders back, walk in the blood bought boldness and authority He has given to me through the death and resurrection of the only Righteous One, The One who comes like both, a Lion and a Lamb.
Others voices won’t sway me, other’s opinions, thoughts, ideas, and opinions get weighted only in the light of His truth, His Word, His ways, His purposes.
And words rooted in doubt, unbelief, or fear, I won’t consider, evaluate, or meditate on.
If the roots of the tree are poison, then the fruit is always bitter.
I’ll look for healthy fruit. Fruit that once we bite into it, it won’t be rotten. I won’t water, plant, or give attention to dark forests filled with things that will ultimately destroy us.
My body is His temple, my heart is His dwelling place. My life is His vessel, His clay to do with what He wants. And darkness and lightness don’t mix…even if the world tells us it is somehow compatible.
Good trees bear good fruit. Light comes from rooting my mind, thoughts, words, heart, and life in the reality that the walk of Christianity won’t always be comfortable or popular, easy or accepted by all….even other Christians.
And in my walk, I refuse to let the wall of a building define my relationship with Jesus. I refuse to let an earthly person, denomination, or any form of legalism put boundaries or margins on my God who expands the ocean, reaches past the mountains, uses the earth as His footstool and holds my life in His hands.
I choose this day to walk in life and power and freedom bought when a baby was born in a manger. When that same sinless man came and died for our ransom, then rose so that the same power that raised Christ from the dead could live in me.
No body could contain Him, no man can limit Him, no religion can define Him, No sin can make Him love His children less.
And we are called…I am called….to walk in love and grace, to reach right into that very same place where He once found me…
Shouting His truths with my actions, reflecting His goodness with my life as His witness, speaking boldly of His goodness, at times and in each location He instructs and asks me to.
And if I ever see people as sinners more than grace-magnets, as burdens more than blessings, with judgement more than with His eyes of forgiveness, hope, and mercy…Lord, forgive me.
For, doesn’t all of heaven rejoice when on lost lamb, the coin, the prodigal comes home and finds rest in His arms?
And who are we to know who the chosen are? Can we tell by their clothes, or where they sit, or how much they work to please God?
Wasn’t He drawn to the prostitute, the tax collector, the blind, the beggar, the most least likely to have the Savior of the Universe come low and reach them?
And oh might I not forget who I was before He found me; rebellious, these very lips cursing and renouncing His very existence. Yet, His mercy came down and found me. His forgiveness upon repentance washed me clean…as if I had never sinned.
And when I have held bitterness, unforgiveness, or offense against those who had maimed me or left me neglected…those people who lashed out, forgot, despised, or never saw me in my weakness….
When I needed to be known, and seen, and treated with the delicacy and tenderness only you could give…and yet were forsaken.
I ask you Lord, will you forgive them? I forgive them.
The cancer of bitterness I refuse to take hold of.
And yet, this heart needs to heal from their wounds…not scabbed over…but be renewed and made whole. Redeeemed unto the the heart and perfection of a child; trusting, playful, innocent, filled with hope and joy, and life.
Would you pour out your Spirit, the way water brought life to those in the desert? Fill me in places that were barren and desolate, even if I have yet to see where, yet?
Quench my thirsty soul?
Then, set a fire in me, like that with Elijah when taunted by the false prophets of Baal. Cast out all false God’s and reveal a fire so hot, so strong, that it lathered up the taunters.
Consume me so much so that even evil would see and hear and know that you are a God who is more than someone we bow on a rug, or sit on a shelf and pray to.
You are fire, power, life, resurrection, redemption, healing, restoration, goodness, grace, mercy, the first, the last….so much more than some God made from tales or stones or prophets filled with perversion.
Won’t they know you, not because of our pious representations, or because we are good and articulate, but so that love would reign so supreme in us, truth would be balanced with a life filled with genuine fruitfulness.
Would they see you in us, Jesus, before we speak a word.
Might we be different, changed, empowered by a good God who does things Psychology, and yoga, great minds, or New Age can’t?
Let our love come and shine so bright like a city on a hill, a lamp set high. Let the whole world know and wonder when they see us…”Who is this great God?”
Let us be marked by Your love that listens, trusts, gives lavishly, opens our doors to the broken and hurting.
Let our love be more than words, but the kind that takes in the widows and orphans, stops to talk to the broken, sets aside our agendas to make love tangible, transparent, practical. Real.
And might I remember as the night sets in, that you are everything; my refuge, my strong tower, my peace and hope, my joy, my fountain of life in a world trying to silence the voice of those who live by faith.
And if I ever stood like the faithful in the crusades; lion, sword, or death waiting for me to renounce you as Lord…Might I be like the saints.
Knowing my prize is in you, singing an anthem of grace, joining the privileged…those who have seen and know your face and heard.
For, your sheep will hear your voice. And once we hear your sweep whispers of grace…everything, changes. Our world doesn’t matter…all that matters then, is you.
Thank you that you are our prize and reward. In a life filled with clutter, we live not for our own purposes and wants…but yours, Jesus.
You are the First, the Last, the Beginning and the end, the Great High Priest, the God of Grace and Mercy. You are Jehovah Rapha, the redemption that we seek. You are a humble Savior, coming as the Risen Lord on a White Horse we can almost see as the clouds begin to part.
Thank you that you will never leave, never forsake us. That our very breath and identity is in you and our hope finds refuge in your very heart.
Thank you for the blood that paid the price to welcome us in. Because of it, we can place our head on your lap, wash your feet with our hair, almost see and hear you singing and dancing over us, as it says in scripture…
And heaven’s declare. The Great Cloud of Witnesses are cheering us on to an ending we can’t even imagine.
We are yours Lord. Bought. Paid for. Chosen to live a life of Love. Arms out wide…open like yours were on the cross…
And we say, “Yes Lord. Here we are. Use us.”
“You are everything, the very prize that we seek.”
