The water splashed all around as the board gracefully glided through. The kids frolicked, water at the center of their fun. But just a few feet in front of them was the clean ocean water. They stopped too soon. They were sitting in the middle of the drainage/run off water. Unbeknownst to them, it wasn't the best place for them to stop. They needed to continue to walk forward, out of the dirty water and into the crashing, clean waves in front of them where the tide disperses any contamination into hundreds and thousands of miles of ocean, cleaning it.
I'm always puzzled by this. I want to run down and say, "Get out of there! Don't let your kids play in that water." Isn't that just what our Heavenly Father thinks as we sit in the "contaminated" things in our life? Isn't HE calling us to come out of it? Why do we all too often sit in the very places that is toxic to our souls?
The enemy's deception is slow and steady. One step here, a little step there until one day you're frolicking in a mess of destructive behavior and choices. Here's some truth friends... You NEVER have to stay there and continue to "sit" in it. JESUS is right in front of you. Do you not hear HIM tugging at your heart? One right decision at a time, prompting you to take a step in HIS direction as HE grabs hold of you hand. You do not have to walk alone. Today, stop. PRAY. Ask JESUS to help you move towards HIM. Ask HIM to pull you out of the muck and the mire of wrong choices. You're never too far. Your never beyond HIS reach. Let the Redeeming Blood of JESUS clean you up and set you free! Lord, I ask YOU to come into my heart and life. Remove anything that is not of YOU. Set me free from the chains and bondage of sin that has held me captive for far too long. I ask you to come into my life JESUS, making all things new. Forgive me and help me to forgive myself. I say these things in YOUR Mighty and Powerful Name JESUS, Amen.
"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:5-7 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."~John 14:6
Her tail began to wag furiously in anticipation; treats...her favorite highlight of the day. I opened the back door. She ran out thinking I was going to give it to her out there. But I quickly shut the door. You see...I have a problem, I love to play jokes, whether it's on my hubby, kids, friends and yes even my piercing blue eyed, beautiful Siberian Husky, Allie. She sat outside for a minute staring at me through the window and then quickly ran through the doggy door, into the living room and back into the kitchen. I promptly had the door open for her again. She ran right out. I closed the door. Back through the doggy door she came, circling back in to the all too familiar open back door. Slam. I was seriously curious to see how many times it would take her to catch on. We were all standing in the kitchen laughing. She ran back in and as I opened the door she stopped and stood next to me, waiting this time for me to go out first. The third time was the charm. She wasn't going to fall for it anymore. How many times does it take you to learn a lesson? Are you continuing to run through the same door that's led you down the wrong path time and time again? As you crawl your way back through the small "doggy door" trying to start over again...do you find yourself running straight at the door you know will close on you? Without changing habits, you will never see different results. The Lord is always calling you to Him. He has given you an escape. He wants you to learn to seek Him before you go running in the wrong direction again. He wants to teach you to "wait on Him." He will open a door that no man can shut when you "allow" Him to go before you preparing the way. Pray, seeking Him for the right path. Learn from your past mistakes. Don't continue to run in circles, never getting anywhere. Jesus wants to guide you to your true purpose, away from past sins that so easily entangle, attempting to drag you back in...a constant trick...a joke. You know the door will slam shut on that empty way of life. The Lord has sacrificed everything to show you a better way...a way out! Today, call out to Him. Ask Jesus to guide you, heal you, forgive you. Ask Him to make ALL THINGS new; setting you free from the chains of bondage which have held you captive for far too long. Lay it all down. Ask Jesus into your life, your heart...setting you free. Ask Him to take you deeper in His love. He is your Savior. He stands with outstretched arms, waiting to embrace you and go before you on the journey He has prepared for you. A safe passage. It's time to stop running in the wrong direction. You are loved! You were called for more! "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."~Romans 8:37 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These
things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of
David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name."~Revelation 3:7-8 AND AGAIN... "The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut; And he shall shut, and no one shall open."~Isaiah 22:22 "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."~Jeremiah 29:13
I sat at the ocean's edge. Listening. Watching. A large seaweed washed ashore. The waves crashed, engulfing...moving it along the sand. The larger waves forcing it in, then pulling it back out to sea. Rolling...pulling...pushing, at the mercy of the ocean.
Your life can often feel helpless like that. Each day bringing new trials...often leaving raw emotions in its wake. You push through the day but never truly feel at peace in the moment; right where you are. Your strength and ability falters. Hope threatens to drown into hopelessness. Faith to faithlessness.
Life...an ocean of wave after wave. You try to catch your breathe just in time for the next set. In the midst you begin to realize you've tried everything in your own strength. Nothing has changed. Sinking deeper you begin to pray, "Lord, I need you." A simple prayer of letting go. A broken cry from a heart in chains...drowning. In your deepest hour of need you're drawn to God. The empty space only He can fill.
Gathering your last ounce of strength you open the Bible, Talk to me Lord, I need you." "Be still, and know that I am God;I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10 "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD."
The Lord's been waiting for you to let go. PEACE. Even though the waves may continue to crash...the Peace of Jesus floods in. His love fills. It's a moment by moment, day by day prayer. Letting the Lord move and work. With each answered prayer, healing begins. Faith builds. Trust is restored.
Life's waves may come, but God's love is bigger than the waves. Turn the uncontrollable over to God to work all things out for His good and perfect will. Let go. The Lord says to you today, "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD..." Psalm 46:10
"He calms the storm,So that its waves are still.Then they are glad because they are quiet;So He guides them to their desired haven.Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,And for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107:29
.jpg)
.jpg)
