True Woman Start the Make-Over
My "MAKE-OVER STORY" will be found at my other blog, CRE8TED 2 SHARE.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The 3 "R's" of Life
So, I have finished my 'blog' for DAY 1 of the challenge, and while I was reading the message from Nancy, I got the insight into this devotional. During my own thoughts on my 'make-over', I also was inspired, and more info was revealed to me through God and His Holy Spirit.
1. RELATE (RELATIONSHIP)
2. REPENT (REPENTANCE)
3. RENEW (RENEWAL) & REVIVE (REVIVAL)
and two more important ones that fit into those 3 are 'REAL & REVEAL'.
1. FIRST & FOREMOST, we need to have a RELATIONSHIP with God. Some call Him God; Father; Heavenly Father; Abba; Daddy; The guy upstairs, etc... Whatever you call Him (as long as its in reverance), He wants a personal intimate relationship with YOU. (not just your Grandma, or Great Uncle Al) He desires to know and meet intimately with EACH of His creation. This is NOT religion-based. Christianity by name is seen as a world religion, yet a TRUE Christian or Christ-follower is indeed that... someone who follows Christ. Someone who follows the teachings and has a RELATIONSHIP with God, His Son and His Holy Spirit (They are 3-in-1, yet they are also 3 separate and important entities).
2. We must REPENT to have this RELATIONSHIP.
According to dictionary.com (Random House), repent is a verb which means;
1.to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc. (often fol. by of): He repented after his thoughtless act.
2.to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better; be penitent.
We ALL have sinned, (and will continue to sin unfortunately, as our mind is filled with carnal thoughts), and therefore fall short of the glory of God. (see Romans 3:23) Because of our sin, the penalty that we should receive is death. However, through God's GRACE (getting something we don't deserve) & MERCY (not getting something that we do deserve) we can receive and live fully in our salvation and eternal life with God. (see Romans 6:23)
3. We must RENEW this RELATIONSHIP daily. We need to spend time with Him and enjoy being in His presence. Just sitting in church for an hour isn't the time needed to RENEW your relationship. Church is a time where the body is to be edified and encouraged by a Shepherd and each other. Now don't get me wrong, you are able to RENEW your relationship at the altar, yet to keep the relationship going strong, time needs to be spent alone with God. Our intimate times alone with God is where we RENEW our love and purpose in relationship with Him.
"Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved." Psalm 80:18-19
...and We need to REVIVE our hearts and our spirits, as we RENEW our RELATIONSHIP. Revival is not a noun as the dictionary states, it is not always something that happens once or maybe twice in our lifetime in a big ol' tent, 'Revival' is an ACTION. Revive is a verb. To be revived, means that you were once dead, and now made alive again.
"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? " - Psalm 85:6
"After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." Hosea 6:2
According to Random House Dictionary (dictionary.com), revival is a noun which means:
1.restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength, etc.
2.restoration to use, acceptance, or currency: the revival of old customs.
3.a new production of an old play.
4.a showing of an old motion picture.
5.an awakening, in a church or community, of interest in and care for matters relating to personal religion.
6.an evangelistic service or a series of services for the purpose of effecting a religious awakening: to hold a revival.
7.the act of reviving.
8.the state of being revived.
9.Law. the reestablishment of legal force and effect.
A 'restoration to life'; a 'restoration to use'; 'an awakening' -- WOW! I like the picture that 'restoration' brings to mind. When you restore old furniture or cars, etc... you help to bring it back to life once again, so that it is useful. You don't change the purpose of the item, but you change the way it can be used. God created us to be something unique and through sin, we are not living up to His expectations. However, through revival & His holy restoration, we can be made once again into what He wants. (I have been reading "The ME I Want To Be" by John Ortberg, and in his book he talks about this as well.) God wants to restore us, and make us 'new'... but we are still the person that God created us to be. In John Ortberg's book, he states, we become a "youier you".
According to Random House Dictionary (dictionary.com), restore is a verb which means:
1.to bring back into existence, use, or the like; reestablish: to restore order.
2.to bring back to a former, original, or normal condition, as a building, statue, or painting.
3.to bring back to a state of health, soundness, or vigor.
4.to put back to a former place, or to a former position, rank, etc.: to restore the king to his throne.
5.to give back; make return or restitution of (anything taken away or lost).
6.to reproduce or reconstruct (an ancient building, extinct animal, etc.) in the original state.
Going back to the definition of 'revival' -- #3 states "a new production of an old play." Holy Spirit revealed to me that when we are in a state of revival, we can and will do more than ever before. The 'old play' or the Biblical & Historical Events (not stories) that are found in God's Word need to be revealed, revived and restored in our lives today. Jesus, Himself stated that we as believers can see greater things. These promises can be found throughout Scripture,
John 1:50 -- "Jesus said, 'You believe[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.'"
John 5:20 -- "For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these."
John 14:12 -- "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."
To live our life with these 3 "R's", we must also be REAL and allow His Spirit and His Word to REVEAL Himself/Itself in our lives. We cannot wear a mask of falseness, or be phony with those in the world, or with God Himself. Sometimes we think we can fool others, and maybe we actually do, but we can never fool God (although for some reason we think we can). If we live our lives being REAL and authentic people and Christ-followers, then others will have the desire to follow as well. When we allow His Spirit to break us, mold us, and use us to His purposes and His glory, then He will be able to REVEAL new and exciting truths to us. But again, we have to have that REVIVED, RENEWED RELATIONSHIP with the Father.
"For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" Isaiah 57:15
Live a life pleasing to the Lord - one from 2 Chronicles 7:14, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING (in someone else's life)!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment