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 WAKING UP

It usually comes at some degree of shock when the Lord Jesus wakes us up and by the Holt Spirit reveals to us...shows us what is no surprise to Him. He provides a personal epiphany, causing us to see the wounds and pain we have been carrying around for years. The sorrow and brokenness that various forms of injustice have marked us by. 

A very natural response to seeing what has been beneath the surface of life for longer than we ever knew, wounds that have been influencing attitudes and action unbeknownst to us, is anger. There may even be rage at what has caused damage to our hearts, our minds, our will and emotions. God is not offended at the immediacy of our response. It is not by accident that we now see what was for so long hidden. God has been working His salvation in us, transforming us by the life the Holy Spirit lives in us. God makes us ready to be healed and liberated at a level deeper than we have known. Having begun a good work in us, He has promised to bring that work to completion by the day of Christ,

We must take care to remember that we have never been, nor will we ever be able to affect any degree of salvation in our lives. Salvation is of the Lord alone. All that we have and all that we are must be surrendered to Him for His work of grace and mercy to us. We must take care not to give such rein to our initial anger and sorrow that it finds a "resting place" and become embedded in our souls.

Newly seeing your great need and finding that there is no human way to effect relief or reconciliation from those who were the scar-givers in your past, do not despair. Remember that the One who saved you, Who united you by the holy Spirit to both His death and His resurrection has not abandoned you, but will, here and now, still be your Life-Changer.

Take all the grievances, all the shock and sorrow, all the anger and frustration to the Lord, asking for His grace to release it all and believe Him. This revelation is not some cruel accident, but the intervention of His grace. The Lord Jesus will never leave you wallowing in this present stuff. He has opened your eyes and heart to it so that you might surrender it to Him. You mustn't deny it, but put it in His hands, giving it all up to His healing power. Forgiveness is crucial here, forgiving those "scar-givers" even as you have been forgiven.

He has brought it to the surface not to mock you in your need. Only your ancient foe would do that. He is asking you to lay it all at His feet so He can peel it away, heal and restore you. The great liberation for us is to remember that God never demands that we have a part in our own salvation. The Lord never asks us to effect change in ourselves, He asks us to trust Him as He changes us. We will never save, redeem, transform or make new any aspect of who we are. All we can offer is our, "Yes!" and "Thank You!" to Him and He gives repentance as His gift empowering us to believe and receive.


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