Get Up!
Pride
Smashed, and set aside
Run away, but you can't hide
My love will always find you
Your god is your belly
Your path leads to hell
And the works of your goodness
Will follow you there
The fruit of your righteousness
Is your soul's dead end
Come out of your bonds!
LET THE LIGHT IN!
Get up!
Come out of there
Follow Me, and I will lead you where
The rest you seek is waiting
GET UP!
This poem cuts deep and I have been hesitant to post it.......it lays bear the struggle within me, and my response can only be this:
GUILTY!
The truth is I'm still a sinner that is very much, and always will be, in need of a Saviour.
My heart is full of pride (I can feel heads nodding as I'm writing this), but I can find rest in knowing that while this rebellion in me may be able to run and hide for a little while, the Lord will always find it.......and He will smash it, just as He promises to do for all the remaining sin in my life. I am not called to be perfect, as He is.......I am called to surrender, because He is. He alone is without sin - He alone can overcome it.
The frustration is that overcoming the sin in my life is a continual refining process that the Lord oversees in accordance with His will, His way, and His timing. It is not the instant transformation that I want it to be.......presto chango.......it is a path that must be walked with our Saviour, Jesus Christ. And, as I have so "gracefully" demonstrated in my walk with Him, it is often messy and riddled with mistakes and mis-steps, all of which result in a blow to my precious ego.
And so, here we are.......and the lesson for me is this:
Until the blessed day comes when my Lord calls me home, what I need to be doing is reiterated in the two lines of this poem with the most emphasis:
LET THE LIGHT IN!
GET UP!
LETTING THE LIGHT IN is about submitting to His will. If, like the prophet Jonah, I am on a ship headed to Tarshish when I was clearly instructed to go to Nineveh, it means turning the ship around in the right direction.
GETTING UP is about accepting the consequences for my disobedience. If, like Jonah, I refuse to heed God's instruction, it means getting up - after being swallowed up, taken down, turned around, and spit back up on the shore of Nineveh - and moving forward in the direction of His will.
It's the same lesson that Jonah learned in the belly of the great fish that God sent to move him in the right direction:
"They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
.......Salvation is of the LORD."
(Jonah 2:8-9)
We are given the freedom to obey God or do it our way (or someone else's). How we choose to respond to Him will shape the course that lies ahead and ultimately leads to our final and eternal destination - heaven or hell.
God already knows how your journey ends - do you?
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called:
and whom He called, them He also justified:
and whom He justified, them He also glorified."
(Romans 8:28-30)
There is only one God, and there is only one way that leads to salvation, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!
".......I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
- Jesus (John 14:6)
His offer of grace is extended to all who will accept it - it doesn't require perfection. It doesn't matter what you have done (or haven't done) - it isn't about you, it's all about Him!
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
The first step is to come to Him - to submit to His authority. He will lead you from there, just as He promises to!
"Come unto Me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."
- Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)
"For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast."
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
Lord, help me to submit myself to You and be obedient to Your will - I can't do it without You!
#BelieveInJesusChristToLive
#PoweredByPresence
#DoingTheRightThing
(Last Updated 11/26/2021)