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| God promises to set you free from bondage isn't time you allowed Him to remove your shackles? |
Rise above it. Whatever the situation – take courage and
rise above it! Sometimes we can get so
caught up and trapped in situations that we had no business stepping into, but what
the devil has meant for evil God can use for good!
If you are a prodigal and you are
stuck in the mire of a situation and feeling like you will never be free – that
is a lie of the devil to keep you from being and doing ALL that the Father has
for you to do. Sometimes if you aren’t
strong enough to close the door yourself – God will close the door for
you. He has a higher calling for you, of
that you can be sure because the devil never bothers those who are complacent. He’s not concerned with them because they
will always be fence sitters, they are lukewarm and they are not a threat!
If you are on your journey back
home and all you see is the filth you’ve accumulated during your prodigal time
and it is slowing down your walk back home to the Father, the Word of God says:
“Though your sins are scarlet I shall make
them white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)
Instead of allowing yourself to
wallow in the scum at the bottom of the barrel, allow yourself to float with
the cream at the top! That is where God
meant you to be and the blessings He has in store for you are so much more than
what you could possibly imagine.
Stop beating yourself up! Stop settling for less than what God has for
you! Yes, a lot of the circumstances we get tangled in are made up of our own
bad choices and of our own doing, but they are not ones that God intended you to encounter. That being said, nothing comes as a surprise
to Him, if He can make diamonds out of coal surely He can sure turn your
situation around for His glory.
Listen prodigal, look at your
situation! Is it one you are hiding so that no one else can see? Something you delete off your Facebook for example? Is it one you
cannot openly declare? Is it one that causes you pain or sorrow? Is it one that is emotionally unhealthy? One
filled with emotional blackmail? Is it
an addiction? Addictions come in various
packages – sometimes you can be addicted to a person! Sometimes you can be addicted to a lifestyle –
don’t just think of the typical addictions (that are just as serious) like smoking, drugs, sex or alcohol. Sometimes the
traps of the devil come in the prettiest of wrappings. It makes sense if you think about it, the
devil uses things that are appealing or tempting, you’d never be attracted to
something that was not. Think about it. Is it a situation that is off-balanced? Is it one that causes you to be in solitude,
separate from everyone else? Or makes you feel bad about yourself? These are all signs that this is not God’s
best for you. God wants you to walk in
the FULLNESS of life. The Bible says:
“I have come that you may have life and have
it ABUNDANTLY.” (John 10:10)
Here is the thing: It is your
choice. You can choose God’s best or you
can choose less. The price to pay for
less is your peace, your joy and the heart knowledge that you are not walking
in the fullness God intended you to have.
Your life is mediocre and humdrum and stale and you feel as though you simply
exist from day to day. You have a sense
that there is more to life than this but you won’t do anything about finding
the “more” because you just don’t believe you can achieve it or deserve it. God has given you free will and the choice
you make is the life you’ll live, stagnant.
A person can be trapped in that
line of thought and lifestyle for years, or for their entire life. How sad is that? It is when we listen to that niggling
thought, like a pesky fly buzzing around our head that we decide to DO
something about it. I call it the “No-more
– Jello-Pudding-for-me, Ma!” moment when we have had enough and we get up out
of our chair, push the chair into the table and walk away. Walk away from mediocrity, walk away from
being treated in manner that is less than you deserve. Walk away from the addiction. Walk away from someone who refuses to put you
first! Walk away from the lies and petty promises! Walk away from the highs and the lows!
When you are willing to make a
choice for better, knowing that there is nothing better than God’s good and
perfect will for you, your life will change.
How will you know what that is?
By the fruit of the Spirit:
“But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
When you have reached that point of
walking away from the merry go round (God did not mean you to be on a life ride
that just goes around and around in a continuous unending journey of circles),
you will be ready for the next chapter of your life – don’t be fearful, be
excited! Are you hurting? In time God
will heal the pain and it will be nothing more than a scar and a story to
share, a story which the devil may have intended to use for his glory and to
destroy your life to a story of victory that God has used to minister to others
and glorified His name. If the devil had
“really” been smart he would have left you alone in the first place because
there is nothing more powerful than someone who realizes that it is nothing BUT
the blood of Jesus, God’s grace, His mercy, His love and His forgiveness that
keeps them going. Someone who has become
humble enough through their prodigal time to share with others that, yes I
missed the mark (big time!) and travelled a path God did not intend me to travel,
but in doing so I have learned that there is NO one worthy, NO one righteous
and perhaps before I may have thought that I was... Heaven cannot be “earned.”
It is only by the precious blood of our Savior that enables us to be able to
come boldly before the throne of God. I have learned compassion, I have learned
humbleness and I have learned that unless you have walked in the shoes of
someone else, you have NO idea what they have been through. You have no right to judge. Instead of focusing on what someone else has done or is experiencing or has experienced perhaps you need to take a good long look at your own self and the things YOU need to change? The Bible says:
"You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:5)
and Jesus also said:
"When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw the stone." (John 8:7)
Careful observer, that is a dangerous place to be. People look on the outside, God looks at the
heart. What is your heart telling you
prodigal? Listen to it. You’ll be glad you did.
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