When Jesus changes lives…

 

The Lord taught me much at our family reunion that last weekend in July. As I reflect, it was not just for family that we were entirely blessed. He blessed me by letting me experience what it was like to be filled with His Spirit and feel entirely free to do or say whatever came to mind — and whatever came to mind was always praise and honor to Him. Complete freedom. I never once worried what others might think or that I might look like some sort of nitwit. Later, I was told by someone who wasn’t even there that I made a lot of people happy. That was Jesus at work and when the weekend was over, the joy remained. I felt like I’d just experienced a taste of heaven. Indescribable joy and worship.

That lesson reinforced what I’d known but never experienced in such measure. When God is in charge, there is no thought of self, no concerns about being rejected or sneered at, nothing negative, just great love and care for others to the point that self is totally out of the picture.

I didn’t make this happen. Being aware of God at work, I often felt like a bystander or an audience. He made clear what it means to be totally consecrated to Him. I didn’t even get tired, at least not until hours after on the way home. This was an amazing event for our family, but also for me.

Today’s reading is a description of how God made consecration to Him a reality for the person who wrote it. The writer used words like more light, no provision for the flesh, giving up all of self, having her will slain, and resting nowhere but in God. I don’t know what happened that revealed this to her, but it is definitely a NT norm:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:1–10)

Looking back at many learning experiences, it seems that once God does an amazing thing in my life, without me even asking or thinking about it, I’m never the same afterward. One time one of our children took off with a friend in the middle of the night. They soon decided that was foolish and came home, but before that, the parents of the other child were numb with fear. However, my husband and I were oddly calm. We knew it was God giving us peace that was beyond comprehension. It made no sense to be calm, but we were a stabilizer for those other two people and not surprised when the two children walked in the door. This experience of God taking over made a huge difference. Since we learned He could do it, we now seek it when life throws us a giant-sized curve.

In the same way, I’ve learned what the Spirit of God can do for me in being responsible for a big event, just as the author learned what consecration is like when God makes it happen. It is His gift to show us the glory of putting self to death and putting on the new self.

Yesterday, a few of us were asked to do something scary. Experiencing God’s grace in other scary things takes the fear away for saying yes to this request. I’m trusting God to give what is needed to do the task, and also trusting Him for the others who claimed they are too inadequate for the task. May they discover that God knows we are not adequate; no one can do it without Him and feeling helpless is far better than having fleshy confidence. As John 15 says, without Him we can do nothing.

PRAY: Jesus, without You, I am as limp and useless as a glove without a hand. You give what is needed when it is needed. Forgive me for the times I try to do things in my own strength. Help my friends realize their need for Your power and boldness, and to recognize the difference between that and mere human confidence. Thank You Jesus.