The Holy One calls me this morning. I have been in a heated debate with myself over the subject of persecution or Divine discipline. I have come to the personal conclusion that both serve the same purpose: The refinement of our souls.
Even as the circumstances heat up and both may seem the same, it is important that we properly assess our lives and the situations to ascertain what is happening. While both are used to refine us, and God is in absolute Sovereign control of each, the lessons to be gleaned are quite different because one calls for repentance and the other calls for rejoicing.
The Holy One quietly enters into the debate with, "So you are trying to decide if this is a box canyon or the Red Sea."
That's an interesting way to put it, as both seem quite inescapable. He reminded me of past performance issues, which is a polite way of identifying my gross sin. He brings to my mind one such situation whereby He spoke clearly to me through His Word in Hosea 14:1. "Return, Oh Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, forgive all our sins and receive us graciously that we may offer the fruit of our lips."
When we are in a box canyon, we get there by our own will. There is one way in and one way out. The way out is to find how we entered, confess the sin that brought us into that place of the box. Repentance is the exit from the box that willful sin was the entrance into.
The Red Sea is a different place entirely. We find ourselves at the shores of the Red Sea by God's ordained will. We are usually persecuted to the Red Sea, chased there by the enemy of our God. There is no repentance that will change our position when at the shores of the Red Sea. We are going to be delivered or die. Here we find the Living God armed and ready to show His great and majestic power in and over our lives unto our rescue.
Sometimes under the heat of the circumstances, we don't stop to assess and therefore we don't understand how to react. Persecution or Divine Discipline? When the Hand that governs all things feels heavy on our lives, we need to stop and assess whether it's time to repent or rejoice.
Sometimes, we settle into life in a box canyon. High walls, no escape. Could it be that we remain there because we do not feel the need to repent? Could it be that we live less than victorious lives because we have assumed that all our sins are covered under the blood of the Jesus and there is no need to repent daily for the failures of our flesh?
The "sin" that Jesus died for is not just the sins that we and all have committed before we came to know the Saving Grace of our Savior. The sin that Jesus paid the price and redeemed us from is the "sin-nature" that everyone was born with after the fall.
The sin nature is at the core of the myriad of "sins" that we all commit, even after our salvation. Jesus's death provided a "new nature" possibility and when we are "born again", we are the recipients of that new nature. At the moment of our salvation, we are infused with the Holy Spirit who is to rule over the flesh man/woman representing our soul. We are still stuck with the flesh and its lusts until the physical death of the flesh body, at which time we will get a glorified body that we will inhabit for the rest of eternity.
Until the day we exit our earthy flesh body, the potential to commit sins is present. As we repent for these sins and allow the Holy Spirit to have more and more control of our lives, Holiness within flourishes. The Holy Spirit within is our power over the daily temptations we face in our flesh.
The box canyon life is usually lived by those who don't find the need to repent. One way in and one way out whether for issues of pride, as in, "I am already forgiven so why repent?" Or ignorance as in "I wonder why the walls are so high with no escape...guess it's just God's will".
We are exhorted in Phil 2:12 to "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."
Holiness will not be found without effort on our part. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit of Christ and that means allowing Him to scrutinize us, correct us, lead us and guide us into all truth.
We are challenged in every day that we live, to make our choices and decisions based on the influence of Holiness in our lives. Sometimes we fail and sometimes we prevail. Divine Discipline comes in various forms as does persecution. Wisdom gives the discernment we need to assess and the Holy One stands ready to show me the difference even if, at any time, they both "feel" the same.
As we process where we are and the decisions we made to get there, is it a box canyon or the Red Sea?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Even as the circumstances heat up and both may seem the same, it is important that we properly assess our lives and the situations to ascertain what is happening. While both are used to refine us, and God is in absolute Sovereign control of each, the lessons to be gleaned are quite different because one calls for repentance and the other calls for rejoicing.
The Holy One quietly enters into the debate with, "So you are trying to decide if this is a box canyon or the Red Sea."
That's an interesting way to put it, as both seem quite inescapable. He reminded me of past performance issues, which is a polite way of identifying my gross sin. He brings to my mind one such situation whereby He spoke clearly to me through His Word in Hosea 14:1. "Return, Oh Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, forgive all our sins and receive us graciously that we may offer the fruit of our lips."
When we are in a box canyon, we get there by our own will. There is one way in and one way out. The way out is to find how we entered, confess the sin that brought us into that place of the box. Repentance is the exit from the box that willful sin was the entrance into.
The Red Sea is a different place entirely. We find ourselves at the shores of the Red Sea by God's ordained will. We are usually persecuted to the Red Sea, chased there by the enemy of our God. There is no repentance that will change our position when at the shores of the Red Sea. We are going to be delivered or die. Here we find the Living God armed and ready to show His great and majestic power in and over our lives unto our rescue.
Sometimes under the heat of the circumstances, we don't stop to assess and therefore we don't understand how to react. Persecution or Divine Discipline? When the Hand that governs all things feels heavy on our lives, we need to stop and assess whether it's time to repent or rejoice.
Sometimes, we settle into life in a box canyon. High walls, no escape. Could it be that we remain there because we do not feel the need to repent? Could it be that we live less than victorious lives because we have assumed that all our sins are covered under the blood of the Jesus and there is no need to repent daily for the failures of our flesh?
The "sin" that Jesus died for is not just the sins that we and all have committed before we came to know the Saving Grace of our Savior. The sin that Jesus paid the price and redeemed us from is the "sin-nature" that everyone was born with after the fall.
The sin nature is at the core of the myriad of "sins" that we all commit, even after our salvation. Jesus's death provided a "new nature" possibility and when we are "born again", we are the recipients of that new nature. At the moment of our salvation, we are infused with the Holy Spirit who is to rule over the flesh man/woman representing our soul. We are still stuck with the flesh and its lusts until the physical death of the flesh body, at which time we will get a glorified body that we will inhabit for the rest of eternity.
Until the day we exit our earthy flesh body, the potential to commit sins is present. As we repent for these sins and allow the Holy Spirit to have more and more control of our lives, Holiness within flourishes. The Holy Spirit within is our power over the daily temptations we face in our flesh.
The box canyon life is usually lived by those who don't find the need to repent. One way in and one way out whether for issues of pride, as in, "I am already forgiven so why repent?" Or ignorance as in "I wonder why the walls are so high with no escape...guess it's just God's will".
We are exhorted in Phil 2:12 to "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."
Holiness will not be found without effort on our part. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit of Christ and that means allowing Him to scrutinize us, correct us, lead us and guide us into all truth.
We are challenged in every day that we live, to make our choices and decisions based on the influence of Holiness in our lives. Sometimes we fail and sometimes we prevail. Divine Discipline comes in various forms as does persecution. Wisdom gives the discernment we need to assess and the Holy One stands ready to show me the difference even if, at any time, they both "feel" the same.
As we process where we are and the decisions we made to get there, is it a box canyon or the Red Sea?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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