Brand New
As I pondered further this idea of Sin that has been a part of my life (and yours) I realized that this cleansing of the garbage and the trash is permanent – BUT it is not all that happens.
My thoughts continued along this path as I meditated on this. At the moment that God and I agree on allowing him to begin the disposal program of my Sin, something else happens. He takes out the old and dirty Sin – and replaces it with blessings of all sorts. He knows what will fit better in the places that he empties.
There are basic things that are the same in each life. Each life he works in gets its own refit and its own kind of blessing. Each has its own requirements. What is good for one is not so good for another. Each has its own past that relates to the world of the present.
I illustrate this idea this way. A person that was addicted or had a habit of using alcohol will not likely continue using any more. He or she will stay clear of that kind of thing that has pulled them so low. In fact this need to avoid is so great that groups like Alcoholics Anonymous – “AA” – have been very successful in their assistance of people walking into their new lives.
A gossiper will stay clear of “sharing” the latest thing they have heard about someone else. A thief will avoid being alone in a secluded part of a store where temptation will be great. A prostitute will avoid being in places of great need where they may be driven to lower themselves to further degradation.
How can they change is the question/thought that hounds me?
Jesus describes what begins to happen… in John 14: 26 - 28
26. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28. "You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
It is Peace that he begins to flood into our hearts and our lives – filling the crevices and the rooms where Sin was once present.
Imagine your life as house that has been emptied of the old contents and the cleaning begins before you move in and take possession. The carpet and the walls are not completely clean. There is a need to begin scrubbing and painting.
I am visualizing the work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised us in the words above. His words - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. – are so powerful!
He begins flooding the new truck loads of Peace into the cleaning process of my life. The Sin is gone – and now He applies the Peace. He himself is Peace.
As I thought of this wonder that God does – he doesn’t just apply a little spot of Peace Paint to this are or that area of my life. He floods my life with a fullness that is amazing. In my life it is piled up to the ceiling of the old house! Instead of measuring the Peace in gallons or litres – we need to see it in train loads!
Isaiah 26: 2-4 describes the keeping power of Peace.
2. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. 3. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. 4. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
As I consider this new Brand New factor – when the Sin is removed like the Trash – God replaces it with Peace. His application of Peace is of his doing entirely. I am only a recipient of all the Peace He will give me.
This past weekend was an almost perfect weekend for a Canadian Autumn. The temperature was perfect – not hot and not cold. The leaves had turned every colour imaginable. There was no wind and the sun shone brightly in a perfectly blue sky. As I stood in our back yard the sense of perfect peace was there – all around me. There was a Peaceful Stillness. It was amazing to take it all in. Not a sound of confusion any where.
That is the way that my life needs to be. I desire that more than anything else these days.
BUT – that is not what happens on the outside – this week has been something else for stress and confusion… but that is life.
But this AM as I pause and sense again what God is doing – the new truck load of His Peace just arrived and it is been applied to my life again.
Lamentations 3:22-24
22. Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
My thoughts continued along this path as I meditated on this. At the moment that God and I agree on allowing him to begin the disposal program of my Sin, something else happens. He takes out the old and dirty Sin – and replaces it with blessings of all sorts. He knows what will fit better in the places that he empties.
There are basic things that are the same in each life. Each life he works in gets its own refit and its own kind of blessing. Each has its own requirements. What is good for one is not so good for another. Each has its own past that relates to the world of the present.
I illustrate this idea this way. A person that was addicted or had a habit of using alcohol will not likely continue using any more. He or she will stay clear of that kind of thing that has pulled them so low. In fact this need to avoid is so great that groups like Alcoholics Anonymous – “AA” – have been very successful in their assistance of people walking into their new lives.
A gossiper will stay clear of “sharing” the latest thing they have heard about someone else. A thief will avoid being alone in a secluded part of a store where temptation will be great. A prostitute will avoid being in places of great need where they may be driven to lower themselves to further degradation.
How can they change is the question/thought that hounds me?
Jesus describes what begins to happen… in John 14: 26 - 28
26. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28. "You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
It is Peace that he begins to flood into our hearts and our lives – filling the crevices and the rooms where Sin was once present.
Imagine your life as house that has been emptied of the old contents and the cleaning begins before you move in and take possession. The carpet and the walls are not completely clean. There is a need to begin scrubbing and painting.
I am visualizing the work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised us in the words above. His words - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. – are so powerful!
He begins flooding the new truck loads of Peace into the cleaning process of my life. The Sin is gone – and now He applies the Peace. He himself is Peace.
As I thought of this wonder that God does – he doesn’t just apply a little spot of Peace Paint to this are or that area of my life. He floods my life with a fullness that is amazing. In my life it is piled up to the ceiling of the old house! Instead of measuring the Peace in gallons or litres – we need to see it in train loads!
Isaiah 26: 2-4 describes the keeping power of Peace.
2. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. 3. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. 4. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
As I consider this new Brand New factor – when the Sin is removed like the Trash – God replaces it with Peace. His application of Peace is of his doing entirely. I am only a recipient of all the Peace He will give me.
This past weekend was an almost perfect weekend for a Canadian Autumn. The temperature was perfect – not hot and not cold. The leaves had turned every colour imaginable. There was no wind and the sun shone brightly in a perfectly blue sky. As I stood in our back yard the sense of perfect peace was there – all around me. There was a Peaceful Stillness. It was amazing to take it all in. Not a sound of confusion any where.
That is the way that my life needs to be. I desire that more than anything else these days.
BUT – that is not what happens on the outside – this week has been something else for stress and confusion… but that is life.
But this AM as I pause and sense again what God is doing – the new truck load of His Peace just arrived and it is been applied to my life again.
Lamentations 3:22-24
22. Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Thursday, October 12, 2006
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