I wonder, if like me, you've ever filled in potholes in your life with tar and pebbles?
What I mean is this...we all seem to go through life trying to fill in the voids in our empty. We spend so much time chasing things to fill voids... haven't we?
I mean let's talk reality....
When we are lonely, we search for companions, things, or activities to keep us from feeling the feelings of "lonely".
When we feel inadequate, we search for positions, or things that will make us feel like we have some sort of "status".
The list goes on and on, but how many things that we put into our potholes of void are intended to go there?
I've filled my potholes with tar and pebbles for years, and still as a Christian, I sometimes find myself still doing the same old thing that I used to do before I gave my life to Christ. The familiarity of knowing how to find needs in tar pits becomes habitual and comforting. I sneak back to the old tar pits to get a quick fix.
But tar and pebbles are no fix, you and I both know it. It's a mess, put into a hole, to satisfy for a "time".
I realized the other day that coming to Christ and being transformed was amazing and a miracle and a very needed first step. It looked like massive transformation on the outside and people could see it. I stopped hanging out at unhealthy establishments, I stopped listening to unhealthy music, I dressed different, I spoke different, I became a follower of Christ and I shared Christ with others.... I read the bible and knew scripture. Great, right?
YES!!!!
BUT... that was just simply the beginning, not the finale product.
After what I perceived as completing the "hard part", and I was walking about my Christian walk, feeling pretty secure with how far I'd come...in true thankfulness, not in a boasting, "look what I am now" sort of way, but confident that I was going to find an eternity in heaven...
I got a look at my heart....and I began to weep. It wasn't as beautiful as my outward appearance.
This my friends, is the real journey for me. I have to deal with things people can't see, I have to put out the very carefully protected items that I stored away inside, where they were carefully hidden, under all my outward attire. I have to expose them in order for God to heal them. But these things to me are like "my precious" as was the ring was to Gollum/Sméagol from the Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers.
I've always feared people's opinions of me, and many times, I've assumed their opinions long before they were given an opportunity to form one.
I'm reminded of God's Scripture in 2 Peter Chapter 1 that tells me:
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I'm so very thankful that God sheds light on dark places. Unlike the enemies and the world, He doesn't do it to shame us, or scold us, but to strengthen us, to heal us, to protect us and guide us, as we walk humbly along side others in this journey we call LIFE>
What I mean is this...we all seem to go through life trying to fill in the voids in our empty. We spend so much time chasing things to fill voids... haven't we?
I mean let's talk reality....
When we are lonely, we search for companions, things, or activities to keep us from feeling the feelings of "lonely".
When we feel inadequate, we search for positions, or things that will make us feel like we have some sort of "status".
The list goes on and on, but how many things that we put into our potholes of void are intended to go there?
I've filled my potholes with tar and pebbles for years, and still as a Christian, I sometimes find myself still doing the same old thing that I used to do before I gave my life to Christ. The familiarity of knowing how to find needs in tar pits becomes habitual and comforting. I sneak back to the old tar pits to get a quick fix.
But tar and pebbles are no fix, you and I both know it. It's a mess, put into a hole, to satisfy for a "time".
I realized the other day that coming to Christ and being transformed was amazing and a miracle and a very needed first step. It looked like massive transformation on the outside and people could see it. I stopped hanging out at unhealthy establishments, I stopped listening to unhealthy music, I dressed different, I spoke different, I became a follower of Christ and I shared Christ with others.... I read the bible and knew scripture. Great, right?
YES!!!!
BUT... that was just simply the beginning, not the finale product.
After what I perceived as completing the "hard part", and I was walking about my Christian walk, feeling pretty secure with how far I'd come...in true thankfulness, not in a boasting, "look what I am now" sort of way, but confident that I was going to find an eternity in heaven...
I got a look at my heart....and I began to weep. It wasn't as beautiful as my outward appearance.
This my friends, is the real journey for me. I have to deal with things people can't see, I have to put out the very carefully protected items that I stored away inside, where they were carefully hidden, under all my outward attire. I have to expose them in order for God to heal them. But these things to me are like "my precious" as was the ring was to Gollum/Sméagol from the Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers.
I've always feared people's opinions of me, and many times, I've assumed their opinions long before they were given an opportunity to form one.
I'm reminded of God's Scripture in 2 Peter Chapter 1 that tells me:
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I'm so very thankful that God sheds light on dark places. Unlike the enemies and the world, He doesn't do it to shame us, or scold us, but to strengthen us, to heal us, to protect us and guide us, as we walk humbly along side others in this journey we call LIFE>
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