IN HOT PURSUIT

{VEHEMENT PURSUIT}

There is one thing I’m sure of today. God passionately….. I mean- PASSIONATELY pursues us… sometimes we blind ourselves from it- but He is vehemently in pursuit of our hearts on the daily.

Because I have asked Him to- I hear Him more clearly today and I know He has a message for you, who is reading this.

{MY AWAKENING}

I awoke this morning with condemnation looming over my head from my sins. (check yourself- if you aren’t convicted (not condemned) of sin- its time to soften your heart)

The condemnation was weighing on my heart. But my true Hero Jesus was right there, ready to pierce the darkness of condemnation and slay it where it stood.

Holy Spirit quickened in my heart and empowered me from within. I knew I needed to get up and pray. My son then (3 years old) came in my room very early crying and I could tell his throat was dry and soar from his coughing.

The one who condemns was telling me it was my fault. My sin had caused my child to be in pain. I see now I should’ve begun my battle at that point and rebuked those disgusting lies immediately. But instead God led me to my closet to pray.

I anointed myself with oil and said a prayer of consecration and healing to myself and then did the same for my son. I then rebuked any so called sickness and claimed it gone in Jesus name.

The Lord kept putting a verse in my mind—“ There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit”  Romans 8:1

Jesus did NOT come to condemn the world- but to set it free and save it (John 3:17)

So I knew that although I felt condemned, Jesus was telling me ‘It has already been covered by My Blood’ … I believed Him.

{WALKING IN CONDEMNATION?}

He then showed me several other passages this morning and I believe He is trying to get a point across to me, that I will do my best to reiterate to you.

He first showed me Luke 6:37-38

Judge not and you shall not be judged condemn not and you shall not be condemned; forgive and you shall be forgiven:

Give and it shall be given to you; good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use it will be measured back to you.

Now I didn’t know why this verse was speaking to me today but I knew it was important. When I read it again I realize that God is so simply saying that whatever we dish out we will get back the same measure of that thing. Good or bad. Which is why He starts by saying not to judge, condemn, nor walk in unforgiveness.

This verse was fitting since I was feeling condemnation from the enemy this morning. It got me thinking about judgment and to make sure not only that I do not judge others but that I do not judge or condemn myself. That is not to say that I don’t hold myself accountable or examine my heart. But like I said earlier: condemnation is much different than conviction. Condemnation slanders you and gives you a hopeless feeling of never being enough. Conviction is the inward inkling that guides your right vs. wrong meter. It is like an alarm system that goes off in your spirit that says hmm, maybe I shouldn’t do this, say this, watch this, listen to this etc. As a Christian our conviction should continually reach new heights as we grow in our daily walk. We should never be satisfied or settling for where we are but always hunger and thirst for more of God, to have more of Him in our lives, to hear more from Him, and to BE more like Him. If we are not pursuing this, we are blinded and it leads me into the next thing The Lord showed me this morning.

{HEART SCAN}

As I was on my knees praying for my son as he lay asleep in my bed I felt like I needed to look down and make sure I had something. I picked up my devotional “My Utmost for His Highest” – Oswald Chambers- a wonderful daily devotional. I brought it with me. When I got to my daily ‘coffee spot’ I read today’s entry : March 16: The Master Will Judge—2 Cor. 5:10 “ We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”

A theme? We will see.

Chambers goes on to say we should walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given us. Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person or carnal judgment of another person only serves the enemy’s purpose in our lives. He encourages us to bring it immediately into the light and confess it as sin, because if we don’t our hearts will become hardened. He goes on to say that one of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it, we gradually get used to it until we don’t even realize that it’s sin. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we portray today is not hypocrisy but unconsciously living a lie.

As I observed these first two words of my day, I began to run a “heart scan”. Lord who have I judged or condemned? Including myself. I think it’s just the same if I judge myself or condemn myself, as it is another person. How dare I inflict that on God’s child, I am His and HE HAS PAID FOR MY SINS.

All Jesus wants from me is to LIVE IN THE LIGHT… Jesus is saying STOP JUDGING AND CONDEMNING YOURSELF- AND JUST REPENT- AND SIN NO MORE!

Its that simple. Jesus is saying to my heart, ‘ Oh, you see its wrong? Don’t waste time beating yourself up- just STOP doing it- and move on’

{WHAT GOD PROMISES}

Then I turned to Jeremiah. This is where His promises came alive to me today.

Jeremiah 31:25: For I have satiated the weary soul and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. . . . just below that in verse 31-34 I will paraphrase. God says: Behold the day has come that I will make a new covenant with my people. . . I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. They shall know me (an intimate kind of knowing- not just knowing who He is), from the least to the greatest, because I will forgive their wickedness, and I will NOT remember there sin.

WOW… This is in the OLD TESTAMENT. It was a prophecy of what Jesus would do on Calvary. Did you know that? God doesn’t even REMEMBER your sin. Because the BLOOD OF JESUS COVERS YOU COMPLETELY when you receive what He did for you on the cross. So NOW you are NOT condemned but you are made RIGHTEOUS in Christ! Wow, God is just confirming this to me today, He doesn’t see my sin. He sees Jesus. And who He has created me to be in Him, and where I’m going.

Another section in Jeremiah 32: 17-19- Jeremiah says (again in paraphrase) WOW LORD! You made heaven and earth by your great power! NOTHING is too hard for you! You show loving kindness to your people and you give everyone according to their ways and the fruit of their doings. (just like the verse about a good measure pressed down shaken together and running over).

Finally in Jer. 32: 39-41

God says “I will give them one heart, one way that they will respect me forever for their good and their children’s good. I will make a covenant that lasts forever and I will not turn away from them, but put a fear (reverence) in their hearts so they won’t depart from me. I will plant them in the land with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

{A CHALLENGE FOR YOU}

God is PASSIONATLEY PURSUING YOU.

My friend shared a quote with me last week. “God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you TOO much to let you stay that way”

My friend, if you are not in a place where you feel a conviction in your heart about some area of your life, I pray you would ask God to soften your heart. Don’t be deceived. We are NEVER perfect until we are taken HOME. DO NOT SETTLE.

God is ready to take you to the next level, but it takes surrender on your part. STOP judging others for their sins, and DON’T condemn yourself. BUT EXAMINE YOUR HEART.

Where are you falling short of the awesomeness of Christ? Start at the first thing that just popped into your head. God wants to deal with it now. Don’t ignore it, don’t run. Embrace it. Its much easier to embrace the change God wants to place in your life, than ignoring the God of the Universe passionately pursuing after your heart to belong to HIM.

When we begin to do good to others and through ourselves as a FREE people (not a condemned people) then God will be able to bless us more because we wont be measuring with condemnation or judgment.

Make sure the seeds you sow (which aren’t just financial) are GOOD seeds. Into your own life, and into the lives of others. What you put in you’ll get out! And it MULTIPLIES.

I encourage you to be watchful of the things you say, the things you partake in, the things you watch, listen to, and think over the next 24 hours. If anything makes you feel “icky”. If anything makes you think that God might not “smile” while partaking in these things or thoughts with you. If anything is negative, or just plain AGAINST what and who GOD IS…. Write it down. And STOP IT. It’s time we turn it up a notch if we really want to be the beacons of light in the world we are called to be.

This world needs HOPE, and it wont have it with a bunch of dirty vases walking around blindly wallowing in their own MIRE of sin.

If God convicted you once about a matter and yet you aren’t convicted anymore. Your heart is hardened. And I pray right now that anyone who is reading this would have their hearts softened, no matter how soft or hard their hearts are. That God would be faithful to gracefully convict people in the next area He wants to cleanse. That by HIS KINDNESS He would lead you into repentance.

{A QUICK STORY OF ENCOURAGEMENT AS I FINISH:}

A women’s Bible study read the verse: Malachi 3:3 : And He (GOD) will sit as a refiner and purifier of sliver and He shall purify and purge His children as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

Questions began to arise. Why? Why silver and gold? What is so significant about comparing refining us to refining precious metals? So one woman (without telling him the purpose of her curiosity) called a Silver Smith; she asked if she could come and watch the process of refining silver. He also didn’t ask why she wanted to see the process, but welcomed her to come and observe.

First he had to heat the silver. He had to hold the metal right in the MIDDLE OF THE FIRE, where it was HOTTEST… He explained that only when it was hottest would it BURN AWAY ITS IMPURITIES.

The woman began to understand…

As she watched she noticed the man sat in front of the fire intently. She asked if he really had to sit there the whole time. He explained that indeed he HAD to sit in front of the fire and WATCH the precious metal. He in fact could NOT take his eyes off of it or it would be destroyed if it were in the fire a moment too long. . . She asked how he could possibly know when it was ready? He replied that it was easy, it is refined when he sees HIS image in it.

WOO! God is SO good. He is PASSIONATELY PURSUING YOU.

He wants to refine you. He will take you through the fire, but he WILL NOT leave your side, and HE WILL NOT take His gaze from you. When He sees His image is when we become purified.

Don’t fight the fire. Embrace it.