Faith Has No Boundaries.
I always try to journal right away so each thought is fresh on my mind, and then made permanent on paper. But so many times when I don’t have the time or can’t get the chance, God continues to nurture and work on those thoughts for something so much greater (He is weaving my tapestry for sure). One lesson we learned two weeks ago through our Beth Moore study is still today piercing my heart through several situations and challenges.
The Lord woke me up with a violent shake through Beth’s Words. The session was named “The Heart of Testimony.” Beth opened by reading Exodus 40 and emphasizing God and Moses in vs. 33 “It was finished.” Just as Christ hung on the cross and together with God said, “It is finished.” God saw the tabernacle and Moses and him together deemed it finished. Complete. Perfect. The most important part of both of these men getting to complete God’s desired will was their obedience. Moses was commanded in so many small and intricate ways to obey God, just like Christ. They both admitted how hard it was and the challenges, yet they obeyed. In the pain, confusion, sorrow…they obeyed. And Beth goes on to explain that she believes the only way they obeyed was staying focused on the goal: redemption. Salvation. Eternal life for all who believe-offered to a world of sinners.
In chapter 40 vs. 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, and 32 all have the exact same repetitive clause in the Hebrew: “Exactly as Yahweh had commanded.” How in the world could Moses have done exactly as Yahweh commanded with a mind and heart not fixed on his every desire and thought? He couldn’t have. This is a phenomenon we as Christians know and hear time and time again. Yet our hearts and minds are not fixed on it. And as Beth later points out and I agree a big part of that is founded in our sinful nature of comparison. Instead of being fixed on Christ we are constantly using up our time, energy, and thoughts to compare ourselves with others-whether it negative or positive. As Beth went on she described two routines we fall into. She held her arm out neck high and said this is Gods standards for us. Then she held her arm out chest high and said this is where you are. Then she held her arm out waist high and said this is where “so and so” is. This is the prideful Christian. One who is constantly looking down on others and seeing how much “higher” they are than others and feeling some sort of worth and importance from that. Then there is the Christian who is at the bottom, constantly looking up to that middle Christian. This Christian tells themselves they are never going to achieve that status before God, they will never be loved as much as ______, and so on. Both of these thought processes are so totally wrong and prevent our growth even further.
And so as she stood there on the computer screen describing Moses, Jesus, and then these two Christians, I was shocked. The Holy Spirit immediately revealed to me that very moment I was being that Christian. My every thought and word were so focused on being better than “so and so” and SO I was left totally frustrated and confused. I wanted that person so badly to own up to my level of “perfection” and so badly to realize faith the way I had. I basically wanted that person to be me. And that is the thing, she wasn’t. Nor would she ever be. Nor did God ever want her to be. And so I was left realizing that the minute my focus is not on the Cross, I am constantly sinning and quenching the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. And even today, two weeks after learning this lesson, I am challenged to not fall into that same pit with other friendships and relationships. And it starts with asking God to protect me, then asking the Holy Spirit to give me the strength to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” and then living in obedience to God and his will for my life. I pray by his grace he will continue to reveal my sin and continue to form me into his likeness, with a heart and mind fixed on God. And nothing else.
The Lord woke me up with a violent shake through Beth’s Words. The session was named “The Heart of Testimony.” Beth opened by reading Exodus 40 and emphasizing God and Moses in vs. 33 “It was finished.” Just as Christ hung on the cross and together with God said, “It is finished.” God saw the tabernacle and Moses and him together deemed it finished. Complete. Perfect. The most important part of both of these men getting to complete God’s desired will was their obedience. Moses was commanded in so many small and intricate ways to obey God, just like Christ. They both admitted how hard it was and the challenges, yet they obeyed. In the pain, confusion, sorrow…they obeyed. And Beth goes on to explain that she believes the only way they obeyed was staying focused on the goal: redemption. Salvation. Eternal life for all who believe-offered to a world of sinners.
In chapter 40 vs. 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, and 32 all have the exact same repetitive clause in the Hebrew: “Exactly as Yahweh had commanded.” How in the world could Moses have done exactly as Yahweh commanded with a mind and heart not fixed on his every desire and thought? He couldn’t have. This is a phenomenon we as Christians know and hear time and time again. Yet our hearts and minds are not fixed on it. And as Beth later points out and I agree a big part of that is founded in our sinful nature of comparison. Instead of being fixed on Christ we are constantly using up our time, energy, and thoughts to compare ourselves with others-whether it negative or positive. As Beth went on she described two routines we fall into. She held her arm out neck high and said this is Gods standards for us. Then she held her arm out chest high and said this is where you are. Then she held her arm out waist high and said this is where “so and so” is. This is the prideful Christian. One who is constantly looking down on others and seeing how much “higher” they are than others and feeling some sort of worth and importance from that. Then there is the Christian who is at the bottom, constantly looking up to that middle Christian. This Christian tells themselves they are never going to achieve that status before God, they will never be loved as much as ______, and so on. Both of these thought processes are so totally wrong and prevent our growth even further.
And so as she stood there on the computer screen describing Moses, Jesus, and then these two Christians, I was shocked. The Holy Spirit immediately revealed to me that very moment I was being that Christian. My every thought and word were so focused on being better than “so and so” and SO I was left totally frustrated and confused. I wanted that person so badly to own up to my level of “perfection” and so badly to realize faith the way I had. I basically wanted that person to be me. And that is the thing, she wasn’t. Nor would she ever be. Nor did God ever want her to be. And so I was left realizing that the minute my focus is not on the Cross, I am constantly sinning and quenching the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. And even today, two weeks after learning this lesson, I am challenged to not fall into that same pit with other friendships and relationships. And it starts with asking God to protect me, then asking the Holy Spirit to give me the strength to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” and then living in obedience to God and his will for my life. I pray by his grace he will continue to reveal my sin and continue to form me into his likeness, with a heart and mind fixed on God. And nothing else.
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