Releasing Our Burdens // Letting Go Of Fear And Worry预览

The Uncovering

It is okay to feel uncomfortable. I know you are wrestling with something deep down inside you that I am uncovering. It is there—has been there for so long, even though you haven’t wanted to see it. Let me bring into the light what already exists. For I love you, and I want you to see it. I want you to see what I see. 

Deep within you is a part of you that doesn’t want to go with me. It pushes and pulls against me. You can feel it. This is the internal battle you face, the cost of living in this world that is not yet fully restored in Me.

But I restore you, again and again. I restore what is mine. I restore what I have created. I do not turn my back on the good I have envisioned, the good I have planned, the good I have breathed life into. 

Don’t be scared now. Stay in the discomfort of the uncovering. Don’t run away from it. Yes, you can squirm. I know it is difficult to look at the wounds you carry, get a glimpse at what sin looks like. You know it; you live it. You know what it sounds like, looks like, tastes like. I know.

But what is not for you to carry is the shame that wants to drape itself around your neck and strangle you. It is good to be raw and vulnerable—to want to repent, surrender, ask for me to bring newness and light to what has been damaged and dark.

But this is what I want you to know: I see you. I have taken your sin. And I see you. You feel the pain of what it is like to be without me. You have felt that angst, that agony. But I call you back to me, again and again. You let me kill the old self that does the things you wish it did not do, and I give you a new self, a new life. And I teach you how to listen for my voice, follow my lead.

We can keep going now, deeper into the uncovering. And there is where light shines, illuminating the darkness. And I am with you. I am with you through it all. If you want me here, tell me. Let us get to work, you and me. You trusting me. And I will take it from there.

I am not going anywhere.

Exercise:

When we make the decision to follow Jesus, when we repent and believe—that’s the point at which we’re washed clean and made new. It’s about that point that Paul said, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (ESV, 2 Corinthians 5:17)

This re-creation isn’t figurative. It’s real, and it’s complete. In an instant, we become new men and women, spiritually. We become men and women who can now become the people God designed us to be, who can now be taught, now be guided, now be challenged and pushed, now be fathered and befriended by God. We’ll spend the rest of our lives living this reality, but before we could not. Before, we never would have been able to become like Jesus, to walk in victory and freedom. But when we make the decision to follow Jesus, now we can.

This new ability does not come by anything we do in our human power but by the energizing power of the Holy Spirit.

So, what do you think?

Do you want to walk in more victory and more freedom, as a new man, a new woman? Do want more of the Holy Spirit flowing into and through your life, helping you to walk as a conqueror of sin?

If you do, let’s go ahead now and ask Jesus for it. But before we get there, I’m going to ask you a few more questions, as preparation. Listen carefully to these. And make sure you answer honestly, with a true heart.

Are you ready for more? Do you want deeper union with Jesus; a greater measure of what God has for you, personally, His beloved son or daughter?

Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you know you need Jesus desperately? Can you accept that you can neither live fully, nor love well, nor conquer sin, without God? Are you aware that you cannot rescue yourself? Do you know that if you try to, you’ll discover you have inadequate faith? Too little love? Not enough self-control? Insufficient goodness, kindness, and gentleness?

But do you also know Jesus is able and willing to give you power that’s more than sufficient to do “all things through him” (ESV, Philippians 4:13)? Do you know that He gives you all the power you’ll ever need to live fully, to love well, and to conquer sin? Do you know He does this through the Holy Spirit, who lives inside you?

Do you desire change in your life? Do you want life to the full? Do you want God’s help in conquering the sin you’ve been struggling with? Do you want God’s help loving well the people you love?

Are you ready, right now, to trust your King? Are you ready to turn away from the world and surrender your whole life to Jesus? All of it? Are you ready to stop trying to find of full life, to love others well, and to conquer sin on your own? Are you ready to hand your life over to God, totally, so that you may know Him, be with Him, work for and alongside Him, honor Him—all for His glory, not your own?

If you said ‘no’ to any of these questions, that’s perfectly okay. It’s just means this is not yet the season for this exercise. But if you did say “yes” to all of then, then go ahead and get into a physical or mental posture to receive and present yourself to Jesus. Offer your body, mind, and heart to Him.

And now, let’s pray.

Jesus, fill me with your Spirit. Pour your power into me, filling me from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.

More, Jesus. I want more.

Holy Spirit, activate and energize my being and my life with your power.

More, Holy Spirit. I want more.

Activate and energize my unique spiritual gifts—so that I can step into more, so that I can meet all the tasks that lie ahead, so that I can have more victory and more freedom.

Thank you, Jesus.

From now on, my friend, simply because you asked, you can expect more Jesus in your life, more truth and goodness and a deeper intimacy with Him.  And you can expect more Father, a deeper understanding of the His love for you, personally. You can also expect more Holy Spirit, more power to overcome sin in your life, newly activated and energized spiritual gifts, more favor and greater ability to help others overcome their own sin and connect more deeply with God.

That’s good news. Thank you again, Jesus.