On day 1, we talked about the importance of knowing who God is, and then yesterday we discussed how we can believe that we are who God says we are. We’ve got a new foundation for our house, and we’ve got these nice new building plans, and what we need to do now is knock down the old house! Knocking down and rebuilding can be a painful process, but so worth it when you know the beautiful new house that is soon to come. So! With that hope and promise in our hearts, we set about getting rid of the old to usher in the new.
Psalm 139: 23-24
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Romans 12:2
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
“The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do.” (Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer).
“Here, Lord, I abandon myself to you. I have tried in every way I could think of to manage, and to make myself what I know I ought to be, but I have always failed. Now I give it up to you. Do take entire possession of me. Work in me all the good pleasure of your will. Mold and fashion me into such a vessel as seems good to you. I leave in your hands. Amen.” – (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)
Today is demolition day, so it might be a little painful. But don’t be afraid of that. Joy comes in the morning, and the pain only makes the way for something more beautiful. That being said, what I’d like you to do is to pray these verses from Psalm 139, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Then, sit quietly and let God speak to you. If we want to be transformed it’s important to know the things God wants us to change. I pray these verses every few weeks and it’s been amazing what God has revealed to me as I sit quietly with an open heart ready to hear.
I’d like you now to focus on the things that you feel are holding you back right now? Is there something you are holding on to so tightly that you can’t reach out for His hand? Take a few minutes today to journal about the things that God has been asking you to let him tear down. Is it unforgiveness? Is it busyness? Is it fear of other people? Is it an unwillingness to give up control? Is it a lack of trust in God for health, finances, or something else? Ask God to tug on your heart, and give him permission to tear things down and rearrange as he needs to! Jesus is a gentleman, and he won’t barge in uninvited. So today, invite him in and give him permission to do the renovating work that only he can do!
