Recently the group of women I get together with twice a month to do a Bible study with has changed it's focus. No longer are we gathering together to hear a lesson brought by one person (namely me) but rather we are now collectively listening to hear what God is saying to us as individuals and as a whole. Pretty crazy idea if I don't say so myself- to actually give everyone the chance to hear and share, but I digress. Anyway so right now we decided to read Romans on our own and share what God shows us when we get back together. This leads me to write this morning.
The phrase that I am left with this morning is Wide Open Spaces. Of course I can not say that phrase without thinking about that country song from a few years a go- was that the Dixie Chicks? Anyways, this morning I was reading Romans 4 & 5. Chapter 4 has been a favorite of mine for years now and yet this morning the Holy Spirit showed me something new and how it connects with chapter 5 mainly verse 2.
To start, Romans 4:1-5 says 1-3 So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own." 4-5If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift. (Romans 4:1-5, The Message)
What set Abraham right with God was simply trusting God. Abraham walked into what God was already doing for Him. No longer was Abraham praying for God to do this or that but instead Abraham forgot his own agenda and simply and blindly stepped into God's plan for His life. It was His faith- his trusting God that found God's approval. So often we spend our energies praying for God to fix this or that or change this or that when our focus is simply to be TRUSTING God. Walking with your focus on Him and trusting that He is in control and knows exactly what He is doing.
Then Romans 5:1-2 says 1-2By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. (Romans 5:1-2, The Message)
When we finally throw open our doors, our arms, to God. When we finally stop holding back for fear of what we lose. When we finally enter into God's plan and quit trying to do our own we will then FINALLY see that all along God has had His doors- His arms wide open to us. When we fling open that door we will be flooded with warmth and light and fresh air. We will be right where we always wanted to be- in a place of freedom, of grace, a place to stand tall and shout praise, a place where we are unconfined!
We hold so much back from Father God for fear of what we will lose, that we are robbing ourselves of all that we stand to gain. How amazing is His love! He is so good and LOVES us so!!! The sad thing is that so many of us have opened the door and thought we were living in that Wide Open Place but really I believe we have only stepped into that place and have not truly embraced all that it is. I am so ready to run head on into that sacred space and dance my heart out for a Father a King who is so worthy of all our love!
No comments:
Post a Comment