Revelation Reset

White knuckles reached for the seatback. I arose and moved forward with a broken heart. No particular words, no pomp or circumstance, only a Holy Spirit inspired motivation from genuine desperation and need. Psalm 51:17 – NLT

God had been patiently waiting for me. His invitation wasn’t wrapped in a tradition or custom, which are not bad in and of themselves. He wasn’t in an assignment or the next thing checkbox prescription, even though learning and organization is good. No, this was a personal invitation from a Daddy to a daughter. It was, “Welcome home child. Let me take that baggage from your shoulder, you look so tired and weary. Let me help you carry what you were never meant to carry and let me teach you – at a pace you can bear – a different way to live so you can rest and live abundantly.” Matthew 11:28-30 John 10:10 – ESV

He offers this invitation to me, to you. To everyone.

It wasn’t formal religion my body, mind, and spirit responded to. It was a hungry and thirsty human soul responding to a right view of itself, aligned and in agreement with what God saw. He knew I was completely dependent – so much so that my very next breath and morsel of food that needed to go inside my body required to be provided- while powerless to control her behavior and sinful nature. The illusion of “control” over my life was a joke. And I was through lying to myself. Spiritually, the decision was akin to stopping the car, getting out of the driver’s seat, and asking Jesus to drive from now on.

Without God, we are stuck in a body where no good is found. Romans 7:18 – NLT A right relationship with Jesus starts with a proper view of ourselves. There is no good in me. None. Not without Jesus.

Here is the good news. We have a choice. When we invite God into the story He’s already writing; He will not fail us. Repentance awaits a soul who kicks their pride to the curb to humbly have God reveal their true condition and respond accordingly to His invitation of faith. 2 Timothy 2:25 The revelation of faith is just God lifting the fog to see ourselves more rightly and more clearly.

And through the understanding and eyes of a child, recognizing how far we’ve wandered away from the life He wanted and planned for us. Matthew 11:25 – NIV Bible

As I moved toward the altar, the publicness of it felt shameful, but God’s once and for all sacrifice would cover me and, in time, rewire and renew my thinking. God promised to lift my face, remove the shame and replace it with joy. Psalm 34:5 – CSB

How did I profess to be a Christian all my life and not know Jesus? That’s such a good question, and I’ll try to continue to explain through my postings, but what I’m most concerned about is; I don’t think I’m alone in this situation. I’m afraid it happens all the time. I think one of the most dangerous places you can be spiritually is sitting in a church pew, checking all the right boxes according to tradition and custom and what you’ve always known “church” to be, but at the same time missing Jesus in the process. 

I can point to infant baptism, a Sunday school record, a confirmation verse, and a date. I have a special dress in my closet made especially for the occasion. A gorgeous century-old baptismal gown is a beautiful thing. These good things mean nothing if we miss the reason why we do it.