Aliens in Need of Change!

On such a beautiful day I decided to take a trip to an indoor mall. As I walked about, music was

playing in the background. I don’t go to the mall often and quite frankly never really notice music playing throughout this concrete city.

But, today not only did I notice the music, I also noted some of the lyrics. One song repeating over and over again, “I will never change”. I could not make out the rest of the lyrics. I shook my head, smiled, a cheeky gesture to myself. Lord, I’m glad I am not the same person I used to be. I’m thankful that you are not done with me yet. I am a broken mess and I do need a change!

As I continued to walk another song playing at an adjacent store caught my ear. “I feel like an alien.”

I’m like, “really?” Truly I have no idea what each writer had in mind and I don’t know the rest of the lyrics. This time I believed I giggled to myself.

After a few seconds, I began to agree with what I heard. I am an alien! 

Often when I’m in public I like to watch those around me. Often, I can see despair, pain, and a sense of need and brokenness. Not knowing what we really need we succumb to whatever this world has to offer.

But, the Word of God sings a different tune. It too speaks of pain, loss, and regret.  Its a people in need of change. We need a supernatural encounter!

The Bible reiterates the same story, the same theme from Genesis to Revelation. It speaks of the condition of our hearts, the core of our being. It describes the struggles we face and the illness that plagues us. Sin ravaging every part of who we are. But Jesus introduces a cure that indeed changes the essence of who we are. He is the remedy!

Once we were carefully intertwined with the Father. But Sin interrupted our relationship. Our disobedience broke the family.

Jesus calls and offers a way of escape from this broken corrupted flesh. As you read this Love Letter you can hear the Father call.

“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul."  (1 Peter 2:11)

See this world beckons us to participate in all it has to offer. It desires to keep us from the Father, bound in every activity to alienate us from the Good, Good Father.

We indeed are a people that need to be changed. As a believer in The Resurrection and the Life, Jesus himself, I know that I am an alien. I am passing through, sojourning until God calls me home.

Therefore, lets peruse the streets but be ready to share the Good News! There is deliverance from this sinful state. We are aliens passing through. We are in need of change and Jesus is the answer!

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

"For the sinful nature has its desire which is opposed to the Spirit, and the [desire of the] Spirit opposes the [a]sinful nature; for these [two, the sinful nature and the Spirit] are in direct opposition to each other [continually in conflict], so that you [as believers] do not [always] do whatever [good things] you want to do." (Galatians 5:17 Amplified Bible)

God Bless You!~Liz

An Invasion of my Privacy

The thoughts of a man are known by God. The outside of a man is looked upon by others. It's easy to see perfection on the outside even when the heart of man might be troubled on the inside.

But God who is merciful allows the heart to stop beating enough so that he could speak. Let the clamor and the noise of life stop.

In the midst of the silence we hear his voice. The tenderness yet authoritative instruction for us is to also look within and see the motive behind all our actions, thoughts, and even our pursuit of him. 

It's a great feeling to be on top of the mountain. Everything looks well. Everything feels good. 

But God knows how to invade my privacy!

Sometimes we don't even realize the error of our way, our complacency, or how we are slowly drifting. If the Lord does not intrude we will misrepresent him and find ourselves in disobedience.

No one likes to be confronted but I've learned when the Spirit of the Lord CHECKS ME, it is good.

We look within but often through a lens that we ourselves have manufactured. The lens is skewed. We go along with it and agree with the report, “all is well.”

I know I have nothing to offer except brokenness and emptiness.

I'd like to say, "but Lord look what I have done." But there is no “I” in this adventure. I have been purchased, redeemed, and become one who inherits the blessings of my Father in heaven.

Like a Good Father he knows his children well. He knows what to give us and what to keep from us.

All I have is an empty jar, a vessel crafted by his very hands in need of filling. This invasion is for my own good. He speaks and asks me to sit, close the door and wait. He reveals the things that are deeply hidden in my heart. He points them out and then asks if he could remove them.

In the struggle to keep the gates of my heart closed to keep my privacy to myself, he reminds me that he knows me well. Apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15)

I state my brokenness. I have nothing to offer. As I sit and meditate on his Good Name, he unveils the troubles in my heart. It's always an exchange, the brokenness for the refilling by his Spirit.

The intrusion is welcomed like a good surgeon invading a rotten wound to bring life again. Removing the diseased tissue and digging deep allows for healing to come.

”Rising to the surface of my heart came those little unspoken attitudes and thoughts that had passed by unnoticed and which I saw had offended the heart of God .” (“The Undone Worshiper” by Matt Redman)

Here is my heart God. Your daughter, one who worships you, one who desires to continue to mature, one who has been purchased by the blood of your son Jesus, one who gives you permission to intrude, search me out Lord and see if there be any wicked way in me. (Psalm 139)

Restoration can only come when I acknowledge I’m in need of renewal. Bring my heart back to its proper place. Restore in me a clean heart Oh God.

Sometimes we think that it's a major sin in our lives that keeps us distant from God. But, it is a slow transition of power we give up that creates a wandering. Unless God himself intrudes it would leave us drifting away from his presence.

God bless you!~Liz