| Author | Message | ||
| Agapetos Registered user Username: Agapetos Post Number: 1036 Registered: 10-2002  |
Blessing and greetings to you, all my beloved family in Jesus Christ! I'm going to share something in a way I haven't dared to before, but I feel the presence of the Lord in it and the cool refeshing of His word, and I want you to be blessed and to know He has called you (and me) to this. Be blessed, take it with grace if as from the Lord, or if not, be blessed and take it as from me. Whatever case, be blessed! ***** This is something I felt in the Lord while showering tonight and suddenly thinking of the last few verses of Isaiah 58, particularly verse 12: Quick explanation: The prophecies of the Old Testament were immediately set for the people to whom they were first spoken, but they also speak prophetically to us today. However, they do so in what Robert Brinsmead aptly called, "Palestinian language". They are couched in the shadows of the Old Testament. After we see the Light, there is no need for us to dwell in shadows! However, what God spoke to them back then was also meant for us today -- albeit made clearer by the Light. As we see them in the Light, the shadows take on a deeper and greater meaning, and we hear God's heart for us and for the lost. Bless you in Jesus Christ! ***** I believe the Lord is calling us to hurt with His heart for the lost, for the people who do not know Him -- yes, our left-behind family in the Adventist church. He is calling us to intercede in His love -- in prayer and in deed in His Spirit, that is, in the spirit of His love, and in His Holy Spirit's leading and timing, with the fruit of His patience, love and longsuffering -- just as He has been patient and longsuffering with us. I believe the Lord is calling us to do away with malicious talk toward one another -- with proving things to each other, with all those little arguments we all have had here and that we have spent far too much time dwelling on! There is a time for healing and uncovering, but God has set us free in order to pray for those who are still in darkness. And not only that, to receive His broken heart for people who are hungry, oppressed, and thirsty for His rest! This is sometimes painful. For me and I believe for a lot of us, it is hard to let an argument go! It is so hard! It is hard when you know something, and when the other person seems hard-headed! It is hard to give up the urge to defend the correct information! But I believe He is calling us to prioritize! Like medical triage in a disaster zone, we must identify the greatest needs and expend our greatest energies there. I know how hard it is to simply let a conversation go, particularly when I know the answer (or think I know the answer). But the Lord has been dealing with me about letting go! Because there are too many wounded. And not only that, but in fighting over debatable details, it is possible for us to forget what the Lord values, or rather who the Lord values! The Lord died on a cross for us -- us who were wicked, ungodly sinners! And He has called us to love one another with that same love that He loved us with! The Lord Jesus knew things perfectly, and while He did correct people a lot, imagine how much more He restrained Himself! Didn't He say, "I have much more to tell you -- more than you can now bear"? He did all things in His Father's timing. And so must we. Sometimes we must all learn not to answer, but to pray. And if we are in the "heat" of it and concerned about the information being misrepresented, we must pause and pray that God fills us with His burning, intense love for the person we are talking to! Because they are worth everything to Jesus Christ! The Father thought they were so valuable that He gave HIS SON! to purchase them! Whoaaa!!! He didn't give His Son to purchase a thread, an argument, or even a list of correct truths. He gave His Son for people. And so we must give our lives and time for one another, just as in love He gave Himself for us. As Paul wrote, "speaking the truth in love". We can only speak the truth in love! When defending or speaking the truth, first stop, drop and pray! Like when there's a fire: stop, drop, and pray! Ask God to fill you with His love! Ask Him to make you in love with the person you're talking to (or arguing with) just as He is in love with you, just as He is in love with them! And if His love would speak to them, then speak in His love. And if His love would wait patiently as He did with His disciples and as He has done (and continues to do) with us, then wait in His love and in intercession & prayer. Nothing done in the Lord is in vain -- even waiting. God has called us and destined us as Former Adventists. He has called us to be filled with His heart, to stand in the gap that we came from! We came from a house with broken walls, a place of broken and hurting hearts. And He has said that we will be called Repairers of broken walls! He has called us to be attentive to the brokenness in our fellow brothers and sisters! There are hearts among us and out there that are broken, hurting, dying. There are those who feel deserted and as if God is not with them. God has called us out of Adventism and given us His Spirit in order that we may go to these hearts and stand in the gap! So that we may "carry one another's burdens" and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). He is calling us to see one another just as He saw us: He saw that we were broken, hurting, and deserted. And He stood in our gaps and filled us. He is calling us to see that each of us --no matter how hard-headed and stubborn we seem to one another-- each of us are precious, beloved, and yet wounded and hurting. Before we judge one another, He is calling us to see the truth that we all have brokenness, and to stand in that place of brokenness and carry one another's burdens to Him. He has anointed us to be Repairers of Broken Walls! This is why we were saved! This is our calling, this is our mission, this is our God-given task, this is the Lord's heart for us! To be Repairers of Broken Walls in one another and in ones who do not yet know Him because they're trapped in darkness! And this is who we already are in the Lord! God is calling us to help people know His rest! There are many times we get sidetracked by many smaller things, but we must never lose sight of our main calling -- to help others into His rest! It is very easy (I do it, too) to slip into "idle talk" and forget that there are people hungry, thirsty, and dying for the precious refreshing rest of Jesus Christ's Sabbath-rest! This is our message, this is our calling and our primary goal! We must never, ever forget: We are to be all about His rest! This is why He allowed us to be raised in Seventh-day Adventism, a church that had denied itself His Sabbath-rest because it sought to "enter in" by its own works. He has allowed us to be raised in it, He has called us out of it, in order to proclaim His praises in that darkness and in order to intercede for those who desperately need His Sabbath-rest! For those who are dying because of the weight of the Adventist yoke. ***** God is truly awesome. I pray this has blessed you today. I believe His words --even those couched in shadows-- are prophetic words to us today. And tonight this passage touched my heart as being His prophetic call for us as Former Adventists. Bless you all, my brothers & sisters in Jesus Christ! I love you all in Him and with His love for me and in me! In His rest, Ramone | ||
| Grace_alone Registered user Username: Grace_alone Post Number: 771 Registered: 6-2006  |
Ramone, thanks for that. I've been feeling that there have been a lot of arguments in here lately, as well as posts that probably aren't intended to be snarky but still come off that way. There has even been those who pop in to argue, and then pop out and have nothing positive to offer or share. It's good to put those feelings in check every once in a while. I'm sorry to my dear friends here if I come off judgemental or smart-aleky. I care about you all and truly enjoy our friendships here. In love,  Leigh Anne | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 6741 Registered: 12-2003  |
Ramone, thank you for your post. Colleen | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 4271 Registered: 3-2004  |
Ramone, Those are things I have learned in my Celebrate Recovery program and I am so glad you shared them with us. God is so awesome in whatever way He teaches us. Dian a | ||
| Lordsanointed Registered user Username: Lordsanointed Post Number: 10 Registered: 8-2007 |
Ramone, Despite I wasn´t a sda, I can feel God pushing me to argue with many sda. You wrote things that I feel. God bless you. Diana, I read your PM(CARM), but I can´t answer; until now, I have only one post. You helped so much. In His rest, Lordsanointed | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 4276 Registered: 3-2004 |
Lordsanointed, You will learn a lot for both forums. That I can guarantee. Diana |
