Truth is, some one did have to pay. Truth is, He already did.
I have lived most of my life thinking God was in control. It’s only been in the last six years or so that I have begun to realize with growing amazement and thankfulness that He isn’t about control at all. Quite the opposite, He is about authority. He has all authority. That’s what Jesus said in my Bible. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Jesus)… Mat 28:18.”
Jesus didn’t come live here with us, die for us and rise again so he could be in control. He came to give us His authority. Control and authority are two entirely different things; control operates in the reality of need, authority is about love.
My Bible also says that it was for freedom that Jesus set me free (Gal 5:1). While control enslaves, authority sets me free. My heavenly Father has been absolutely amazing at working His freedom in me. As He’s revealed His love – His presence, His goodness, I’ve begun to discover that His love conflicted greatly with the lie that was buried ever so deep in my subconscious. His love is always bigger than the lie.
I am daily choosing to believe a radical truth about the nature of God. This truth has changed everything. The truth? Goodness is not a sometimes deal with God.
Goodness is an extension of His nature, of His love. It’s absolute; it’s not a theory, or a concept. It’s a greater revelation. It’s a truth we can either believe fully or not at all. Our Heavenly Father is fully, completely good, all the time. And if we can learn to believe this, we have found the core value by which everything in life is measured.
As I have decided to believe the “good news” I’ve been set free. Free to discover all the wonders of His goodness.
I have scanned my memory and talked in depth with my siblings. In my thorough investigation, I am confident in this next statement being absolutely 100% true. My dad never used a Skill saw on my siblings or me to get our attention or to teach us any lessons. In fact, I am sure that it never even crossed his mind. Now I realize that my dad is one of the top ten dads in world history. But even if he were just an average dad, I am confident that the skill saw would never have entered the equation.
If my dad wants to get my attention, he calls me by my name – the one he gave me. If he wants to teach me something, he shows me by how he lives. If he wants to impart to me, he reveals his heart with his words and actions. He’s always wanted the best for me and to this day he places high value on my thumbs.
I believe that there is a great shift that takes place in our hearts the day we decide to agree with the truth that God is always good, that it is impossible for a good Father to use skill saws on his kids. When we see our Father as he truly is, we are free to discover the authority of His Love; the same Love that Jesus displayed, the same authority He died and rose again to give us.
This authority is the greater works love that answers every controlling need that humankind faces. Jesus said, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, now go make disciples of all nations. (Matt 28:18) Essentially, now go live in the same authority.
Our authority is about becoming sure in His love, secure in his goodness. Our authority is found when we see the true nature of our heavenly Father and then chose to both agree and align our hearts in that revelation.
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4 comments:
THANK YOU for saying this! Part of why I left the church for a while was that I got tired of hearing with every suffering that God was trying to teach me something...I wanted a Father, not a schoolmaster! What I found, through His Word was very different than what most Western believers hold to...are we reading the Word?! :-P Thanks, again, for continuously sharing the heart of the Father...see...when I'm told to just "surrender to God" I cringe...but when I see Him for who He really is, no one even has to tell me to surrender..."control" truly is no longer the issue!
I loved working on your book & cannot wait to tell everyone I can about it...I am passionate about spreading the GOSPEL...the GOOD News! :-)
I found the loving Daddy I'd come to know through the Bible in the pages of your book! Keep it up!
And...yes, it was sooooo timely for me this season...down to the broken vacuum cleaner, LOL! Yep, been "vacuuming" with a Dirt Devil (I'm pretty sure that the Devil really is in that thing...I swear all it does is push stuff to another part of the carpet!)
I don't think God's trying to teach me any lessons...He's my loving Father & in the end, the discovery of His love & faithfulness is His "agenda," not taking school & passing tests!
Bless you & your fam!
"When you see Him for who He truly is" That's it! More of that Lord!
Love your heart. You keep it up as well. Lord bless you in the dirt devil season. Father keep reveling your goodness, your love - Breakthrough.
Thanks again for the encouragement.
Blessings to you and yours as well!
p.s. Mark Batterson is your former Fringe bandmate, right? I worked on "Primal" as well...also great! As I sought God a couple of days ago all I felt Him saying through His Word & Spirit is to just worship Him...there's such POWER in praise! So...in a feeble attempt to get back to the "height from which I'd fallen" (Rev. 2:5...I'd gone back to my old church/religious view of Him, rather than Daddy!), I said, "Ok, Abba, that's nice, but I need HELP! I sure wish I'd be invited to some sort of worship night or something..." Just a day later I got a random text from my former home fellowship leaders' daughter (their home was a TOTAL refuge...and then tragedy struck last October & their son was killed in a diving accident...we hadn't had hm. fellowship since then)...and her text said "We're having a worship night this Friday, can you come?" LOL! :-) I went & definitely some breakthru for a lot of us...God revealed we had an orphan spirit & tried to fight for a place & could't believe/receive His goodness for ourselves...we could pray wild prayers & see them answered miraculously for others but for us...there were lots of tears & repentance (even w/the guys!) & definitely some religion broken off as we actually dared to take off our "hip young intellectual Christian" masks & be messy! Yey God! Thanks to you & Karen for your prayers! I heard a quote that said "Faith is living in absolute confidence that what God has said is true & will happen, even before the promise has happened yet." Yep! So, back to the dirt devil for now, but as Aslan would say, "Spring always comes..."
Nope, Mark is just a friend. Not even sure he plays an instrument, lol.
There is nothing like worship to release Gods perspective. That orphan spirit has been messing up believers for too long, but worship is where break through happens. That we know his love, and then more! I love your story!
God bless your faith today!
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