Makeover

Good day peoples!

Guess what? I got a make-over a few weeks ago. It was much needed because my look was so outdated. I have gotten way to old to wear some of the things that I used to think were cool. I had outgrown that old look. You know how sometimes you just look in the mirror and just say to yourself..."I have GOT to get a new look." Yup, that's what I did. Only instead of looking in my bathroom mirror, I looked in the Word of God. And guess what it said...yup! MAKEOVER TIME!!!! Only, this type of makeover isn't so fun, but the changes that result are not temporary, but eternal...hopefully.

Can I talk to you a minute? K great, thanks

Isaiah 6 talks about a man who said "yes" to God, and from that day was changed. Until recently I didn't know what it really meant to say "yes God." I knew it was more than just a word and a few crocodile tears. I knew it was more than that, but I still could not seem to say it in a way that would make it permanent. Like I'd say "yes" on Friday, but three weeks later I would be back to questioning God about what He was doing, like He didn't know. I go back to searching for the opinions of others when I knew what was what.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

Purification


For the past few months (umm...maybe years) I've gone along pretty content with my life. I knew that I hadn't reached my destiny and I was content in my striving to get there, because I felt like I was making progress, and I was. I was progressing at a nice pace for someone who is 22 years old and just trying to make it in a world that doesn't always want to give you a leg up. I'm realizing these days that it's true, I was doin alright for myself; slowly advancing, climbing the ladder of academia. Putting some degrees under my belt. Making some speeches and appearances at professional conferences. However, I am learning that God has so much more for me than striving and struggling. I have a wonderful habit of getting caught up in the process and forgetting about the destination. I stopped one day not so long ago. Stopped the striving and the struggling and the fitting in, and all I said was..."yes God." It wasn't pretty. It wasn't eloquent. It was real. I am unclean, with unclean lips and an unclean heart. Woe is me honey! But I asked God, if you would only take coal and place it upon my lips so that I might be clean. So that I speak only things that you would speak. So that I do only things that you would do. So that I go only places you would go. Because woe. is. me. Caught up in the process, forgetting about the destination.


I have a great drive for knowledge. I love to KNOW things. For the most part, that is an asset. It's good to want to constantly educate yourself about your surroundings. Knowledge is power, and people parish for the lack it. Only for me, there would be times when my thirst for knowledge would be so great that I'd surprise that all important step of gaining wisdom.


Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.


After learning all that I have learned I am now in a place where I am ready to gain wisdom. What is the point of knowledge if you don't know how to use it. What's the point of knowing the bible if you don't follow it. God says if you love Him, you'll obey Him. Simple right? Only if you have a serious "yes God" in you. Would you be willing to give up every comfort, every secure thing in your life if God said that you need to come away with Him? The verse says "though it cost all you have, get UNDERSTANDING." A lot of people have knowledge, but it takes a perculiar person to be brave enough to use that knowledge to make an actual change.

One thing I've learned and am beginning to understand is this: When God is pulling you away, you need to go away. "Deep calls to deep" (Psalm 42:7). You can't fully ignore His call, probably because you'll have no peace of mind nor spirit. He is trying to shape you and prepare you for where you are going. You need to get back on the potter's wheel, and no matter how hard it may be, you can't take people with you. This is a solo ride. As I said, it takes a complete "yes God" to be willing to let go of your current life for the life He wants of you.

My life is no longer my own. The hand of the Lord is making me over.


So now what?

I'm excited. I'm ecstatic. I'm willing. I'm scared. I'm just going along with God on this one, completely trusting Him. COMPLETELY. It doesn't matter what is said about it. It doesn't matter how I feel about it. If God says "move" I gotta move. I know that after this is all over, my former glory and my current afflictions will be nothing in comparison to what God is going to release. The only thing is I have to be prepared to catch it.

So makeovers can seem scary. They can totally strip you of what you find comfort in. They can cause so many changes in you; emotional changes, physical changes, mental changes. They can cause others to react to you differently. But every once in a while they are much needed. They are a good thing, even though it may bruise or hurt a bit...or a lot, it's necessary. So if God is pulling at you and telling you to go away, go away. Why continue to be content with what you have when He wants to enlarge your territory. He is trying to get to your whole heart, free of distraction. So give Him your whole heart, free of distraction.





Our lives are not our own. We were created to carry the weight of His glory. Unless we totally surrender our lives and give up all ground, we will never experience His glory the way He intended us to.





Give up all ground and say "yes"

~~~~



Oh yea, something strange happened to me the other day. I was at work (at a hotel) and this lady was staying there. She has stayed there before so I kind of recognized her. Anyway she had a question and I was showing her how to do something and she glanced at my purity ring. She asked me what it was and I simply explained it was a purity ring and she about flipped out. She gasped, placed her hands over her mouth, and I thought she was about to cry. She then started telling me about how she wished she had waited until marriage and all that, and how she really had a heart to just minister to young women about the importance of abstinence. We then just started talking and I was just so blessed by her heart that is just so full of love and compassion for ministering; for being a servant. She wanted to start some type of group at her home church in Atlanta that focuses on encouraging young people to live for God, but she was scared. "What if people react like...crazy to the idea or something?" she said. My response was.."they might, but God put this in your heart." I tried to encourage her by letting her know that this was a good thing she wanted to do and God had entrusted the idea to her. She was soo sweet.



Ms. Diane, I hope that you continue to seek after the things of God and continue to be filled with a fire for ministry.





That is all