Sliding Up!

 

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; 

the world, and they that dwell therein.

Years ago I wrote a small collection of poetry and prose which I entitled Rising.  The selection I want to share with you today is "Sliding Up!".  The inspiration for the title came from a Holy Spirit led introspection of my heart. This was my introduction of seeing into  things hidden  there, and what I was shown wasn't pleasing to Him or me. And I smile now as I write this because I was SO shocked to discover I needed this kind of cleansing! After all, I was a Christian who was a good person.  I had accepted Jesus and was doing all the right things as far as I knew.  And I was NICE! How could such a thing be hidden in MY heart? I was truly shocked!   O my, and now I'm chuckling out loud because I remember that day  and recall the feelings so clearly.  

Needless to say I had no  real understanding that though I had become a new creation in Christ Jesus,  the part of me that had been made NEW was my SPIRIT only!  I had no understanding that  my mind - my thinking and understanding -  had to be renewed and brought in line with being a child of the King and my birthright had forever changed! And is it not wonderful to have our very own instructor who will teach us all things concerning the abundant life that Jesus Himself came to give us?!

I eventually got over the shock of having discovered I was still in need of transformation,  and  here's the poem that agrees with that: 

Sliding Up!

It seems to be impossible to do such a wonderful thing,

But when the Lord is healing, it's the natural nature of things.

You start out by sliding, going on 

                                                                              d

                                                                                 o

                                                                                   w

                                                                                      n

it's true!

But when the work is finished,

                                                      

                                                    U!

                                               O 

you'll find a bigger better Y

And after all these years,  I still need to go through this same process both when I recognize something that's just not quite right, or when Holy Spirit shows me.....the difference now is, I'm not shocked.  I must admit that at times I've been totally surprised when I "see" what He shows me, but the truth remains that things are always better and brighter afterwards.  

At this point, I feel impressed to share a Word the Spirit gave me this past year which I grew to understand is a key  which when actively applied, produces quick results.  Once we grow to trust Him implicitly and know He will NEVER  harm  us in any way, we can give Him carte blanche (unrestricted power to act at one's own discretion; unconditional authority) over our heart.  When we come to this kind of reliance, trust and intimacy with Him, we can rest assured we will be rewarded with His kindness and faithfulness to help in any and every area of our lives. 

Here's what He said to me:

Honesty to honesty, truth to truth, grace to grace, glory to glory.

These  words are the process which  depend on us taking the first step, the honesty step,  which includes being open about everything which concerns us.  He will take us through the rest as we continue to  cooperate with Him  and walk with Him. 

I'll end this blog with a simple wrap-up  of what He said in a few, power packed words:

      Honesty to Honesty: open and bare; nothing hidden, except to be made known  Mark 4:22

      Truth to Truth: you will know the truth and it will make your free  John 8:32

      Grace to Grace:  he who receives an abundance of grace will reign in life...Romans 5:17

      Glory to Glory: we are being changed from glory to glory into His likeness  2 Cor. 3:18

 

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,

 that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

I dedicate this blog entry to my precious daughter, Kimberly Grace Buettemeyer,