Messes To Masterpieces

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)

There is something to be said about perseverance. Most meaningful and valuable things in life will cost us something and involve sacrifices of time, energy, finances, comfort/sleep/pleasure, personal pride, and the list goes on.

Quitting is easy. The ‘low road’ is the one more frequently traveled and water always takes the  path of least resistance. Our body weight is primarily attributed to …. you
guessed it – water. It is ingrained within our nature to always take the shortcut and to bypass the weight room.

What does all this mean? It means there comes a time when we have to face reality and know that a walk of faith in God and His word is not a trivial pursuit nor an undertaking that can be short-circuited with mediocrity.

There comes a time in our walk with God when we just simply ‘have to show up’ regardless of how we feel. Show up ‘where’ you might ask?

Show up and spend time with God. Seek Him and show up in a quiet time of prayer. Show up and meet with God’s people. Show up to read and study God’s Word. Just show up.

Don’t feel like facing frustrations with people and situations – Just show up.
Don’t feel like getting out of bed & going to church on Sunday – Just show up.
Don’t feel like going to work just to face another day of profanity, rumors, negativity, snickering, dirty jokes & innuendo – Just show up!

One thing is for certain – if YOU bother to show up HE WILL bother to show up.

Why Show Up?

There is an old saying and most people who claim to be a Christian for any length of time have heard it: “The only Bible people may ever read is the one they see in your life”. There is no doubt more truth in that phrase then we’d like to admit. And there are scriptures to even back it up. Here is one:

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.(Isaiah 51:7)

Something mystical happens when one spends time in sincere prayer and in studying God’s word – they take on the nature of God and it eventually oozes out from the inside. After time, people “showing up” with God are noticed by those around them  (mostly subconsciously) and mark them as being cut from a different cloth or having a sparkle in their eyes that speaks of a grander place.

People are watching, they are observing and take note about those who confess to have a living relationship with God, of having an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ. People are generally not stupid. People can normally tell the difference between the fake and the genuine. Why? Because the human capacity to discern authenticity is ingrained within our fabric.

Why is this important to God? Simply because He needs us. He needs his people to be a  witness to a lost world so that he might do what he came to do – to heal and to restore the soul that it might live again. It is that simple. Jesus Christ came to this earth for one purpose – to heal the brokenhearted, the bruised and those beaten by the sins of this world:

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:11-12

And he needs his people to do it – he needs you.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.(Isaiah 43:10)

A New LOL

Everyone knows about and uses it in social media in response to a remark or comment – LOL (Laughing Out Loud).  Even cranking out those three letters on the keyboard with right ring finger nimbleness has a certain tingle to it.

However, there is a new ‘LOL’ being proposed here and it has nothing to do with laughter. Rather it deals with a subject having a weightier message – Love

LOL – Love On Location

That is right. Showing up and bringing LOL – the Love of God and Jesus into the situation.

When you show up people are going to see the law of the Lord resident in your heart and are going to read it. It is inevitable. They will perceive that it is something they need because they will feel its healing power and comfort:

He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.  (Psalms 107:20)

And as the opening scripture illustrates, people will “learn righteousness” through the reading of your life. But, you need to do one thing –

Just Show Up & bring your LOL!

Be Blessed.