"Remember, I beseech Thee,
that Thou hast made me as the clay;
and wilt Thou bring me into dust again?"
~ Job 10:9
When we are unrighteously ignored, dismissed, misunderstood, marginalized, criticized or outright rejected by church folks it is tempting to feel like there is something wrong with us, that we are hopeless losers & outcasts. When this happens to me or to someone I love, I go to Ezekiel 16.
Looking again at the vivid picture the Lord paints about those He redeems is a reality check.
We will be delivered from defensiveness and despair once we embrace the fact that WE ARE NOTHING.
Looking again at the vivid picture the Lord paints about those He redeems is a reality check.
We will be delivered from defensiveness and despair once we embrace the fact that WE ARE NOTHING.
If we surrender to the fact that in & of ourselves we ARE NOTHING,
we will have no trouble when people criticize & reject us.
Our value comes from OUTSIDE ourselves.
It's EXtrinsic.
It comes from the One in whose image we were designed, created, are sustained.
Our worth is found in the One Who rules over us.
Our value is IN the One whom we, the unworthy,
have been made BELOVED, by a sovereign act of His grace.
The Father looked upon us as we writhed in an open field in the filthiness of our own sin.
He saw us as unwashed pitiful orphans;
unloved,
helpless,
hopeless.
we will have no trouble when people criticize & reject us.
Our value comes from OUTSIDE ourselves.
It's EXtrinsic.
It comes from the One in whose image we were designed, created, are sustained.
Our worth is found in the One Who rules over us.
Our value is IN the One whom we, the unworthy,
have been made BELOVED, by a sovereign act of His grace.
The Father looked upon us as we writhed in an open field in the filthiness of our own sin.
He saw us as unwashed pitiful orphans;
unloved,
helpless,
hopeless.
The Lord God had compassion.
Listen to His voice in verse 6,8-9:
'when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood,
I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, LIVE;
yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, LIVE...
Now when I passed by thee,
and looked upon thee,
behold, thy time was the time of love;
and I spread My skirt over thee,
and covered thy nakedness:
yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee,
saith the Lord GOD,
and thou becamest Mine.
Then washed I thee with water;
yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee,
and I anointed thee with oil."
What a picture!
If we are born-again, Jesus Christ is the One who bought us with the price of His own Blood
& washed us from the filth of our sin.
He clothes us with His righteousness
& He beautifies us through the progressive work of sanctification
by His Spirit.
We grow in loveliness to Him as He adorns us with holiness.
The Lord is committed to preparing us as a comely Bride for His Son.
We grow in loveliness to Him as He adorns us with holiness.
The Lord is committed to preparing us as a comely Bride for His Son.
We are dust, but we are HIS DUST.
We are a mess, but we are HIS MESS.
And, our Bridegroom is preparing a place for us.
Jesus is faithful. He coming back to take us to Himself.
We are a mess, but we are HIS MESS.
And, our Bridegroom is preparing a place for us.
Jesus is faithful. He coming back to take us to Himself.
And, that makes all the difference.
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