Preparation Leads to Freedom

As we enter Lent, we come into a season of soul searching and truth seeking. It is a time to look into our souls and to see what God sees. I think most people fear self-reflection because it is painful. It is easier to just not see it at all, than to see it and act on it.  Very often people treat the symptoms of the problem without ever finding the cause.  This seems so bizarre, why would people choose this route?  The answer is fairly simple; it’s easier.  For example, in the medical field we spend billions of dollars on this very problem.  Someone has high blood pressure so do you cut out fried/fatty food and exercise, or just take a pill? Most are happy to just take a pill and keep eating whatever they want.  The problem with this method is that you haven’t solved the problem you are only treating the symptoms.  If we continue to treat only the symptoms it will eventually catch up to us with an acute heart attack or debilitating heart disease.  Although taking a pill may be the easiest and fastest route, diet and exercise will be the life long cure.
 
Our spiritual lives are much the same way.  When we enter into prayer with the Lord, and seek His face, He will show us truth.  Once we have been shown the truth then we must act on it.
“22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”  This verse is right on for our day and time.  There are many who hear the Word Sunday after Sunday, yet fail to do what it says. I think believers can all be linked into this category at one time or another.  The world is having a hard time distinguishing Christians from non-Christians. I have two great mentors in my ministry life.  One engrained in me from the beginning, see the truth through God’s eyes, not your own.  It took me a long time to really get what He was saying.  He meant when a hard situation arose in my ministry or my life, always put it up against scripture. If it was contradictory to God’s Word then it had to be dealt with. He also taught me upholding the truth can be painful and costly, but also very rewarding in our relationship with God. It is always easier to look the other way in our self-examination, but we are not stronger for doing so.  In the song Out of Hiding (Father’s Song) she sings these powerful lines:
           
Come out of hiding
You're safe here with Me
There's no need to cover
What I already see
 
You've got your reasons
But I hold your peace
You've been on lockdown
And I hold the key
 
I'll be your lighthouse
When you're lost at sea
And I will illuminate
Everything
 
'Cause I loved you before you knew it was love
And I saw it all, still I chose the cross
And you were the one that I was thinking of
When I rose from the grave
Now rid of the shackles, My victory's yours
I tore the veil for you to come close
There's no reason to stand at a distance anymore
 
I especially love the line that says, “There is no need to cover what I already see.” Some times we exhaust our selves trying to make everyone (including God) think we are doing amazing. The sad new is privately, many are dying a slow spiritual death. We may be able to fool people, but God is the El Roi “the God who sees.”  If we will seek God He will be our lighthouse and illuminate our life with truth.  The other powerful line is, “I saw it all, still I chose the cross.”  God loves us no matter where we find our selves, even if it is in a pit of sin.
 
Let’s take these next 40 days to prepare our hearts, so on Easter Sunday we can celebrate the cross with no shackles!!
 
John 8:31-32 … So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
 
 “Never let us be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth on the altar of peace.” ~ J. C.