Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the Lord, “Let not the one who is wise and skillful boast in his insight; let not the one who is mighty and powerful boast in his strength; let not the one who is rich boast in his temporal satisfactions and earthly abundance; but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt, that I am the Lord who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight,” says the Lord. Amplified Bible
Created To Need God
I was once lost but now I am found. Jesus, You can and You do raise up the broken to life. We break ourselves by our dependence on our flesh, instead of You. A lot of the broken places in our lives are from our human condition fleshing out. We were created with a God sized hole in our soul that only You can fill Jesus. We were created for our God, created to need to know a personal relationship with God. Without this vital-vertical relationship with God, we get lost in our fleshly ways and our soul gets tied up in knots and becomes dysfunctional.
Romans 7:18-20 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity. For the willingness to do good is present in me, but the doing of good is not. For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it that is, it is not me that acts, but the sin nature which lives in me. Amplified Bible
Impulsive Choices Are A Dead End
I have to say leading with the flesh by being dependent on me instead of God, out of this dysfunctional living arose my worst enemy ever, an impulsive human nature. When we do things impulsively the end result is never going to be on the side of right. It should always be our first desire from every moment into every choice to make the right decision, the one that pleases God and blesses others. There is no good that happens when impulsive choices are in play in your life and they will only lead to broken life pieces.
1 Corinthians 9:25-27 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Self-Controlled? Flesh-Controlled?
An impulsive nature runs into life blindly making many foolish decisions based on feelings, assumptions, presumptions, rationalizations and never has a platform of truth to hold it up, so it is continually crashing and burning. There is no self-control when the impulsive human nature is in the lead because real self-control is not human willed but Holy Spirit empowered. I was the enemies fool because I walked in the fleeting strength my own flesh, independent from the wisdom of God. Sometimes we just react with our flesh and we look like we are just flinging our arms around fighting the wind. We need to not be so impulsive, wait on God and follow His lead.
James 3:16-18 Any place where you find jealousy and selfish ambition, you will discover chaos and evil thriving under its rule. Heavenly wisdom centers on purity, peace, gentleness, deference, mercy, and other good fruits untainted by hypocrisy. The seed that flowers into righteousness will always be planted in peace by those who embrace peace. The Voice
Wishy-Washy World
The wisdom of God is fresh, innovative and God willed, where the knowledge of humanity is gained only through experiences where the variables are in a state of flux. No two experiences are the same, life changes every single day. The cultural tides are so transitory. What was good today is bad tomorrow. Our wishy-washy world doesn’t stick with much. We are off and running after new experiences even moment to moment, our knowledge gained is so transitory.
Isaiah 50:10-11 Who is among you who fears the Lord, who obeys the voice of His Servant, Yet who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust and be confident in the name of the Lord and let him rely on his God. Listen carefully, all you who kindle your own fire devising your own man-made plan of salvation, who surround yourselves with torches, Walk by the light of your self-made fire and among the torches that you have set ablaze. But this you will have from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment. Amplified Bible
Nothing Is Good Without God
The Bridegroom’s Voice pierced the darkness of my soul as Jesus saved me out of a dependence on my flesh that totally failed me so many times. I kept digging myself holes and falling into them. This is the only good way to describe it, because nothing about my life was good without God. I strived and strived and my flesh continuously failed me, so I looked for artificial fixes that would bolster up my soul. I kindled my own fire and walked by the light of it, unfortunately it never stayed bright, it flamed out every single time. It was exhausting. It was emotional torment. God has brought His Light into my life and this revelation relationship with God has totally changed my worldly viewpoint with His Kingdom perspective. I may be a broken vessel, but now in Christ, I am a broken vessel of light. I am broken brightly. God shines out of all my broken pieces.
Dysfunction In High Gear
One of my deepest regrets is holding on too tightly to my youngest daughter. Both my other children had left the nest and that was difficult, so I held tightly to the last one, way too tightly. When you hold tightly to a person instead of God, you are separated from the wisdom and strength of God. She was really loved, cared for and cherished, that was not the problem. She made it easy because she was a student athlete, who was so very disciplined, so it was either school or sports that took up her time, the rest of the time she was content to stay at home. So life was good. Until she decided to start dating. That is when my dysfunction kicked into high gear, because instead of the natural process of letting her go, I held on tighter and made things so hard for her life. Thankfully she was a sweet, kind, caring daughter, who stayed within the tight boundaries we set up for her out of respect and love for us. The more tightly I held on, the more I hurt her and all the others in her life. Dysfunction sets in deeply when you are clinging to a person instead of God and it leaves scars, relational consequences that don’t always heal.
Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. ESV
Crooked Places Straight
God’s grace and power are amazing in that special way of His. He takes the broken things in our lives that we have smashed by our foolishness and He makes them whole, better than new. When I first began to wake up to the truth that my relationship with my daughter had become dysfunctional, was her senior year in High School. God used a car accident we were in to begin opening my eyes to the truth of my brokenness. It is great how God can use even bad things to work something extremely good in us. It was from that moment on that He began the process of straightening out this crooked place in my life. He took all the failures and weaknesses concerned with this defectiveness in me and He, over the next few years began to make a way to make this crooked place straight again.
Romans 8:1-2 So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 For the power of the life-giving Spirit—and this power is mine through Christ Jesus—has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death. TLB
Resurrected Regrets
I have a lot of regrets from a season of my life where I was not clinging to God, but clinging to my daughter. I see now that I was making my own way out of my fear of losing her and the deeper issue of my life was the fear of change. I did not want my comfort zone stretched or changed up in any way. I worked hard to keep my life in the state of happy normality, an easy breezy lifestyle, where nothing was allowed in that would mess with my personal comfort. I was afraid of change. But, Jesus died my death, and when He rose, He raised up my brokenness to new life. Because He died my death, I now live His life through the resurrection power in Him. I am empty handed now, not holding on to anything in this life, instead I am in the grip of my Advocate, Jesus Christ. I am His brightly broken vessel of Kingdom light.
Brightly Broken
Now, I am a broken vessel of His Light, where the world can see His Light in me because it streams out of a vessel that has been pieced together by God. He took my failure and my weakness and made me a strong vessel in Him and this is the sweetness of His Amazing Grace. I don’t mind being a broken vessel, because out of my brokenness, God shines so brightly. I am brightly broken. I have weaknesses, I know them now, my blinders have been taken off, my blind spots are dealt with. I still do not like change, it is a weakness and I know God can fill it with His strength. When I know a transition is about to come in my life, I cling to God, I guard my heart diligently.
Proverbs 4:20-23 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Brokenness Caused By Sin
When we fail, when we sin, the consequences of this sin are felt by many, it reverberates through the relationships in our lives. We don’t sin alone, everyone connected with us feels the consequences of our sin. We wound people, and are totally blinded to the way our sin is affecting their lives. We hurt the ones we love even though we never intended to do it. God loved us even though we wounded Him. Jesus loved even though He had been hurt, betrayed and crucified by us. Jesus paid the consequence for our sin, so we could live a powerful life in Him, a life without sin. The habitual sins are the ones that usually fragment us and all those around us feel the burden of the brokenness caused by our sin lifestyle.
Philippians 2:3-4 Don’t let selfishness and prideful agendas take over. Embrace true humility, and lift your heads to extend love to others. Get beyond yourselves and protecting your own interests; be sincere, and secure your neighbors’ interests first. The Voice
Our Flesh Is Never Satisfied
Our independence from God and dependence on ourselves is an insensitive pattern of living, because all we can think about is ourselves. We work hard directing and controlling our life to keep us in our personal comfort zone, making sure we are the most gratified by our life situations. The bad thing is that the flesh is never satisfied, it is never content without God, and it always wants more and more for itself. Happy is an emotion that is very fleeting. No matter how hard we try to grasp happiness, it slips out of our fingers. We cannot control our days so they all will be feel good days, it is just impossible. Feelings are fickle, it is God’s truth that stabilizes us and gives us the most freedom as we build a life foundation upon it.
1 Peter 2:24 He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice, so that we might die to sin becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you who believe have been healed. Amplified
The Right Choice Is Jesus
The sin consequences from the times we are away from God wound other people and the hurt caused sometimes stays with them for a long time. It is better to make the right choice the first time, therefore there are no negative consequences. The right choice is Jesus, because without Him we are broken vessels, blinded to truth by our lack of His Light. Without God, we stumble through life with our fears leading us and that never ends well. Jesus took our sins on Himself, our chastisement was on Him so we would be holy-whole just as if we never sinned. Because of the self sacrifice of Jesus, we have been freed of the power sin over us and given us the wisdom, strength and courage of God’s Holy Spirit to make the best choice, the first time. From every moment into every choice we have been equipped by Jesus to make the best decision that brings the Kingdom of God great honor and glory.
1 John 4:18 We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us. TLB
Jesus Raises The Broken To Life
Jesus came to raise up the broken to life. He did that for me and for you. Jesus shook up my life and the facade of religion cracked and fell off. I turned to God, gave my life fully to Him and fell in love with Him. As my love grew stronger from God and I got to know Him personally, heart to Heart and spirit to Spirit, I let go and let God direct my life. I began to feel found by Him, and the blindness left my spirit. I could finally see the truth and I fully faced God, seeing the love in His eyes for me, experiencing the wholeness of His life in me. The Holy Spirit straightened out the crooked places in all my relationships in that incredible way only He could. God made things better than they ever were, better than I could ever have made them or imagined them to be. I no longer followed after fear, I was free in Christ Jesus to live my life in faith instead of stumbling impulsively in fear.
Flesh Out And Cling To God
The consequences of that season of my life I spent apart from God, they still prick me with regret here and there as I travel forward. I know without a doubt that there is no condemnation from God, He has forgiven me and in that there is freedom from guilt. I do have regrets from the consequences of my foolish behavior during that time, but the JOY of growing through from darkness to light, from lost to found, keeps me fully facing God. I humbly know that I am flesh, and without God, it can be an ugly human condition that makes foolish choices. I choose to “flesh out” daily and cling to God. I know that me being found with God, will be a sweet, loving, kind, wise experience for all those I am in relationship with. I strive to be totally found in Him, because it is good for me and the best for all connected to and influenced by my life. Clinging to God assures that I will be His living legacy and bring Him great honor.
Isaiah 61:3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. NLT
Beautiful Broken Vessels
My life experience with the amazing Grace of God keeps me shouting out my praise and hoping huge for me and others that we cling to God, and dig our life roots deeply in His Grace. Only God can take broken vessels and make them beautiful. I am one of those, God’s grace filled vessel, a broken vessel of His Light.
The Worship SpotLIGHT “Broken Vessels” is an encouragement for all of us that God is able to put us back together and shine through us. I hope you enjoyed your stay in The Bridegroom’s Café today and I pray your soul was fed by in that Miraculously So way of God. Please share this hope with others by using the social media buttons below. I would love, love to hear from you, so please leave a comment on how this post inspired you to “flesh out” and spend quality time listening to The Bridegroom’s Voice. God bless you MUCH, KimberlyMac