You’ll never hear again, “Help! Call the guards!” Violence, destruction, and ruin will be things of the past in Jerusalem. You will name the city walls Salvation, and the city gates Praise. You won’t need the sun to brighten the day or the moon and lamps to give you light. Isaiah 60:18
From The Beginning of our lives we are born into displacement. We are born where we don’t belong, we are displaced. We have a God sized hole in our lives that only He can fill, yet when He fills it, we are still displaced, we don’t belong here, we never have. We were only meant to be here a short time, this is not our forever home.
Because your old life is dead and gone. Your new life is now hidden, enmeshed with the Anointed who is in God. On that day when the Anointed One—who is our very life—is revealed, you will be revealed with Him in glory! Colossians 3:3-4 The Voice
“O Fast and Gone. How Great Is GOD, How small I am! A mote in the illimitable sky. So I have lost myself in finding Thee, Have lost myself forever, O Thou Son, The boundless heaven of Thine eternal love around me and beneath me and above. This is God!” Author: Gerhard Tersteegen
Living and working in Jerusalem in these days is much different than in earlier times. Wracked by the ages and ruined by overt destruction and covert neglect, the citizens of the holy city face disillusionment and disappointment. The people who come back after exile in Babylon do not return to a gloriously restored city and temple, but to a difficult land and contentious neighbors. The prophet is inspired by the spirit of God to restore hope, to help, and to comfort. As a spiritual guide he is compelled to convince people that God remains with them and that He still desires what is good, right, and true for and within them. The Voice Commentary Isaiah 60
Our Lives, The Ones We Had Before Christ were led by a displaced earthy viewpoint and we held the title role. But now, in Christ, being found in Jesus, our finite lives are hidden in His life and we walk with the power, love, character of God, we put on Christ’s right way of living every single day, no matter how we feel about His purposes that are in play in our lives, or His Sovereign will that is apparent and seen in our life situations. God has the title role of our lives and we lose ourselves in God’s way, truth and life and we live out of a kingdom perspective, because we no longer belong to this world, we belong to HIM, to His Kingdom. We walk by faith, not by sight.
“We must offer ourselves to God like a clean, smooth canvas and not worry ourselves about what God may choose to paint on it, but at each moment, feel only the stroke of His brush.” Quote By — Jean Pierre de Caussade
We Are Constantly Bombarded By Our Culture
and the things of this world can easily take over our lives. And Yes, this mediatic frenzy of all things worldly being thrown in our face at every turn, it will cause us to feel very, very displaced! Maybe that is even a good thing! The things we are “growing through” are very hard at times and we find ourselves stretched between this world and where we belong! Being set apart for God may even lead us to brokenness through the persecution of this world as we serve God first. We don’t have to worry, because God is constantly pursuing us, pointing us to our future and hope, telling us over and over again that Jesus went to prepare a place for us, so hold on, hold on to this hope. As we cling to God and pull up our shallow roots here, transforming them, digging them deeply into Kingdom soil, we will know deeply in our spirit, exactly who and WHOSE we are and we will be anchored steadfastly knowing that Jesus Christ is enough and He is faithful to shape us, equipping us for our tomorrow.
“If we gain the whole world and find not God in your own soul, what have you got? It’s worth nothing to you. Let’s search; let’s pray; let’s get still; let’s get quiet. Let’s learn the wonder of silence. Let’s learn the beauty, the secret of seeking after God. With our Bible open before us and our knees bent, all alone in humility and penitence, let us cry, “Only God, only God and God alone! Take the world but give me Jesus!” Author: A.W.Tozer
Have You Ever Felt Displaced?
Got Restlessness that you just can’t shake off? I have! I not only feel it but the restlessness that comes out of being displaced is so uncomfortable, it makes your skin crawl! At times in this life, I feel is so prickly. I believe that restlessness shakes my soul so vehemently, that I can’t stay in my comfort zone, I have to move, I have to press forward! Yes, God uses it, displacement and restlessness, He uses it for my good. A lot of times, He is about to do something new in me and I get so restless, feeling so displaced, I can hardly stand it, and the only cure is to move on from the current life season and step into the new life season, the door He is holding wide open. Yet, the transition between the two life seasons is such a stormy place! I always wondered why that was so. But now as I have grown in Christ, I realize it is because God is birthing something new in me, He is planting me, positioning me in a new place of growth and the restlessness is like a painful contraction pushing me out from a place of comfort to a new unfamiliar place. It is not supposed to feel good, it is supposed to feel awkward, that way I don’t choose to stay, I don’t try to find my own way, I choose to Cling to God in followship and to move forward in His wisdom and strength, not my own.
The Eternal One will be all the light you ever need. Your God will provide your glory, brilliance for all time. Your sun will never set; your moon will never be eclipsed in shadow, For you’ll bask in the Eternal’s light and silver splendor forever. Never again will you suffer the dark night of despair and gloom of mourning. All the people will be right with God, and they’ll stay in the land they possess forever. Eternal One: I will plant them there like a sturdy sapling with My own hands. I will tend them and take pride in their growing. Just watch, they will develop robustly; from so small a beginning, they will multiply and become a mighty nation. I, the Eternal One, will make it happen soon. Isaiah 60:19-23 The Voice
Fear Holds My Feet Stubbornly In Place.
What sometimes keeps me from moving forward, from lagging my feet, from staying where I am totally displaced is fear and most of the time doubt. Doubt that I can handle what is ahead. So God makes the big gesture and His Holy Spirit takes me and specifically guides me by His Mighty Right Hand, and as I take that first step towards the new life season, it is with courage that I step out afraid, yet full of faith knowing that My God will lead me step by step into the new life season HE has planned for me. Stepping out in faith, I realize that my fear of failure, my doubt of being able to handle the new life season was foolish because God always equips us, always finishes what He starts and I did not need to have it all figured out, I just needed to follow step by step as HE reveals a new revelation in ways that amazed me.
Do not earnestly remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. For my determined purpose is that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly. Isaiah 43:18 Amplified Bible – Philippians 3:10
Our Lives Can’t Be About Comfortable!
Our lives must be about us the clay, being willing to be made into a tool in His hands to till the ground for HIS Harvest, for the Kingdom of God. God will take our lives and add purposefully add the right ingredients so we can be shaped into a beautiful vessel that He can use for the Glory of HIS Kingdom. The clay can’t tell The Potter what to do, there can only be One Potter and we must be submissive, responsive to His touch.
So I went down to the potter’s shop and found him making something on his wheel. And as I watched, the clay vessel in his hands became flawed and unusable. So the potter started again with the same clay. He crushed and squeezed and shaped it into another vessel that was to his liking. Jeremiah 18:4
Yes I Felt So Displaced, Because I Was.
It was time to move on. Yes, I had no idea how God in that incredible way of His, had this new life season totally under His control and the God purposes had been in play for a while, I just had not yielded to Him and when I did, when I sat in His Hands and became like responsive clay to the Potter’s touch, even if the process seemed hard as He kneaded me, I could see that the purposes of God, they flowed through me, the restlessness was used to push me forward into the new that God had planned for me, purposefully so. Being displaced, feeling restless, maybe it is not such a bad thing after all! With God, everything is purposefully used for our good! AWE-GOD!
“During the kneading process the clay is handled roughly by the potter as he works out the impurities in it. Any grit or foreign particles that are left in the clay will create imperfections and cause the clay to weaken and to fall apart when it is being thrown on the wheel. The potter can feel these in the clay as he works it with his hands. At first the clay itself is abrasive and unresponsive but the more time the potter spends kneading it the more elastic and pliable it becomes.” Written By Susan E. Todd
You never know what meal topic you might find on this Smorgasbord Table in The Bridegroom’s Café. Jesus likes to talk about so many things and it is great to sit and listen to Him. In fact your life can be an adventure that leads you to many different journeys in your constant conversation with God. Enjoy. Please also share this post with all of your social media by using the buttons below and leave a comment, it is always good to add your wisdom to bless and encourage others. God bless you MUCH! KimberlyMac