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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life Issue #1,058 March 15, 2004 Thinking About Silly Putty and God On my desk, for those moments when I need mindless amusement, is a plastic egg full of silly putty. When I'm sitting and thinking, I can stretch it, tear it apart, shape it or whatever else seems appropriate at the moment. When I'm done playing with it, I just stuff it back into the egg and leave it until the next time I feel the urge to play. Each time I open the egg, the silly putty has slumped back to its original shape. If I didn't know better, I'd say that it had never been played with. Sometimes in life, we feel like we're the silly putty. We're sitting there minding our own business and suddenly we're being stretched, rolled, shaped and torn. The difference is that God never does it just for play and He is always intentional about what He's doing. He doesn't give up part way through and forget about us. Sometimes, we do slump back, but that's our choice not His design. He can shape us and mold us, but if we choose to go back to our old ways He may let us. For a while. Then He pinches, moulds and shapes us all over again. We don't have to revert, He's set us free to be more than we were. He's given us the choice to follow or to be disobedient. Some days we choose to follow and others we choose to slump and be disobedient. Many people have to get reshaped again and again because we choose not to listen to Him. When we're disciplined for habitual sin, it isn't God's fault. We're the ones who made the poor choice of falling again. He disciplines us and reshapes us because He loves us. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV When we've slumped back into the formless mold of sin and God pulls us out to reshape us to His plan, it's time to rejoice. It might hurt a bit at the time, but it means He hasn't forgotten us. It means He still loves us. It means He loves and accepts us where we're at when we come to Him, but He also loves us too much to leave us there. Being conformed to the image of God is a growing process, and like all growth involves change and some amount of pain. We can limit that pain by choosing to walk closely with Him and keeping with the changes He's making. Or we can go through it over and over again, because we've chosen to slide backwards. There isn't an in between position. Either we're moving forward with God or we're slumping back to the old self. I've grown a lot as a Christian, and there have been times when it has been tough. There were things I didn't want to give up. I didn't want to stop being the center of the universe. I didn't want to face the consequences of my own actions. I've got a lot of growing to do yet, but I'm learning (notice I didn't say I've learned) to let Him have His way, fight Him less and slump back less. It's helped a lot. Until next time, pay attention when He wants to reshape you and go with the flow. He's going to have His way anyway, after all He's God and we're not. Rejoice in the fact that He loves you enough to not leave you wallowing in your sin. Hallelu Yah (Praise God) Be blessed Kevin Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without you. HELP FOR THE HURTING Finding love; hope; peace; joy; forgiveness and eternal life can be both a very easy and a very hard thing. We find those things in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In some ways it' easy because Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, so we have a choice to not face the wrath of God. We accept Jesus and we're His for eternity. It's hard because it means we must examine our hearts, admit that we've messed up and repentantly ask Him to take charge. For many people, their pride gets in the way and they refuse to do that. Their silly pride condemns them to an eternity of punishment. Being a Christian isn't always a cake walk either. We face the same problems that non-believers do (although we have God to help us through) and God isn't going to be content to let a believer just sit in their sin He's going to move you out of the debris and that can be painful at times. I won't promise that being a Christian will be easy. I won't promise you anything because I don't have any power to deliver on my promises. I do know from the Word of God and from personal experience that life with Jesus in it is far better than life without Him. I urge you to open your heart to Him today and begin the most wonderful part of the journey of life, walking with Jesus. No one is too old or too young. No one is to rich or too poor. No one is so bad that God can't redeem them. He won't reject you if you seek Him. Ask Him into your life today. You can simply begin the relationship by honestly and completely opening your heart; admitting you need God's help; turning away from your sin and saying a prayer along the lines of the one below. There isn't any "magic" in the prayer, it's simply a way to open up to the gift that Jesus already bought for you with His very life. You can't earn it. You don't deserve it. He freely offers it to all who will accept it: Jesus: I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I have sinned. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord. Amen
If you pray this prayer for the first time let me know so I can rejoice with you. Did you know that at Gleanings, we have a dedicated team of prayer warriors and all prayer concerns are kept strictly confidential? Your comments, your questions and your joys are shared with the prayer team, to keep me accountable as the head of the ministry and to encourage them as they see God at work in your life. As with prayer all these things are kept confidential within the Gleanings team. To share your questions, comments, thoughts, prayer concerns and praise reports email us If you enjoyed this issue of Gleanings From The Word, email it, in its entirety, to a friend. For information on use of Gleanings in your church newsletter or other situations please visit the permissions page . You can write to us at Gleanings From The Word Ministries International 114 Oak St Sherwood Park, AB Canada T8A 0V8 © 2003 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin Gleanings From The Word Minististries International - All Rights Reserved
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