Prescription for My Weakness Part: 1

"Therefore if you have been raise up with Christ, keep seeking the 

things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. 
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ, in God. When Christ, 
who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."                

                                                                                                   Colossians 3:1-4

There have been a few things in the past few weeks that have challenged me like never before. They are things that come from within. I feel like I am on guard for those things that come at me from the world, but I know now that I was not watching for the things that would come from within. The Lord has been dealing with my pride. This, I believe is the root of most of the issues I face in life. It infiltrates relationships, skews the Word, and spurs on a judgemental and critical spirti. It is damaging to my family, friends. and most importantly my relationship with God. The Lord has brought humbled me and brought me to my knees. He needed to do this in order to teach this  very important lesson. I hear so clearly now, "Rest in Me. Trust in Me. Let Me be your strenght. I am sufficient for you." Of course every word of this is backed with scripture.

Through a few rough days of darkness, the Lord began to draw me closer to Him. I was in a pit and He reached out and rescued me. He is still in the process of rescuing me. It has become so clear that the biggest problem is the flesh that I will continue to wrestle with until the day I die. The Lord has been consoling my heart and strengthening me with His Word. His promises are ringing in my ear! There is power in the Word. Oh, sister, I hope you can come to know this for yourself. The Lord cares, He loves you, and He wants to free you from yourself. We are new creations, but knowing that we are and actually claiming that truth as our own are very different things.

The Lord spoke so clearly to me through Colossians 2:20-3:17. He says that we are never going to be able to deal with ourselves alone. Without God's hand in our lives, we are fighting a battle we can never win. Our sickness, may it be depresssion, addiction, fear, anxiety, materialism, bitterness, or anything else that keeps us in bondage is from within. In order to defeat and overcome these strongholds we must have God's power. So you might ask, as I did, how do I get this power? What can I do in order to make this more than head knowledge and actually apply it to my life. It seems impossible to attain. I know, I was there. I believed the lies that I would forever be this way and that there is no hope for me. Oh sister, there IS hope. 

Reading through Colossians 3, I realized that God was giving me a prescription against my own flesh. He was giving me the process with very clear directions. He says we must seek Him and stop seeking to be filled by the world. Nothing in the world is going to cure our sickness, heal our pain, or help us get to a happier place. Searching for these things in the world is a futility.  

In Colossians 3:1-2, God lays out the first step to treat our problem. The solution is to seek the things of God. When we are seeking God and the things of God, we no longer find ourselves preoccupied and bound by the cares of the world. If our minds are occupied with Jesus and spiritual things, our hearts will not be consumed by material things. This is so imporant to understand. There is a two step process to begin the process of transforming and renewing our minds. This can be found in 2 Corinthians 10:5-6. We are to take captive those thoughts that are not of The Lord. I can remember hearing this verse quoted many times and I understood that I had to take control of those thoughts. I had learned to stifle them and push them into the deep recesses of my mind, but this is not a solution that works. What does the rest of the verse say? As I was petitioning The Lord and pleading for His help, He brought these verses to mind. I must make our thoughts obedient to Christ and then replace them with His Word. I realized that I had only been doing the first step, and even failing to do that part well. It is not good enough to take a thought captive if I don't intend to change it. Those thoughts only brew and fester to later rear up their ugly head even worse than before. Sister, if we are at all serious about allowing God to change us, then we must be actively involved in that change. It takes searching out God's thoughts and ways. I need  to know His ways to make them my ways. 

Did you know that your life is hidden in Christ? Colossians 3:3-4 tell me that because I have placed my faith in The Lord Jesus, I am then hidden in Him. This is such a wonderful truth! I am hidden in Christ. My identity before the Father is in Christ. Nothing in the world can alter or change my identity. I am secure in Him. Oh the freedom of knowing that and resting in that promise. Not only am I hidden in Him, but some day, maybe soon, I will be revealed with Him in glory. This is a truth I can not comprehend. It is mind boggling, but it is a truth given to us by God. I have a choice to make, will I trust Him at his Word? Will I walk moment by moment in His truth, or will I choose to remain in my pride and continue to struggle against God?