When God rips out my flesh, quite notably a flesh that I cannot rip out on my own, he is transforming my hardened heart. I need the saving grace of Jesus to sanctify my soul to make me more like him.
John 15: 1-4 says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
Having my “flesh clawed off” has revealed something radical to me.
Without Jesus and his work in and through me, I am nothing. I am incapable of escaping the brutal reality of my Idolatry.
I am profoundly aware of my need for a Savior. In these last several days, I have found myself humbly submitting to the throne of God as he is tearing out the rough, scaly parts of my heart. At times I feel like I can’t even breath because I recognize that God is allowing me to be in situations where I have to decide who I will place my trust in to lead me and give me HOPE, Rony or God? My flesh so strongly wants to choose Rony because there is a part of me that believes that God will fail me and that he does not really care about me. A lie from the enemy! A lie produced from idolatry.
At times I feel like I can’t even breath because I recognize that God is allowing me to be in situations where I have to decide who I will place my trust in to lead me and give me HOPE, Rony or God?
God is plucking out areas of sin in my life and although it is overwhelming and hard, I believe it is for my good and for his glory.
Choosing Jesus above everything else is not the natural reflex of our human hearts.
But one thing remains…my suffering as a sinner is only the first verse. As Shane and Shane says in their song Embracing Accusations, “The Devil is singing over me an age-old song that I am cursed and gone astray. Singing the first verse so conveniently over me, he’s forgotten the refrain: Jesus saves!” The triumphal chorus is that I have been rescued, redeemed and restored by Jesus Christ. He is jealous for me and his affections for me are greater than anything I have ever known. He is worthy of my trust, admiration and deepest affection.
“God’s grace invites you to be part of something that is far greater than your boldest and most expansive dream. His grace cuts a hole in your self-built prison and invites you to step into something huge, so significant that only one word in the Bible can adequately capture it. That word is glory.” -Paul David Tripp, A Quest For More: Living For Something Bigger Than You
