Freedom to Choose
(the rough sketches here were done by myself several years ago as a visual reminder to a picture the Lord gave me. I wrote on the back; "When God asks us to let something go; it is because He wants to give us something much better. Drop the bucket!!!" Let go of the sin that entangles and destroys; receive the beauty offered by the Loving hands of the Father. And watch beauty grow from the ashes of sacrifice)
Freedom.
To laugh, to cry, to live, to choose.
Freedom to love, to fear, to forgive, to abuse .
Freedom to create to destroy.
Freedom to build up or tear down.
Why would one continue to choose to live in self-protective patterns of fear when freedom is offered?
We are so comfortable with the stench of our sin it would seem attractive to us!
Jesus Christ and His upside-down Kingdom came to show me Truth.
His Love.
Unwavering, uncompromised, passionate, reckless, scandalous, pure and unbridled.
No holding back, no strings attached, no agenda but that of a Lover desperate to take back His bride.
His princess.
Me.
Who else could I trust with the broken pieces of my heart?
Who else would understand my pain and not judge me for the sin that brought me there?
But offer instead the knife to pierce my soul with the truth and cut the cords of death that I might be healed.
Healed.
The Lord Jesus came and held out His hands, marked with the scars of my bondages, and with eyes of compassion said
"Come".
Lord, I will follow.
He knows the path and its pitfalls.
He knows the sound of flesh being pulled off of the soul; the circumcision of the heart.
He knows the smell of burning sacrifice and that the sacrifice was just that; a sacrifice.
Not something that was easily given up or lightly put aside.
He knows the turning away of the Father's eyes, the loneliness that transcends words.
He knows the price of my freedom.
His own guiltless blood. His own innocent death.
Still, He offers Truth to bring freedom.
The paradox of giving up that which we cannot keep to gain that which we can never lose.
The bucket of refuse and dung we cling to and protectively cover like Gollum and his 'precioussss' not understanding the terrible price we pay in our deception.
He offers in His torn hands the gifts of heaven to us if we would
just....
let.....
go....our white-knuckeled death-grip of the very thing that is killing us.
He wastes nothing, though, and those things that cut us deeply become marks of grace.
Soul tattoos; "I am my Beloved's and He is mine".
Out of ashes~ beauty grows.
Out of shame ~ comes dignity.
Out of rejection ~ acceptance.
Out of sorrow ~ joy.
Out of chaos ~ peace.
Out of death ~ life.
The opposite of love is not hate; it is fear.
Perfect love casts out all fear!
Take the risk; go put on the altar the thing you cannot live without; that represents all your future and your dreams and your identity and your security and take the knife.
And trust Him.
He has provided the Lamb.
He is the Lion who is not safe; but is GOOD.
(the rough sketches here were done by myself several years ago as a visual reminder to a picture the Lord gave me. I wrote on the back; "When God asks us to let something go; it is because He wants to give us something much better. Drop the bucket!!!" Let go of the sin that entangles and destroys; receive the beauty offered by the Loving hands of the Father. And watch beauty grow from the ashes of sacrifice)
Freedom.
To laugh, to cry, to live, to choose.
Freedom to love, to fear, to forgive, to abuse .
Freedom to create to destroy.
Freedom to build up or tear down.
Why would one continue to choose to live in self-protective patterns of fear when freedom is offered?
We are so comfortable with the stench of our sin it would seem attractive to us!
Jesus Christ and His upside-down Kingdom came to show me Truth.
His Love.
Unwavering, uncompromised, passionate, reckless, scandalous, pure and unbridled.
No holding back, no strings attached, no agenda but that of a Lover desperate to take back His bride.
His princess.
Me.
Who else could I trust with the broken pieces of my heart?
Who else would understand my pain and not judge me for the sin that brought me there?
But offer instead the knife to pierce my soul with the truth and cut the cords of death that I might be healed.
Healed.
The Lord Jesus came and held out His hands, marked with the scars of my bondages, and with eyes of compassion said
"Come".
Lord, I will follow.
He knows the path and its pitfalls.
He knows the sound of flesh being pulled off of the soul; the circumcision of the heart.
He knows the smell of burning sacrifice and that the sacrifice was just that; a sacrifice.
Not something that was easily given up or lightly put aside.
He knows the turning away of the Father's eyes, the loneliness that transcends words.
He knows the price of my freedom.
His own guiltless blood. His own innocent death.
Still, He offers Truth to bring freedom.
The paradox of giving up that which we cannot keep to gain that which we can never lose.
The bucket of refuse and dung we cling to and protectively cover like Gollum and his 'precioussss' not understanding the terrible price we pay in our deception.
He offers in His torn hands the gifts of heaven to us if we would
just....
let.....
go....our white-knuckeled death-grip of the very thing that is killing us.
He wastes nothing, though, and those things that cut us deeply become marks of grace.
Soul tattoos; "I am my Beloved's and He is mine".
Out of ashes~ beauty grows.
Out of shame ~ comes dignity.
Out of rejection ~ acceptance.
Out of sorrow ~ joy.
Out of chaos ~ peace.
Out of death ~ life.
The opposite of love is not hate; it is fear.
Perfect love casts out all fear!
Take the risk; go put on the altar the thing you cannot live without; that represents all your future and your dreams and your identity and your security and take the knife.
And trust Him.
He has provided the Lamb.
He is the Lion who is not safe; but is GOOD.
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