Thursday, November 10, 2011

Not Very Popular

Ezra 10:11
Confess your sin to the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and do what he demands. Separate yourselves from the people of the land..............

At the very center of this new life we are experiencing with Jesus, is the idea of separation.
Separation from our past.
Separation from old friends (I use the term "friends" loosely).
Separation from old places and hang outs.
We found ourselves in all of the above usually because of our addiction.
Addiction did not compel you to seek out people of integrity and honesty.
We avoided such folk like the plague.
Addiction drove us into communities of people all suffering from the same pain and misery we were experiencing. Truly misery does love company.

Now with this new relationship with Jesus and a life of sobriety, we are called to separate ourselves out of our past.
The two cannot nor will they ever be compatible.
For some of us, we felt abandoned at the thought of this separation.
But soon, we discovered that God truly did want to provide us with real life.
Psalm 18:20 reads: The LORD rewarded me for doing right. He compensated me because of my innocence. I've said it before and I'll say it again. When you begin to do business with God, you never trade down.............you always trade up. By that I mean when you surrender something to God....your life.............old ways..........old so called friends............what He gives you back in return is better than what you originally had. It really is like trading a YUGO for a LEXUS.  I rest in the knowledge and assurance that God is a God who has my best interest at heart. He is totally trustworthy. So when He calls me into separation from the ways and the things of this world, I can totally trust Him that He is leading me in the right direction.

Rest in this.....
God on you......
mb

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