God...the Un-mason.
"The Lord raises up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous." (Ps. 146:8)
"But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, 'God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" (James 4:6)
God has been doing a lot of "un-masonry" with me lately. I know....you're thinking, "What on earth is she talking about?" Well...glad you asked.
Today I took a brisk morning walk along a beautiful horse farm. The only thing that separated me from these majestic looking beasts was a beautiful stone wall. Now, this was a wall built by "dry masonry" (about which I am no expert--but humor me for the sake of the analogy). Dry masonry--meaning the weight of the stones held the wall together---not mortar. I noticed one portion of the wall that had been knocked over and was blessed to get a closer look at how the wall had been built. There were actually two walls of stones built close together running the length of the farm. In between the two walls were many small stones just thrown in rather haphazardly. On top was a row of upright stones for ornamentation and to hide all the ugly little stones that were piled in between the two walls. As I stood and looked at this break in the wall---God began to show me something huge in my life and began breaking my heart. Praise His Name!
God revealed terrible ugliness in my heart to which I had been blinded. He illuminated to me some thick walls of resentment that I'd built which have been separating me from Him and from treasured people God has placed in my life. Each time I have chosen to be unforgiving, I have piled one stone upon another. One stone upon another, and another, and over time the stones have turned into...you guessed it---walls! At first, there were big gaps between my stones(sins of unforgiveness), and the Light of God was dimly seen through these little gaps. As my sin blocked my view of God I focused more upon the stones in the wall. Each time I pondered on pain or stewed over what was past, I added little ugly stones between the walls to block out even more of the light of God that was shining through. I entered in to the sin of pride and eventually, my unforgiveness and stewing turned into anger---and let's call it what it is, brothers and sisters! It was murder!
"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court..." (Matthew 5:21-22)
This was my wall...the wall I had built...one sin at a time until it was a double wall with lots of hidden ugly stones in between blocking the Light! My sin was ugly and I hated it! I had begged God in the past to take away my unforgiving heart but He didn't. At times I was confused as to why He left me in this sin and now I see that He planned all along to show me how much deeper was my sin. It went far beyond unforgiveness. I was only seeing a tiny bit of the picture--only one side of the wall--with no view of what lay in the center or the fact that the wall was double in thickness. The center of my wall that truly blocked the Light of God was pride!
Over the past few days, God has been the "Un-mason" as He has shown me my sin of unforgiveness, my sin of resentment, my sin of anger (murder), and my sin of pride. God has begun tearing down the walls I've built and I'm amazed at how quickly He can tear down what it took me months to build. Praise God that He is mindful of my walls and that He would tear them down that I may glorify Him more fully. May the Lord continue to tear down and bring me low so that He may build me up again with a forgiving heart satisfied in Himself. The lower am I, the higher is He!
God forgives the heart He's brought low. God saves the sinner to whom He's shown their wretchedness. God washes the dirty heart and makes it clean. To save His people, Christ took on lowly flesh! God is glorified by the submissive bowing of His children before Him. There's a "low" theme here. Do you see it? May God keep my heart in a "bowed" position before Him and may I remember His grace and mercy upon me. May God cleanse the sin from my heart and restore to me the joy of His salvation. May I focus upon that joy rather than bitterness, resentment, hurt, etc.
Oh Lord! Thank you for tearing down the walls of resentment in my heart! Thank you Holy Spirit for opening my eyes to see the sin in my life and for granting me grace and forgiveness. Thank you Father for loving me and for Your gentle hand that moves me, protects me, and disciplines me. Thank you Christ for taking on lowly flesh to be the only mediator (Godman) between me and the Father! Thank you Holy Spirit for showing me the wretchedness of my condition just 4 short years ago and for saving my dead soul--for breathing life into me! Thank you Father for preserving me and keeping me saved and alive for I would surely forsake Your name in my pitiful weakness and return to the deadness from which You rescued me.
Hallelujah! In the blood of Jesus, there is freedom! I feel as if a huge pile of heavy stones has been lifted from my shoulders!
"But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, 'God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" (James 4:6)
God has been doing a lot of "un-masonry" with me lately. I know....you're thinking, "What on earth is she talking about?" Well...glad you asked.
Today I took a brisk morning walk along a beautiful horse farm. The only thing that separated me from these majestic looking beasts was a beautiful stone wall. Now, this was a wall built by "dry masonry" (about which I am no expert--but humor me for the sake of the analogy). Dry masonry--meaning the weight of the stones held the wall together---not mortar. I noticed one portion of the wall that had been knocked over and was blessed to get a closer look at how the wall had been built. There were actually two walls of stones built close together running the length of the farm. In between the two walls were many small stones just thrown in rather haphazardly. On top was a row of upright stones for ornamentation and to hide all the ugly little stones that were piled in between the two walls. As I stood and looked at this break in the wall---God began to show me something huge in my life and began breaking my heart. Praise His Name!
God revealed terrible ugliness in my heart to which I had been blinded. He illuminated to me some thick walls of resentment that I'd built which have been separating me from Him and from treasured people God has placed in my life. Each time I have chosen to be unforgiving, I have piled one stone upon another. One stone upon another, and another, and over time the stones have turned into...you guessed it---walls! At first, there were big gaps between my stones(sins of unforgiveness), and the Light of God was dimly seen through these little gaps. As my sin blocked my view of God I focused more upon the stones in the wall. Each time I pondered on pain or stewed over what was past, I added little ugly stones between the walls to block out even more of the light of God that was shining through. I entered in to the sin of pride and eventually, my unforgiveness and stewing turned into anger---and let's call it what it is, brothers and sisters! It was murder!
"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court..." (Matthew 5:21-22)
This was my wall...the wall I had built...one sin at a time until it was a double wall with lots of hidden ugly stones in between blocking the Light! My sin was ugly and I hated it! I had begged God in the past to take away my unforgiving heart but He didn't. At times I was confused as to why He left me in this sin and now I see that He planned all along to show me how much deeper was my sin. It went far beyond unforgiveness. I was only seeing a tiny bit of the picture--only one side of the wall--with no view of what lay in the center or the fact that the wall was double in thickness. The center of my wall that truly blocked the Light of God was pride!
Over the past few days, God has been the "Un-mason" as He has shown me my sin of unforgiveness, my sin of resentment, my sin of anger (murder), and my sin of pride. God has begun tearing down the walls I've built and I'm amazed at how quickly He can tear down what it took me months to build. Praise God that He is mindful of my walls and that He would tear them down that I may glorify Him more fully. May the Lord continue to tear down and bring me low so that He may build me up again with a forgiving heart satisfied in Himself. The lower am I, the higher is He!
God forgives the heart He's brought low. God saves the sinner to whom He's shown their wretchedness. God washes the dirty heart and makes it clean. To save His people, Christ took on lowly flesh! God is glorified by the submissive bowing of His children before Him. There's a "low" theme here. Do you see it? May God keep my heart in a "bowed" position before Him and may I remember His grace and mercy upon me. May God cleanse the sin from my heart and restore to me the joy of His salvation. May I focus upon that joy rather than bitterness, resentment, hurt, etc.
Oh Lord! Thank you for tearing down the walls of resentment in my heart! Thank you Holy Spirit for opening my eyes to see the sin in my life and for granting me grace and forgiveness. Thank you Father for loving me and for Your gentle hand that moves me, protects me, and disciplines me. Thank you Christ for taking on lowly flesh to be the only mediator (Godman) between me and the Father! Thank you Holy Spirit for showing me the wretchedness of my condition just 4 short years ago and for saving my dead soul--for breathing life into me! Thank you Father for preserving me and keeping me saved and alive for I would surely forsake Your name in my pitiful weakness and return to the deadness from which You rescued me.
Hallelujah! In the blood of Jesus, there is freedom! I feel as if a huge pile of heavy stones has been lifted from my shoulders!
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