Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land..

• 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

• 2 Corinthians 5:16-17

I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

• Psalm 27:13-14

“God looks at the posture of his people. [The passage from 2 Chronicles above] outlines an attitude of worship and repentance. Without love, we can be utterly right while horribly wrong.
“Our land needs healing.
“This healing begins with us.
“It starts when God’s people humble themselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn away from their own wicked ways. Do you realize how powerful this is? It doesn’t matter who is in power. It doesn’t matter what legislation is passed. We don’t have to turn everyone else from their evil deeds … simply remove our own planks and then act accordingly.
“Transformation begins as we own our issues and choose to live the truth. Transformation is not measured by the truth we know but is reflected in the truth we live. Love is key in our process of transformation. Without the factors of faith, hope, and love, transformation is impossible. This lack of love is the very reason there has been a move away from holiness and transformation.
“It is also why it is not popular now to say that anything or anyone could possibly be wrong. Even the church has adopted the more politically correct stance of saying that there are no absolutes and what is wrong for me might be right for you. This is not enough. A generation without convictions is a generation without transformation.
“I want to change. This world needs me to change. Each and every day is another chance to follow Jesus and be changed into his likeness. I’m so grateful that God stripped me of the shame that covered me in order to robe me in his righteousness. Jesus didn’t endorse my bondage by calling my shameful acts righteous. Nor did he call my filthy garments clean—he washed them in his word.”

• Lisa Bevere, Adamant

Ms. Bevere looks at our transformation in this chapter.  We have covered how God is adamant Intimately and Constantly.  God is adamant in love, that we love, in hate, for truth, and in Word.  This ties all those chapters into one in that with God in us we can be adamant also.

God makes us new creations.  We have different desires because with Christ in us, being more like Christ is our greatest desire.

And with Christ in us, we should have the secondary desires of everything that has been discussed to this point.

This is not the end of the book, but I will be moving to a new mini-series next Sunday.  Ms. Bevere’s next chapter is God being adamantly holy.  I think she separated that chapter from the others with our adamant transformation in that we will not be fully holy until we are with Jesus in heaven.  Yet, holiness must be one of our key desires.

God has washed us white as snow, but we, in our human bodies, can make mistakes.  We can make mistakes when we are earnestly being adamant in trying to further God’s kingdom.  If it is God’s will, our mistake will not destroy the work being done, but we can never be totally perfect, although God has already separated us from our sin in His sight.

The road of sanctification is sometimes a painful road.  We are confronted with things that we did not think were stumbling blocks in the growth of our faith.

My wife recently passed away.  At one point, early on in my grief, I looked at the ceiling and said, “God, this is just another test, isn’t it?  Whenever I had stumbled, she was there to pick me up.  You led me to her while she was being led to me.  I owe You for those 48 wonderful years, but now I have to rely on You even more.  Yes, the grief process and losing a loved one, is indeed one of Your hardest tests, but I shall trust in You even more.”

That prayer still does not mean that I do not weep, but I know that God is with me, and God is within me.  I can do all that God wishes me to do.  I am a new creation in that my greatest desire is to be more like Jesus every day.  But I am realistic in knowing that I cannot achieve holiness until I am with Jesus.

And I can wait for that.

Lord, guide me.  My wife loved Psalm 27.  I will see goodness in the land of the living.  That is my desire, as well as it is my desire to be more like You each day.  I just have to wait for You, Lord.  In Your name I pray.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.