Truly Freed

2 Timothy 2:21

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

Are we ready to be used of God? Do we seek to be used by Him? Are we like Isaiah who says “Here I am LORD, send ME??” Are we like Noah, found acceptable by seeking the LORD in a world that seeks pleasure? Or are we like Jonah, running from God’s request? Or like Moses, fumbling through excuses to say no to God? Why are we not more like Isaiah and Noah? We need to seek His call.. Time after time again I have heard His voice, and said “not now” or made up an excuse... Do I really think I can fool God with dumb excuses? I can’t! So instead of hearing Him, and running away, let’s hear Him and like Samuel, dwell in His presence listening to His call, then go and do it!

This passage is heavy and describes what I know is true in my life. I lived a life in seeking pleasure, seeking knowledge, seeking satisfaction, but coming out empty handed. So often, I felt as if God would never want to take me back. Like I was beyond hope. Yeah, I had heard the verses about Love always forgiving, God telling us to forgive countless times, and heard story after story about how God has forgiven people, but I felt like I never would be accepted by God. Almost as if, because I was raised in the church, I was without excuse and would not be forgiven. Sometimes I felt like I was too far away for God to bring back.. And that if I did come back, I would just slap Him in the face again, so why would it matter? Wouldn’t it be better if I just never came back so I could never disappoint? Always asking myself, “why don’t I love God like them?” What held me back, why couldn’t I be like that, even though I deeply wanted to??? There is a difference though, between wanting to change, and seeking change. I never sought change until recently. I lived wanting change, but never truly did anything about it. I wanted the quick step directions to a life filled with love for God.. But I didn’t want the work.. This kept me away for so long. I finally gave it all to God. My sins, my anxiety, my fears, my emptiness, my lusts, my gifts He gave me, my trust, my LIFE. I finally knew what the song “From the Inside Out” meant. Instead of looking at the storms and drowning, like Peter did, I finally looked at God, and once I did, the storms were still there, but it didn’t compare to my God. I finally realized that He had it under control and that I just had to trust Him. That He knew that I would slap Him in the face all the time, but He still loved me enough to die for me and would continue to show me His love no matter what I have done or will do. This sparked something. I realized that I am a new creation in Him and that I have been freed from the bondage of sin through the death of Christ, but I must leave those chains in order to be freed from them. Its power of me is in the past, not the future, the same goes for any Christian, but so often we feel powerless compared to the temptation and like we will never escape from it. This is such a lie. We are told in His word that “through Christ all things are possible” (Phil 4:13). This literally means ALL THINGS. We can escape the things that seem inescapable through Him. We ARE FREED from our bondage. We just have to get up and run away from it. Further than that even, Christ came and died and rose again to forgive all our sins, not just the ones that are lesser in our eyes. We are forgiven of everything in our pasts. Even the things that other people can’t forgive us for. God forgives us for those too.. Family, we are vessels that are holy in the sight of God if we are in Him. We have been cleansed by Him and are cleansed from all we will do if we seek forgiveness and repent from our sins. But we must turn from it. It is like the story of Lot and his family as Sodom was destroyed, we cannot look back with longing eyes or else it will be the death of us.

Even the core of us is cleansed by God

Blessings